Fund Environmental or Social projects with Sustainable Bonds
At Nigerian Exchange (NGX), we are committed to supporting global efforts at tackling sustainability issues by promoting a thriving Sustainable Bond Market in Africa.
Green, Sustainability and Social bonds have become the most visible initiatives under the sustainable finance theme with significant potential to transform the economy into one that is more environmentally and socially sustainable.
Our dedicated Sustainable Bond Market is home to domestic and international issuers looking to finance sustainable projects, boost their ESG credentials and attract investors with a green, social or sustainable investment agenda.
Since 2017, NGX has been a trading venue for Green Bonds when the Nigerian Government, under its Ministry of Environment and Debt Management Office (DMO) in collaboration with Nigerian Exchange, took a giant stride in December 2017 and listed the first ever-certified sovereign Green Bond and the first African sovereign Green Bond.
Listing Green Bonds on NGX
Listing your Green Bonds on the NGX Sustainable Bond Market will not only provide you access to unparalleled platform for disclosing relevant information, it will also provide the necessary visibility for your Green Bonds in Africa and global markets.
- Achieve greater visibility and enhanced brand recognition.
- Unparalleled access to global investor base
- Streamlined and efficient listing process
- Transparent and cost effective listing fees
On October 9, 2019, we signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Luxembourg Stock Exchange (LuxSE) to cooperate in promoting cross-listing and trading of green bonds in Nigeria and Luxembourg. This partnership has already secured its first listing with the successful cross-listing of Access Bank’s N15 Billion Green Bond on the NGX and LuxSE.
Listing Requirements
Aside from meeting all requirements for listing plain vanilla bonds, Issuers must meet the following requirements to list a Green Bond on NGX.
The Issuers shall clearly state in the prospectus that the bond is a Green Bond
The Issuer shall comply with these Rules, the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (Commission) regulations, and NGX’s requirements for listing and issuance of bonds.
The Bond Prospectus & other documents should clearly describe the project to be undertaken such as Clean Transportation, Green Buildings & Sustainable waste management
The Issuer shall:
I. Identify Process for Project Evaluation
II. Demonstrate Green Eligibility of project
III. Process for managing environmental & social risks
IV. Identify their Environmental Sustainability Criteria
Issuers shall make readily available up to date information on the use of proceeds on an annual basis including a list of all Projects being financed with the proceeds and their potential impact.
Information should be published in one (1) newspaper daily.
Issuers shall appoint an independent external reviewer to issue an annual assessment report to be published and retain on the issuers website throughout the tenor of the green bond.
External Review shall include a consultant review, verification & Certification
The company appointed as an external review shall:
I.Exist & operate independently
II.Not be a subsidiary of the issuer
III.Have the relevant track record
IV.Be specialized in assessing the
framework of bonds
The Issuer shall continuously file with NGX a report on its compliance with the Green Bond Principles. The report shall include a list of all projects and its environmental impact
The first report shall be due twelve (12) months from the issue date