FMDQ charges Nigeria to benefit from $30trn sustainability fund

By Motolani Oseni

The head, Research, FMDQ Group Plc, Dr Vincent Nwani, has said, there is a need to improve efforts to attract some of the $30 trillion sustainability fund available globally into the Nigerian capital market.

Nwani stated this at the Capital Market Correspondents Association of Nigeria (CAMCAN) 2023 workshop with the theme: ‘Leveraging Capital Market in Financing the National Development Plan’ held recently in Lagos.

Nwani stated that, while efforts were being made at the level of the exchanges, there was a need for more action from the other participants in the market.

He said: “on sustainability finance, about $30 trillion is out there looking for who to take it as far as sustainability is concerned.

“How is the Nigerian capital market positioning itself to be a strong recipient of this free fund? From the level of the exchanges: NGX and FMDQ, we are ready to list and are already listing.

“Apart from the federal government, corporations and state governments are beginning to show interest in green bonds. Even the pink bond for women-owned/ managed businesses, we are seeing a lot of interest”

Nwani added that, Lagos State had gone far in terms of offering a green bond, noting that, announcements should be made soon.

“Lagos State has even gone very far, and an announcement will be made on their coming to the market as far as the green bond is concerned. Rest assured things are being done around tapping the $30 trillion sustainability finance. The work there now is about training, enlightenment, and awareness for investors and issuers. Work is already being done on that.

“Over the last year, FMDQ has worked with FSD Africa to organise four or five different training sessions for investors, even the government, like key ministries and their functionaries in Abuja. Work is going on but like I said, we need to do more in this space,” he said.

On the theme of the workshop, Nwani argued that “for the Nigerian capital market to power the National Development Plan, it is obvious that we have to increase scale.

He added that the government and stakeholders needed to pay more attention to housing and bridging the housing deficit.