Goddy Egene
The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) and the Luxembourg Stock Exchange (LuxSE) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to promote cross-listing and trading of green bonds in Nigeria and Luxembourg.
The MoU was signed by the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the NSE, Mr. Oscar Onyema and CEO of LuxSE, Mr. Robert Scharfe, during the annual meeting of the World Federation of Exchanges in Singapore yesterday.
NSE said in a statement that the MoU further established an agreement for the two exchanges to collaborate with a view to sharing best practises and organising joint initiatives in their respective markets.
Commenting, Onyema said: “This collaboration reinforces NSE’s drive to foster the growth of sustainable finance in Nigeria, a journey that commenced with the launch of the first sovereign green bond by NSE, in partnership with the Federal Ministry of Environment, Federal Ministry of Finance and the Debt Management Office. With the MoU, issuers will enjoy the benefit of increased visibility through the cross listing of their securities in Nigeria and Luxembourg.
“The partnership will further facilitate the growth of the Green Finance industry in Nigeria and ultimately deepen the Nigerian capital market through the mobilisation of the foreign green capital needed to fund sustainable projects in Nigeria.”
On his part, Scharfe said: “Sustainable finance is becoming a truly global movement. By joining forces with other exchanges to promote and facilitate green finance, we strive to accelerate the sustainable finance agenda and increase awareness of interest in investment projects that support the sustainable development that our world needs. We are pleased to cooperate with the NSE further strengthen sustainable finance in and between our markets.”
The Nigerian Green bond market received international recognition following the issuance and listing on the NSE of the N10.69bn Federal Government sovereign green bond in December 2017. This issuance sparked significant interest from the international and local capital market communities as it opened new investment opportunities, especially for domestic investors, to increase their exposure to financial instruments that generate social and environmental impact.
According to NSE, The LuxSE operates the Luxembourg Green Exchange (LGX), a platform exclusively dedicated to sustainable finance instruments. LGX holds a 50 per cent global market share of listed green, social and sustainability bonds. LuxSE works closely with selected stock exchanges around the world to support the growth of sustainable finance.
