By Moses Patience Chat
First City Monument Bank (FCMB) Headquarters on Marina, Lagos Island has offered Nigerian households and small businesses a N10 million loan to acquire solar panels, inverters, and other green energy equipment.
The loan, which is a part of their energy finance scheme is designed to help homes and small businesses like hospitals, schools, restaurants, bars, stores, hotels, and fashion places keep life and work going by using clean and renewable energy.
The Managing Director of FCMB, Mrs. Yemisi Edun, who commented on the energy product, described it as “another bold intervention by the lender to unlock the potential of the renewable and clean energy sector, provide relief to Nigerians and encourage clean energy.”
In her own words, “Access to energy drives economic growth and development. The FCMB Energy Finance offering is a reaffirmation of our commitment to eco-friendly energy finance to fight climate change, drive the growth of businesses, improve the quality of life, and accelerate development through environmentally sustainable energy solutions. With the removal of the petrol subsidy, more Nigerians are focusing on alternative energy sources to power their homes and businesses.
“We will continue to scale up our support to individuals and businesses to enable the country to take full advantage of the opportunities in these areas for the overall benefit of humanity’’.
The Bank upgraded the product to lessen the impact of reduced subsidies on traditional fossil fuels, which has caused a rise in petrol prices across the country, given the pervasive use of small gasoline generators to power households and small businesses.
The Group Head of Business Banking at FCMB, Mr. George Ogbonnaya, in his remark said “We understand the challenges individuals and businesses face in securing funding to provide clean and sustainable power. The FCMB Energy Finance loan is structured to eliminate these challenges. It is a flexible facility with two to seven years of repayment options at competitive interest rates. We urge Nigerians, especially small business owners, to take advantage of this opportunity to reduce energy costs for their homes and businesses.”
Commending the product, the President of the Renewable Energy Association of Nigeria (REAN), Ayo Ademilua, said: “The energy finance loan is innovative and coming at the right time when the market needs alternative energy solutions mostly due to PMS price increase.”
While giving his remarks on carbon financing, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Consistent Energy Limited, Dr. Segun Adaju, mentioned that carbon trading market has become attractive, and more parties are beginning to promote carbon in Africa.
“The 2023 Electricity Act promotes private-public sector partnerships, allowing private companies to participate in the renewable energy space and catalyse investments through carbon trading. The carbon trading market has become attractive, and more parties are beginning to promote carbon trading in Africa, following the Africa Carbon Markets Initiative, ACMI, established in 2022 to unlock the potential of voluntary carbon markets for financing Africa’s energy, climate, and development goals.
“It is heartwarming that FCMB has keyed into this by providing a platform through the FCMB Energy Finance Loan product to provide the much-needed funding to Nigerians to acquire affordable clean energy sources,” he said.