Nigeria is leveraging green finance to accelerate its energy transition, with President Tinubu announcing a $2 billion national climate fund. Oversubscribed green bonds signal strong investor appetite.
Speaking at the Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week summit, President Bola Tinubu said Nigeria’s Climate Investment Platform aimed to mobilize US $500 million for climate-resilient infrastructure. The National Climate Change Fund is targeting a $2 billion capitalization to support projects that reduce emissions and enhance resilience.
Tinubu also announced that Nigeria and the United Arab Emirates had signed a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) that aims to boost trade and investment across sectors, including renewable energy, aviation, logistics, agriculture, digital trade, and climate-smart infrastructure.
Nigeria faces major environmental and climate policy challenges, including reducing gas flaring and methane emissions, as it works towards its Energy Transition Plan, which targets net-zero emissions by 2060 while delivering universal energy access.
Nigeria’s green bond programme has drawn strong investor interest. A 50 billion naira (US $38 million) sovereign green bond issued in 2025 attracted 91 billion naira in subscriptions, while Lagos State’s green bond was oversubscribed by nearly 98%, the president said.
Tinubu said his government was also seeking to unlock an ambitious US$25–US$30 billion annually in climate finance. A new Climate and Green Industrialization Investment Playbook will aid private investors and other stakeholders in navigating manufacturing policy and the regulatory landscape.
This builds on past initiatives, including the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority’s $500 million Distributed Renewable Energy Fund, launched in March 2025 to catalyse local financing.
“These reforms show Nigeria is ready for business,” the president said, adding that non-oil exports have grown by 21% and investment commitments now exceed $50 billion across key sectors.
Nigeria is prioritizing technology partnerships to modernise its grid and deploy artificial intelligence for efficiency, alongside pilot projects in electric mobility and green industrialisation, he added.
The president called for a shift towards more blended finance—which combines public and philanthropic capital with private investment and can absorb initial losses if the project underperforms — instead of sovereign guarantees, which he said unfairly penalise emerging economies.
