A delegation of eight officials from the Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN) recently concluded a five-day study visit to the African Development Bank headquarters in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire.
The visit, jointly hosted by the Climate Change and Green Growth Department and the Financial Sector Development Department, focused on sharing tools and best practices for integrating climate and sustainability considerations into the institution’s financial operations
Through the African Financial Alliance on Climate Change (AFAC), the African Development Bank offers technical assistance to African financial institutions to help them manage climate-related risks and unlock opportunities in green investments.
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Africa remains highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, with climate-induced losses projected to reach up to $50 billion annually by 2030, equivalent to as much as 15 percent of the continent’s GDP. Despite this vulnerability, Africa holds immense potential for sustainable investment, leveraging its abundant natural capital, including land, minerals, and renewable energy resources. Mobilising domestic capital towards long-term sustainable investments is key to realising this potential.
Public development banks are instrumental in steering capital toward priority sectors by de-risking innovative and sustainable investments.
Batchi Baldeh, Director of Power Systems Development and DBN board member, remarked, “Through targeted investments, the African Development Bank is committed to strengthening institutions such as the Development Bank of Nigeria to foster youth employment and drive resilient and sustainable development.”
Anthony Nyong, Director of the Climate Change and Green Growth Department, emphasised the importance of peer learning among African institutions. “The Bank’s Ten-Year Strategy serves as a framework to deepen regional and global partnerships and expand access to concessional financing from mechanisms such as the Green Climate Fund. To this end, the Bank provides technical assistance to regional and national financial institutions to create green jobs and build resilience into their operations,” he said.
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Ahmed Attout, Director of Financial Sector Development at the Bank, said: “The Development Bank of Nigeria remains a key strategic partner of the Bank in the implementation of flagship programs that are geared at expanding access to finance for underserved sections of the society, especially Women and Youth in Nigeria. Visits like this reinforce our partnership and strengthen our impact, and we look forward to building on the opportunities identified this week”.
Jeremiah Dan-Okayi, DBN Head of Strategy and Policy, remarked that this visit was timely for the implementation of its green finance strategy. Beyond technical knowledge, the visit also opened new avenues for collaboration to strengthen our role in building a more resilient and inclusive financial system in Nigeria”, he said.
