Explore climate financing to shore up revenue to fund the 2024 Budget – Edun

By Iyojo Ameh

The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Mr Wale Edun, has said Nigeria needs to explore climate financing to shore up revenue to fund the 2024 Budget.

He stated this during a one-day retreat on the 2024 Appropriation Bill organised by the Senate Committee on Appropriations.

The theme of the retreat is “Budget and Budgetary Process: Improved Outcomes in 2024”.

Edun, while acknowledging that Nigeria’s fiscal space was exhausted in line with the position of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), proposed a strategic shift towards concessional funding including climate financing as a viable solution.

“Nigeria’s fiscal space is exhausted, we have to focus on the concessional funding, the cheaper funding, even free funding and climate financing is the way.

“Solution is that we have to focus on concessional funding, the cheaper funding, even free funding, and climate financing is the way”.

He highlighted the urgency of addressing the fiscal constraints and reducing dependence on borrowing particularly foreign borrowing.

Edun pointed out that with an estimated $1 trillion annually to be spent on climate change, emphasised the significance of climate financing in funding the N27.5 trillion budget.

“Just yesterday UAE announced a $30 billion dollars for climate action. What that means is that as we look to fund the N27.5 trillion budget this year, our first port of call must be the most cheapest and the most concessionary finacing including climate financing.

“We have to be brave, courageous, innovative to make sure that we use the financial market to take the stress down, to reduce our debt servicing, to reduce our emphasis on borrowing,” Edun said.

The Minister highlighted recent strides, including the signing of a 100 million euros foreign direct investment for reforestation of mangrove forests in Cross River.

He underscored the importance of maximising existing assets without resorting to excessive borrowing.

The minister also mentioned the possibility of leveraging countries and organisations willing to allow funding based on their credit ratings which could alleviate debt service burdens for Nigeria.

Edun further emphasised the need for Nigeria to quickly optimise its resources aligning with the changing global dynamics that emphasised equity over excessive debt.

The Minister expressed hope for a swift passage of the budget, signaling a proactive approach to addressing the nation’s financial challenges.

In his remarks, President of the Senate, Sen. Godswill Akapbio said that Nigeria would not achieve much, unless the country increased revenue.

He urged all revenue agencies in the country to do more and block all revenue leakges.

“No matter how beautiful the budget is , if there is no money to spend, the budget will not work.

‘Let’s get up and block the loopholes of leakages and wastages and then bring more revenue so that the 2024 budget becomes realistic”, he said.

The senate president assured that the National Assembly was determined to pass the budget on record time ” “and we will continue to ensure the January to December budgetary cycle”.