Chinwendu Obienyi

Access Bank has completed the listing of its N15 billion green bond on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange (LuxSE). The 15.50 per cent fixed rate, unsecured climate-credential green bond is the first of its kind to be issued by a Nigerian corporate and represents a major milestone in the development of the local green finance market. The bond was first listed on The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) in 2019.

According to Herbert Wigwe, the Group Managing Director of the bank., the cross-listing of the bond was done to “make a material contribution to addressing climate change, and provide institutional investors with a means of accessing sustainable investments using a familiar, low-risk vehicle.”

He explained that “the bonds would deliver increased visibility for issuers, as cross-listing improves the green bond issuers’ access to a deep pool of green capital domestically and internationally.” The net proceeds from the issue, which has a maturity period of five years, will be directed towards financing new loans and refinancing existing loans, per Access Bank’s Green Bond Framework.

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Stating the bank’s position on the milestone listing, Omobolanle Victor-Laniyan, its Head, Sustainability, said that, “Access Bank supports the global climate change mitigation and adaptation agenda which seeks to promote responsible green lending globally, across its banking network. Being a pioneer, both in domestic and international capital markets, Access Bank views the global drive for responsible and sustainable green financing as an opportunity to raise capital for the creation of assets through climate financing.”

The cross-listing is in line with Access Bank’s Sustainability leadership as it initiated and led the development of the Nigerian Sustainable Banking Principles. Access Bank was also part of a core group of 28 founding banks, that helped facilitate the launch of the Principles for Responsible Banking (PRBs) on September 22, 2019, during the annual United Nations General Assembly in New York.

To facilitate the growth of the Green Finance industry in Nigeria and ultimately deepen the Nigerian capital market through the mobilization of the foreign green capital, the NSE signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the LuxSE in October 2019.