BOI: Climate Change Weakening Competitiveness, Economic Resilience of Nigerian Manufacturing, Agriculture, Infrastructure

Dike Onwuamaeze

The Bank of Industry (BOI) has declared that pressures arising from climate change are “collectively weakening the competitiveness and economic resilience of Nigerian enterprises, particularly across sectors such as manufacturing, agriculture, infrastructure.”

The BOI also said that these pressures are impeding the ability of actors “to adapt and fully express all that are reposed within these sectors.”

Executive Director, Corporate Finance and Risk Management, BOI, Mr. Rotimi Akinde stated this during the virtual inaugural session of the “BOI Climate Resilience Knowledge Series” with the theme, “Building Climate Resilience Enterprises in Nigeria for Sustainable Livelihood and Inclusive Growth.”

Akinde said that across the country today, we are witnessing rising temperature, unpredictable rainfall patterns, flash floods and heatwaves that are threatening food security, eroding livelihoods, displacing communities and widening gender equalities.

He said: “These are not just mere rhetoric. Rather they have become a reality as witnessed by thousands of farmers in Kebbi State; manufacturers in Kano, and also communities in Lagos State and in the Niger Delta, particularly Bayelsa State.”

According to Akinde, the BOI is now taking very deliberate steps aimed at responding to the threats posed by climate change “through what we call targeted financing.

He said, “So, we are actively engaging enterprises not only to grow but to build resilience needed to withstand the evolving climate landscape. We recognise that climate adaptation is not just an environmental citation but an economic one. Consequently, businesses that cannot adapt to climate changes will continue to struggle for their sustainability. Sectors that are not climate proof will be constrained to attract the long-term investments that Nigeria needs.”

He said that if the BOI would fail to address these climate’s related issues as a development financial institution, which it believed is at the core of the bank’s mandate, BOI could be potentially affected by fitness for purpose in the foreseeable future.

“That is why we have convened this webinar series today because climate resilience is not a farfetched topic. Rather it is central to Nigeria’s industrial future and today is an opportunity to advance that conversation in a meaningful way,” Akinde said.

He added: “We believe this discussion is timely given the fact that Nigeria is at the point of inflection with vast endowment in human and natural resources that are yet to be fully exploited.   Yet, this potential is increasingly threatened not necessarily from lack of ideas or ambition because there is a lot of energy that we see in Nigeria but from the accelerating impacts of changing climate that we must now urgently confront.”

Speaking during the inaugural session, the Group Head, Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG), BOI, Mr. Ademola Ogundeyi, said that the theme could not be more timely because across the world occurrences of climate change are no longer projections.

Ogundeyi said: “They are present realities across supply chains, our communities and for us in financial system. Nigeria is not insulated from this. Nigeria is also not powerless. The BOI has made a clear and deliberate commitment to position Nigerian enterprises not just to survive climate change pressure but to thrive through them.”

Speaking in the same vein, the Chief Sustainability Officer, BOI, Mrs. Eniola Akinsete, said that the bank wanted to gather headwinds on how climate change is affecting enterprises, families and livelihoods and the productive sectors in Nigeria.

“Also, we want to identify practical resilient strategies that will help businesses and livelihoods to grow. Thirdly, is how we will be able to design and tailor financing pathways to support to SMEs, women lead enterprises and to climate vulnerable groups,” Akinsete said.