- UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly announced a new partnership between Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) and the UK government’s MOBILIST programme during a visit to the Exchange in Lagos.
- Mobilising Institutional Capital Through Listed Product Structures, or MOBILIST, is a flagship UK public markets programme. It works by competitively sourcing and selecting emerging and frontier market investment products that support the climate transition and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and channelling investments towards them.
- By providing direct investment, technical assistance, advisory services, and/or enhanced visibility through the UK Government’s platforms, MOBILIST supports new scalable, replicable financial products to list on public markets.
- MOBILIST is actively seeking to identify eligible products in Nigeria that could benefit from its assistance.
- MOBILIST is a key part of the British Investment Partnerships (BIP) offer. BIP is a UK initiative which brings together the UK’s economic development and investment offer, and combines development finance, capital market mobilisation and export finance with the best of UK technical expertise, and a partnerships approach.
01 August 2023, Lagos/London. Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) will partner with the UK government’s Mobilising Institutional Capital Through Listed Product Structures (MOBILIST) programme to enable greater investment toward achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Africa through products listed on the Exchange.
The partnership was announced during UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly’s two-day visit to Nigeria. Cleverly visited the NGX trading floor and said that collaboration between MOBILIST and NGX can help to catalyse and scale up public market investment products that support the climate transition and SDGs.
The MOBILIST programme aims to unlock the potential of public capital markets for sustainable finance in emerging markets and developing economies. According to the OECD, Africa’s sustainable financing gap until 2030 amounts to about $1.6 trillion and the continent needs about $194 billion in additional funding annually to achieve the SDGs by that year.[1] MOBILIST was created to help direct some of the $250 trillion in private capital currently held in products listed on global stock exchanges to help meet this financing gap.
UK Foreign Secretary, James Cleverly said:
“Today, I announce a new partnership between Nigerian Exchange and MOBILIST that will bring capital markets more squarely into financing economic development. It will support the climate transition and the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs).
MOBILIST supports new listings on public stock exchanges. That could be here in Nigeria, in Johannesburg or London. And that support could be technical, research based, or could include equity investment from the UK government.
Developing countries need at least $3.9 trillion in additional financing per year to achieve the SDGs. MOBILIST will help. And it’s just one of British Investment Partnership’s programmes.”
Abubakar Mahmoud, SAN, OON, Chairman, NGX stated:
“The UK remains Nigeria’s critical partner; especially in the areas of trade, exports, business, and investment and we welcome its government’s partnership on MOBILIST, which is in line with NGX’s long-term interest to direct greater investments towards achieving the UN SDGs through listed products. We will continue to forge strong partnerships that will foster the sustainable development of the Nigerian economy.”
Temi Popoola, NGX’s CEO, said:
“NGX remains firmly dedicated to promoting sustainable finance in Nigeria. This commitment drives us to continuously seek strategic partnerships with key stakeholders, including the UK Government. The Exchange, in collaboration with the Nigerian Government and industry stakeholders, played a leading role in advocating for and successfully issuing the inaugural green bond in 2017. Our collaboration on the MOBILIST program aims to further enhance our efforts in making the Nigerian capital market an attractive hub for investments that foster sustainable capital formation.”
MOBILIST Investment and Technical Assistance to NGX Participants
MOBILIST seeks to partner with financial institutions at the core of capital markets and will engage with and accept proposals from NGX participants (brokers, investment banks and intermediaries of public offerings). Whilst MOBILIST can only deploy equity capital, the programme can provide debt securities issuers with technical assistance funding.
A Request for Proposal has been published on the MOBILIST website. Interested parties can contact Severin Luebke, MOBILIST Team Leader [Palladium, MOBILIST Product Partner], at contact-us@ukbmobilist.com
ENDS
[1] OECD, 2023. Africa’s Development Dynamics 2023: Investing in Sustainable Development. Online: https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/sites/3269532b-en/index.html?itemId=/content/publication/3269532b-en [Accessed on 27 July 2023.]
About the Foreign Commonwealth & Development Office
The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) pursues the UK’s national interests and projects the UK as a force for good in the world. We promote the interests of British citizens, safeguard the UK’s security, defend our values, reduce poverty and tackle global challenges with our international partners.
https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/foreign-commonwealth-development-office
About MOBILIST
A flagship UK government programme, MOBILIST supports investment solutions that help deliver the climate transition and the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals in developing economies. MOBILIST focuses on mobilising institutional capital to spur new scalable and replicable financial products. MOBILIST invests capital, delivers technical assistance, conducts research and builds partnerships to catalyse investment in new listed products. www.mobilistglobal.com
About NGX
Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX), a wholly owned subsidiary of Nigerian Exchange Group Plc (NGX Group) is a leading listing and trading venue in Africa operating as an open, professional, and vibrant Exchange, connecting Nigeria, Africa, and the world.
As a premier multi-asset exchange, NGX features the best of African enterprises listed on its Premium, Main, and Growth Boards; diverse fixed income securities; Exchange Traded Products (ETPs); Mutual and other investment funds.
NGX provides domestic and international investors access to these securities in meeting their financial objectives. In addition, NGX offers licensing services, market data solutions, ancillary technology services, and more, in its quest to be Africa’s preferred Exchange hub.
Media Contacts
MOBILIST
Mari Blumenthal
Senior Communications Specialist
mblumenthal@ukmobilist.com
NGX
Clifford Akpolo
Head, Marketing and Corporate Communications
cakpolo@ngxgroup.com