The Development Bank of Nigeria Plc has obtained the Green Climate Fund Accreditation, becoming the first Direct Access Entity and the only authorized Nigerian channel for accessing green financing from the GCF.
The Global Climate Fund, established by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change to enhance the global response to climate change with over $100 billion to distribute to businesses worldwide.
This was disclosed by the Managing Director of DBN, Dr. Tony Okpanachi while addressing pressmen on Tuesday, according to Vanguard.
According to Okpanachi, the accreditation represents a remarkable chance for Nigerian SMEs in particular and the country’s economy overall.
He revealed that under the deal, individual SMEs that would profit may obtain a loan of anything from $50 million to $250 million.
He further stated that DBN would use the GCF fund for on-lending and combine it with other funding sources for project management or lending.
The MD noted, “With the accreditation, the DBN is empowered to develop and submit funding proposals for projects and programmes, oversee management and implementation of projects and programmes, deploy a range of financial instruments such as concessional loans, co-financing and blending for loans and mobilize private sector capital for such climate change initiatives.”
He said that the accreditation applies to medium-sized projects, on-lending and/or blending for loans, project management, specialized fiduciary standards, basic fiduciary standards, and ESS Risk: Category B.
“Through this collaboration, Nigeria will receive a boost in its fight against the effects of climate change (desertification, global warming, unpredictable rainfall patterns, storms, floods) as well as assist the country’s efforts towards achieving sustainable development, promotion of environmentally friendly technologies in key sectors of the economy including agriculture, manufacturing, healthcare, education, transport and logistics etc.
“It will also help create greater awareness on climate change, culminating in greater involvement of Nigerians in climate actions prompting a shift towards green economy as well as raise the Nigerian portfolio in climate financing globally, and unlocking more climate funds.”
The largest dedicated fund in the world, the Green Climate Fund (GCF), assists small island states, developing and least developed nations, and others in lowering their greenhouse gas emissions and strengthening their capacity to adapt to climate change.
It does this by channelling climate finance to developing countries and investing in their adaptation and mitigation activities through a project portfolio that is implemented by its partner organizations, known as Accredited Entities.
These Accredited Entities create funding requests that the GCF will review. They can be Direct Access Entities or International Accredited Entities. Their individual GCF-approved initiatives are also managed, monitored, overseen, and overseen by them.
