Bond

The Debt Management Office (DMO) on Monday listed two Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) savings bonds at N1,000 per unit.

According to a statement from the debt office, the first offer is a two-year FGN savings bond due on May 15, 2026, at an interest rate of 17.407 per cent per annum.

The second offer is a three-year FGN savings bond due on May 15, 2027, at the rate of 18.407 per cent per annum.

The opening date for the subscription is May 6, and the closing date is May 10, the settlement date is May 15, and the coupon payment dates are Aug. 15, Nov. 15, Feb. 15 and May 15.

“They are offered at N1,000 per unit subject to a minimum subscription of N5,000 and in multiples of N1,000 thereafter, subject to a maximum subscription of N50 million.

“Interest is payable quarterly, while bullet repayment (principal sum) is on the maturity date,” the DMO said.

It said that FGN savings bonds, like all other FGN securities, were backed by the full faith and credit of the Federal Government and charged upon the general assets of Nigeria.

“They qualify as securities in which trustees can invest under the Trustee Investment Act.

“They qualify as government securities within the meaning of Company Income Tax Act and Personal Income Tax Act for tax exemption for pension funds among other investors.

“They are listed on the Nigerian Exchange Limited and FMDQ.

“They qualify as liquid asset for liquidity ratio calculation for banks,” it said.

Lagos, Feb. 1, 2024: Gombe State Government on Wednesday sought partnership with Nigerian Exchange Ltd. (NGX) to raise not less than N30 billion from green bond to finance eco-friendly investments.

Gov. Muhammad Yahaya of Gombe State said this at the closing gong ceremony of the NGX in Lagos.

Yahaya stated that the green bond is an initiative aimed at raising funds to finance eco-friendly investment, especially in asset.

He noted that this would contribute to improve and uplift human lives, in order to reduce the impact of climate change and global warming.

“We are expecting to raise about N30 billion for a start, and then raise more in segments in the next few months.

“We are sure that from the acceptance we received from the floor of the Exchange and stock broking community, we are going to hit our target,” he said

According to him, the capital market is the ideal place for any investor, either government or private, to raise funds, because there are financial experts that can help manage the funds for value in the future.

Yahaya stated that the stock market has also become very robust, following reforms introduced by the market, which was stimulated by the actions taken by President Bola Tinubu’s administration.

The governor said that the Nigerian Stock market is a key player globally, and as such, Gombe state is confident that with the alliance and support of other international players in the market, it can achieve its goal.

He charged investors to tap into the investment opportunities and selling point in Gombe because of its track record and outstanding achievements, to get a profitable return on investment.

According to Yahaya, Gombe has been leading many other states since 2021 in terms of enabling business environment.

The governor said that the state is relatively peaceful,  “being the number one state in terms of peace and cordiality in Nigeria and also at the centre of

business operation.

“We give guarantee of the security of our investors, and also the security and return on their investment,” he said.

Rrsponding, Mr Temi  Popoola, General Managing Director (GMD)/Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Nigerian Exchange Group, expressed the delight of the market to host Gombe state officials, led by the governor.

Popoola noted that the market is open for all classes of businesses, while assuring the governor of the stock market community’s readiness and support to drive the green bond.

Mr Jude Chiemeka, Acting CEO, NGX, said that the NGX is curently the most performing Exchange in the world and has been helping corporates and government to raise capital over the years.

Chiemeka stated that the exchange is committed to partnerships, both locally and internationally.

He lauded the Gombe state government for setting the pace for other states to follow.

The NGX boss explained that the essence of the partnership was to ensure that any party who sought the support of the Exchange to raise capital was able to do so.

“This is because we have a robust investor-base to absorb all the issues that are being raised in our market,” he said.

According to him, the market raised over N1 trillion from Sukuk bond for the governments that utilised the market.

Chiemeka noted that customer-centricity is a cardinal point for the Exchange, hence all its customers across the world will always get the best services.

Abuja, Dec. 3, 2023: The African Development Bank (AfDB) Group, has signed a declaration with the coalition of development finance institutions to promote green bond markets in Africa.

AfDB’s Group Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Ms Hassatou N’Sele, said this in a statement issued on the bank’s website.

The Africa’s engagement in the green bond market currently represents less than one per cent of the more than 2.2 trillion dollar community green bond issued in 2022.

N’Sele said the institutions in the Global Green Bond Initiative (GGBI) comprised the European Investment Bank,  European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and Italy’s Cassa Depositi e Prestiti.

Others are the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation, Green Climate Fund and Germany’s KfW development bank, while PROPARCO of the AFD Group act as consortium of European development finance institutions.

The AfDB’s chief financial officer signed the declaration with representatives of the coalitions’ institutions on the sidelines of the 2023 UN Climate Change Conference (COP28) in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

N’Sele said the engagement was to tap from the Global Green Bond Initiative technical assistance programme announced by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in June 2023.

”The Initiative will help private capital flow from institutional investors into climate and environmental projects in EU partner countries, increasing their access to capital.

”Providing technical assistance to green bond issuers in emerging markets and developing economies (EMDEs), and crowding in private investors through a dedicated de-risked fund.

”This will act as an anchor investor in green bonds issued in EMDEs.

“The anticipated impact can be up to 15-20 billion euro in green investments,” she said.

N’Sele said the partners supported the origination of green bonds, development and identification of pipelines of green projects, and the development of credible and coherent green bond frameworks.

“This joint declaration among us to collaborate on technical assistance on green bonds in Africa is our commitment to work together and it is significant and impactful.

”There cannot be impactful development in Africa without vibrant local capital markets,” the AfDB official said.

N’Sele highlighted the AfDB’s engagements in the green bond market, including issuing over 10 billion dollar worth of green and social bbondsin 2022 to support sustainable progress across Africa.

“Let’s help Africa fully leverage the power of green bonds, and we can contribute together towards a sustainable future for Africans,” she said.

Mr Stefano Signore of the European Commission’s partnerships directorate, described the partnership with the AfDB as an important milestone in efforts to mobilise green bonds in emerging developing economies.

Also, representative of the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) expressed hope that the partnership would contribute to the intensification of climate and environmentally relevant projects.

”We hope to also contribute to pipelines that can set off the mobilisation of the global green bond initiative.”

Abuja, Nov. 7, 2023: The Debt Management Office (DMO), on Monday released two New Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) savings bond offers for subscription.

According to the DMO, the first offer is a two-year FGN savings bond due in Nov.15, 2025 at interest rate of 12.464 Per cent per annum.

The second offer is a three-year FGN savings bond, due in Nov. 15, 2026, at interest rate of 13.464 per cent per annum.

It said that they were offered at N1,000 per unit subject to a minimum subscription of N5,000 and in multiples of N1,000 thereafter, subject to a maximum subscription of N50 million.

“Opening date for the offers is Nov. 6, closing date is Nov. 10, settlement date is Nov. 15, while coupon payment dates are Feb. 15, May 15, Aug. 15 and Nov. 15,” the DMO said.

It said that interests for FGN savings bonds were payable quaterly, while bullet repayment was on the maturity date.

According to the DMO, they are backed by the full faith and credit of Nigeria and charged upon the general assets of Nigeria.

“They qualify as securities in which trustees can invest under the Trustee Investment Act.

“Qualify as government securities within the meaning of Company Income Tax Act and Personal Income Tax Act for tax exemption for pension funds, among other investors.

“Listed in the Nigerian Exchange Limited; and qualify as liquid assets for liquidity ratio calculation for banks,” it said.

President Muhammadu Buhari has called on Least Development Countries (LDCs) to emulate Nigeria’s issuance of two Sovereign Green Bonds that raised over N30 billion for the purpose of financing sustainable environmental projects.

Speaking at a roundtable on addressing climate change and supporting the environment at the UN Conference on LDCs in Doha, Qatar, Tuesday, the President urged the world’s most vulnerable countries to initiate and adopt effective home grown resource mobilization supported by a well-developed action plan.

‘‘Domestic resource mobilization is likely to break the yoke of difficulties in accessing funds from developed countries’ financial institutions, like Nigeria’s issuance of two Sovereign Green Bonds that raised over N30billion.

‘‘LDCs and Developing Countries must take a serious stand on the Cummings-Montreal resolutions on a new funding mechanism that is flexible, accessible and utilizable,’’ he said.

President Buhari, who was represented by the Minister of Environment, Mohammed Abdullahi,  pledged that Nigeria would use its position as host of the headquarters of the Sahel Climate Fund to ensure that members access climate finance at fairer and reasonable conditions.

Further, he used the occasion to apprise the international community on Nigeria’s priorities on climate change.

The President told the meeting that the country had passed a novel Climate Change Act, essentially focusing on the whole of Government approach jointly with the private sector.

According to him, the Act established the National Council on Climate change, to among others, mainstream climate change actions in Nigeria’s economic development and ensure sustainable inclusive green growth.

‘‘Nigeria is providing leadership to the Pan African Great Green Wall that is focused on land remediation, wetlands and oases recovery, as well as developing a community resilience programme to support the Sahel region towards adaptation and mitigation of these climatic vulnerabilities.

‘‘Furthermore, the country just recently, as a member of the Sahel Region Climate Commission, volunteered and was granted the rights to host the headquarters of the Sahel Climate Fund.

‘‘What we intend to achieve with this is to provide effective leadership towards mobilization of resources from member states, bilateral and multilateral partners, as well as private sector financial institutions, to foster cooperation and coordinated actions among Sahel Region Climate Commission members towards access to climate finance at fairer and reasonable conditions,’’ he said.

Describing climate change as no respecter of any nation, the Nigerian leader warned that it is an imminent and present danger to not only human existence but also to the preservation of the environment.

‘‘Nigeria, like other countries of the world, particularly those of the Sahel region has a lot of human activities that dangerously interfere with the earth’s natural defenses against solar radiation and temperature change, thus leading to extreme conditions that contribute to desertification and crop loss, causing further famine and starvation, grassland becoming deserts, flooding, extreme heat with fluctuating rainfall, drought with other challenges causing forceful migration due to climate change.

‘‘In Africa, diverse impact of climate change is an underlying cause of  human population stressors, with conflicts resulting in regional instability. Climate change is, therefore, a threat to human survival with different degrees of challenges depending on the region.

‘‘Therefore, the Least Developed Countries and indeed developing countries are subject to climatic vulnerability caused by changes in rainfall patterns, extreme temperatures, desertification, drought, coastal erosion therefore affecting the general economy and wellbeing of the people,’’ he said.