Stanbic IBTC Bank has restated its commitment to grow the gas sector by increasing its funding requirements. The bank said from storage, production, delivery and even down to the renewable energy side of the divide there were a whole lot of products in place to support the gas value chain.
Describing renewable energy as key to economic growth, the Head, BCB Oil & Gas of the bank, Richard Inegbedion said the bank had in the very short time done a lot in the sector.
He said: “We are committed to the net zero emission drive and we will be part of various engagements. As a bank, products have been developed to ensure that we meet our clients’ needs in this space.”
Speaking on the sideline of the Nigeria-South Africa Breakfast Meeting, with the theme, “Energy Transition: Identifying the Need and Financing the Opportunities”, in Lagos, Inegbedion said as a member of a Standard Bank Group, there was a whole lot happening in the renewable energy space in the East African coast that the bank was leveraging to grow the market here in Nigeria.
According to him, one of the line items that the bank had been able to leverage in the last few months was the World Bank Rural Electrification Agency (DES) program. Called the Distributed Assets for Renewable Energy Scale-Up in Nigeria, the Head, oil and gas of the bank said there was a grant attached to this that had been availed to the country adding that Stanbic is the only bank that has signed an MoU.
According to him, there is an understanding with the Rural Electrification Agency and the World Bank on how to apply the grant to support developers in the sector. Inegbedion explained that the grant for Nigeria was to support a deepening power supply to the rural areas especially.
“As one of the participating banks in the project, we’re able to provide bridge finance for our clients under the grant agreement with the World Bank and the Rural Electrification Agency to support development.
“We have a working understanding with the agency and most of the developers that we’ve been able to reach out to were able to work with them to provide the right solution to deepening the renewable energy market in the rural area”, our bridge finance is meant to support and catalyse growth and the grant provides some level of comfort for us to continue to support our clients,” Inegbedion added.
Beyond the grant arrangement, Inegbedion said Stanbic Bank had products to support the commercial and industrial space.
“Subject to our internal risk acceptance criteria, we’re able to also support clients in the commercial and Industrial (C&I) space; the drive is to continue to design frameworks and products to enable us to support and expand the mass ecosystem and mass opportunity that the market presents,” he said.
While describing energy transition as critical to the nation’s growth, the Head, BCB Oil & Gas said as a bank, Stanbic IBTC was totally aligned to the call for zero net emission, and as a bank we’ve got various support programs for the sector, and not forgetting the opportunities in the oil and gas space. “Renewable energy has come to stay, we’ve got resources in abundance in Nigeria, and from the various sources of renewable energy, solar is very primary, and we are willing to take advantage of that. As part of the stakeholder within the ecosystem, we’ll continue to develop products and programs that will enable us to support the market,” Inegbedion added.
He admitted that the traditional fuel had provided a lot of benefit for the country, however, there’s a need for to align with a global initiative around reduction in carbon emission. “And for us in Nigeria and in Africa, we’re able to leverage on our spread as an institution beyond the shores of Nigeria to bring home expertise, to bring home support systems, support funding to drive the initiative,” he said.
On partnership with the Rural Electrification Agency as of today on the World Bank program, Redistributed Assets for Renewable Energy Scale-Up program, he said: “We’re able to support developers in the various sub-segments, from solar home systems to mini-grid and interconnected mini-grid, so for us as a bank, it’s an opportunity to scale, it’s an opportunity to drive an initiative that will benefit everybody, and ultimately help to make the world a better place.
“As of today, in terms of capacity building, there’s a whole lot going on, we’re learning, we’re retooling, we’re redesigning, we’re creating new products, we’re amending, we’re absorbing new initiatives to enable us to create the change that the market deserves. And not forgetting the opportunities around the gas value chain,” he said, adding that gas was not only a transition fuel, it’s also an opportunity for to provide support for the system.
