• Hold webinar on green financing opportunities for agribusiness
Three firms, FMDQ Holdings Plc, Financial Sector Deepening (FSD) Africa and Climate Bonds Initiative (CBI), are set to proffer creative and proactive solutions that would ensure continued sustenance of key sectors of the economies, with the Nigerian agribusiness sector not left behind.
According to a statement, the three implementation partners of the Nigerian Green Bond Market Development Programme would facilitate a stakeholders engagement webinar session as part of the green financing capacity building efforts for market participants in the Nigerian financial market, just as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to present challenges to businesses and economies world over.
The webinar session, themed, “Green Financing Opportunities for Agribusiness”, which will hold on Thursday, June 11, 2020, by 11:00 am is targeted at current and potential issuers as well as other stakeholders within the sustainable finance sphere in the Nigerian agribusiness sector.
The session will also focus on expert discussions to demystify the concept of green bonds and green financing; highlight opportunities in the agribusiness sector for these activities and provide updates on available funding to support such initiatives under the Nigerian Green Bond Market Development Programme.
The organisers said the webinar could not have come at a better time, given the renewed importance of sustained supply of food and agricultural produce to communities and families across the world.
Meanwhile, FMDQ, FSD Africa and CBI, has formalised a cooperation agreement in March 2018 to develop the sub-national and non-sovereign green bond market in Nigeria.
The parties also formally launched a three-year Nigerian Green Bond Market Development Programme in June 2018 to support the development of guidelines and listing requirements for green bonds in Nigeria; develop a pool of Nigeria-based licensed verifiers to support issuers; facilitate engagement and capacity building sessions with extant and potential issuers and investors; and support broader capital market reforms that have and/or will have an impact on the non- government bond market in Nigeria.
However, since its launch, the programme has seen the achievement of some key milestones, which include, but not limited to the development of the Green Bond Issuance Rules launched in November 2018; the issuance of Africa’s first Climate Bond Certified Corporate Green Bond – the Access Bank Plc ₦15.00 billion Green Bond in March 2019, amongst others.
The programme implementation partners have also successfully delivered knowledge bridging and capacity building training sessions across capital markets stakeholders, impacting over 450 beneficiaries so far.
Participants are urged to register for the upcoming webinar on https://bit.ly/FMDQWebinar.
