The Federal Government says it will encourage a high level of transparency in the management of proceeds of the N10.69bn Green Bond.

It said it was recommended that an issuer’s management of proceeds be supplemented by the use of an auditor, or other third party, to verify the internal tracking method and the allocation of funds from the Green Bond proceeds.

The Assistant Director, Department of Climate Change, Ministry of Environment, Halima Bawri, gave the assurance during an investment forum/road show on the Green Bond in Lagos.

The Green Bond Guideline obtained by our correspondent read, “The net proceeds of Green Bonds should be credited to a sub-account, moved to a sub-portfolio or otherwise tracked by the issuer in an appropriate manner and attested to by a formal internal process linked to the issuer’s lending and investment operations for Green Bonds.”

The Federal Government will on Monday (today) issue the Green Bond worth N10.69bn to finance some aspects of the 2017 budget.

Participants at the investors forum were from pension funds administrators, Federal Ministry of Finance, Inter-ministerial Committee on Climate Change,  Nigerian Stock Exchange,  Central Bank of Nigeria, Securities and Exchange Commission, Chapel Hill Denham, and other private sector representatives.

The Director-General of the Debt Management Office, Mrs. Patience Oniha, who was also present at the forum, said the bond was part of government’s effort to align with the global objective of expanding the market for climate finance.

She said Green bonds had been the subject of increasing government and investor interest, driven by the prospect of matching large low carbon investment requirements with global bond markets held by institutional investors.

She said, “The Federal Government is at that stage where it is about issuing the Green Bond for N10.69bn.

“We are meeting the people who will invest in the bonds to sensitise them about the bond programme.

“Government is going to use the money from Green bonds for specific projects. It is for green projects that have been classified as green and it’s also project-tied.

“So, it’s not money going to government for general spending, it is going for specific projects that have significant benefits for the environment.”

The DMO DG explained that the delay in issuing the bond was as a result of many processes involved in floating the instruments.

She added, “There are several process  that you have to go through before the bond is issued.

“For instance, Moody has rated the projects as being qualified for green instruments and it’s a process we have to go through. But now, definitely next week we are issuing the green bonds.”