The Green Tax Youth Africa (GTYA), a tax advocacy and civil society organisation, has commended the government’s plan to raise GHS10 billion through bond issuance, to support infrastructure projects in Ghana.
Mr Benaiah Nii Addo, the Executive Director of the GTYA, described the initiative as timely and strategically important, as the state faced constrained fiscal space, rising development needs and an urgent climate gap.
In a statement made available to the Ghana News Agency, the GTYA proposed some complementary reforms to ensure that the GHS10 billion bond issuance intention supported both economic and sustainable objectives.
The Executive Director of the GTYA indicated that, the GHS10 billion bond issuance plan was an opportunity for the country to calibrate its financing architecture away from purely conventional bonds.
However, he stressed the need for the government to outline a clear, sustainable financial framework, aligned with international best practices like the International Capital Market Association Green Bond Principles, to accompany the initiative.
Green bonds designed with strong governance frameworks, clear use of proceed criteria, social inclusion safeguard, can directly support women, youth, coastal communities, informal sector workers and others.
According to Mr Benaiah Nii Addo, global experience showed that well-structured bond instruments could unlock significant capital for development without deepening fiscal vulnerabilities.
“The Philippines, for instance, successfully raised USD2.75 billion through global bond issuance, including sustainability and green alignment instruments,’ he stated.
This act, according to him, was also replicated by Chile, Indonesia, Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa and it attracted stronger investor confidence, while financing infrastructure, climate resilience and social protection priorities.
Mr Benaiah Nii Addo disclosed that, the GTYA’s green bond analytical work in Ghana indicated that, green bonds could serve as a credible tool to finance climate-resilient infrastructure, climate-smart agriculture and nature-based solutions.
Additionally, green bonds could ensure that, the proceeds were explicitly ring fenced for projects that benefited the poor and marginalised communities, who were disproportionately exposed to climate shocks.
The GTYA proposed that, the government should pursue the institutionalisation of mandatory Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) disclosure for all large fixed-income issuances.
This is intended to align with Ghana’s capital market with global benchmark.
Again, Mr Addo suggested that, there should be transparent allocation and independent verification of green bond proceeds to enhance credibility and investor trust.
Furthermore, he said pension funds, insurance companies, and local asset managers must be encouraged to allocate a share of portfolios to sustainable bonds, aligning long-term domestic savings with national development goals.
Finally, the GTYA appealed to the government to use existing platform such as Ghana’s Biodiversity Finance Initiative (BIOFIN) to coordinate sustainable financial strategies and track impact.
The Executive Director of the GTYA emphasised that, the reforms, when duly executed, would enhance investor confidence, and reduce greenwashing risks, while ensuring that Ghana’s bond programme delivered measurable development impact beyond short-term budget support.
GNA
