Nigeria plans to sell $186 million of green bonds in two offerings before the end of the year as it seeks to fund an ambitious economic-transformation plan, Environment Minister Balarabe Abbas Lawal said.
According to Bloomberg, a N50 billion ($31 million) bond will be soldl in two weeks and an additional 250 billion-naira one in October, Lawal told reporters at the ministerial press briefing in t Abuja Wednesday.
The government expects them both to be oversubscribed, he said.
There’s also a plan to issue a green dollar bond next year, Lawal said, without elaborating. The debt will fund projects such as water security, green mass transportation and clean energy, he said.
Africa’s top crude exporter is diversifying its economy to reduce its reliance on the fuel and reach net zero emissions by 2060. Oil accounts for at least 80% of Nigeria’s export earnings and a recent slump in prices has put its budget forecasts in jeopardy.
With Nigeria’s 2025 budget benchmarked at an oil price of $75 per barrel and the sectors break-even price close to $50 per barrel, “it will likely continue to heighten concerns for the country’s growth, fiscal and external accounts,” Ayodeji Dawodu, head of Africa research at BancTrust & Co. Investment Bank, said in a note Wednesday.
Brent crude traded up 0.2 per cent at $62.25 per barrel at 1:53 p.m. in London.
Africa’s most-populous country has issued at least two previous green notes.
Yields on Nigeria’s N15 billion of green bonds due 2026 have dropped more than 200 basis points to 19.72 per cent [remainder of message body omitted; too large]