Access Bank Plc PHOTO: thescoopng.com
Access Bank Plc said it has created a pipeline of projects that can be packaged as green projects that are eligible for green bond financing, as part of efforts to tap into the Federal Government’s green bond initiative.
The Group Deputy Managing Director of the bank, Roosevelt Ogbonna, stated this at the launching of the Nigerian Green Bond Market Development Programme, organised by FMDQ OTC Securities Exchange in partnership with Financial Sector Deepening Africa (FSD Africa) and Climate Bonds Initiative, in Lagos at the weekend.
Speaking on the theme: “Access Bank’s Sustainability Journey”, he said the bank has put in place various initiatives to drive the level of engagement and systems designed to generate more ideas that will strengthen the sustainable agenda of the Nigeria economy.
According to him, by recognising and understanding challenges to sustainability, the bank has succeeded in managing risks and capturing new market opportunities.
“As the world advances we can see that sustainability is the future, we promise to continue to be the face of social and environmental development; as well as facilitate an economy that is all inclusive and progressive.
“We recognise that a better and prosperous future is linked to the well-being and health of our planet.
Thus, the protection of the environment is germane to us. Waste reduction initiatives form a key part of our cost reduction strategy.
Our Save Paper initiative launched across several business locations is with the aim of cutting printing and paper use by 50 per cent.
“Also, we have trained, not just our staff but our clients, colleagues in other firms so in all of these processes, we have been able to lift participants already and potential participants so as we are now moving into the green bond space, all of these prior wotk shows that we have ready projects for this kind of journey.”
On the projects the bank is targeting to be financed through the green bond, Ogbonna said: “The projects that are more impactful are the ones we are targeting, especially in the sense of the people and the environment.
The biggest project is usually impact in infrastructure, anything that is going to cut down on processes that are burning diesel every day, burning oil into the atmosphere.
Source: G Business
