The Bank of Industry (BoI), in partnership with the Agence Française de Développement (AFD), interpreted as the French Development Agency (AfD), has signed a deal valued at €100 million for the expansion of green finance in Nigeria to tackle climate change.
The Managing Director of BoI, Mr. Olukayode Pitan, and Mr. Xavier Muron, Country Director, AfD, jointly signed the deal in Lagos, to foster AfD’s and BoI’s longstanding commitment to achieving the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Climate change leads to shifts in temperatures and weather patterns, causing intense droughts, water scarcity, severe fires, rising sea levels, flooding, and declining biodiversity.
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These shifts may be natural, but human activities have been the main driver of climate change, primarily due to the burning of fossil fuels (like coal, oil and gas), which produces heat-trapping gases.
Pitan noted that the transaction was approved by AfD under its Transforming Financial Systems for Climate (TFSC) Program with the Green Climate Fund (GCF), while explaining that the 10-year facility is priced at 2.47% per annum with a four-year moratorium on financing investments that contribute to climate change mitigation or adaptation.
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Muron on his own disclosed that several regions in Nigeria are likely to suffer from the effects of global warming, adding that the country is highly vulnerable to climate change and needs $400 billion, which is between 6% and 13% of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to tackle climate change.
“As development institutions, we have to do something to help the government act, seeing that Nigeria is looking forward to implementing its net zero emissions by 2060. “We reiterate our commitment towards climate change with the project and are proud to work with the BoI,” he said.
