Wednesday,15th November 2023
Nairobi county to explore Green Bond financing as part of its commitment to Global Climate Change agenda.
Nairobi City County is among five Counties in Kenya that have made significant strides towards readiness for green financing for capital investment projects. Announcing this, the lead expert from FSD-Kenya Dr. Milka Chebii congratulated NCCG for its leadership and commitment to the process. Adaptation Consortium expressed its readiness to continue supporting the County in establishing legal and policy frameworks necessary for greater uptake on diversified Programme financing including green bonds, FLLOCA and other climate financing alternatives.
Green Bonds are fixed income instruments whose proceeds are earmarked exclusively for projects with environmental benefits, mostly related to climate change mitigation or adaptation but also to natural resources depletion, loss of bio-diversity, air, water or soil pollution.
Speaking at the Olesereni Hotel during the Nairobi County Green Bond validation meeting, the Deputy Governor H.E Njoroge Muchiri reading H.E Governor Sakaja’s speech said, with the vision of making Nairobi a city of Order, Hope ,Dignity and Opportunity for all, the partnerships the County has established with development partners both locally and internationally are of value and the prospects posed by the Green Bond financing will propel Nairobi back to its glory as the undisputed leader in East and Central Africa to live, work and raise a family.
Said Deputy Muchiri, “From the input received today, it is very clear on what we need to do as a County in terms of implementation in order to receive these funds and better the lives of the people that entrusted us with their votes.”
The Director Donor Coordination and Stakeholder Engagement Mr. Kefa Omanga presented the County’s fiscal, economic, rating and risk outlook that explained Nairobi’s positive profile that endears the County to investor appetite currently and in the future. He applauded ongoing reforms in Revenue Administration, Public Finance Management and Governance. He added that Nairobi remains a critical economic hub for Kenya contributing 27% of Kenya’s GDP with the fastest Growing GCP at an annual rate of 9.1% in the last five years. Considering that Nairobi hosts approximately 12% of Kenya’s population and accounts for 80% of Kenya’s industrial base with the most advanced financial market and services in the region, there is sufficient reason for discerning investor’s to seek investment opportunities in the City.
Added Mr. Omanga “We take great pride with the expressed commitment of H. E Governor Sakaja to lead the City to Order, Dignity, Hope and Opportunity. Alternative financing presents the greatest opportunity towards realization of the vision”.
The next steps towards realizing the objective of the Green Finance Initiative were agreed upon. The Directorate for Donor Coordination called for establishment of a County Investment Working Group bringing together different sectors to facilitate coordination of the project going forward.
Among the Stakeholders present were various County Executive Committee Members, Chief Officers, Directors, representatives from Financial Sector Deepening(FSD)-Kenya, Augusto and Co., Nairobi Securities Exchange(NSE), CMA, the National Treasury and internal technical teams.
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