Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) will partner with the UK government’s Mobilising Institutional Capital Through Listed Product Structures (MOBILIST) programme to enable greater investment toward achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Africa through products listed on the Exchange.
The partnership was announced during UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly’s two-day visit to Nigeria on Tuesday, 1 August 2023. Cleverly visited the NGX trading floor and said that collaboration between MOBILIST and NGX can help to catalyse and scale up public market investment products that support the climate transition and SDGs.
The MOBILIST programme aims to unlock the potential of public capital markets for sustainable finance in emerging markets and developing economies. According to the OECD, Africa’s sustainable financing gap until 2030 amounts to about $1.6 trillion and the continent needs about $194 billion in additional funding annually to achieve the SDGs by that year.[1] MOBILIST was created to help direct some of the $250 trillion in private capital currently held in products listed on global stock exchanges to help meet this financing gap.
UK Foreign Secretary, James Cleverly said: “Today, I announce a new partnership between Nigerian Exchange and MOBILIST that will bring capital markets more squarely into financing economic development. It will support the climate transition and the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs).
MOBILIST supports new listings on public stock exchanges. That could be here in Nigeria, in Johannesburg or London. And that support could be technical, research based, or could include equity investment from the UK government.
Developing countries need at least $3.9 trillion in additional financing per year to achieve the SDGs. MOBILIST will help. And it’s just one of British Investment Partnership’s programmes.”
Also responding, Abubakar Mahmoud, Chairman, NGX stated: “The UK remains Nigeria’s critical partner; especially in the areas of trade, exports, business, and investment and we welcome its government’s partnership on MOBILIST, which is in line with NGX’s long-term interest to direct greater investments towards achieving the UN SDGs through listed products. We will continue to forge strong partnerships that will foster the sustainable development of the Nigerian economy.”
In his comments, Temi Popoola, NGX’s CEO, said: “NGX remains firmly dedicated to promoting sustainable finance in Nigeria. This commitment drives us to continuously seek strategic partnerships with key stakeholders, including the UK Government. The Exchange, in collaboration with the Nigerian Government and industry stakeholders, played a leading role in advocating for and successfully issuing the inaugural green bond in 2017. Our collaboration on the MOBILIST program aims to further enhance our efforts in making the Nigerian capital market an attractive hub for investments that foster sustainable capital formation.”
MOBILIST Investment and Technical Assistance to NGX Participants
MOBILIST seeks to partner with financial institutions at the core of capital markets and will engage with and accept proposals from NGX participants (brokers, investment banks and intermediaries of public offerings). Whilst MOBILIST can only deploy equity capital, the programme can provide debt securities issuers with technical assistance funding.
