AltBank Tasks Private Sector on Climate Leadership, Urges Business-driven Investment

The Alternative Bank (AltBank) has called on Nigeria's private sector to take ownership of the nation's climate agenda, emphasizing that sustainable growth hinges on business-driven investment and accountability. The bank issued this challenge at the Nigerian Environmental Summit (NESt 2026) in Abuja, which convened government officials, corporate leaders, and development partners.

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Our role here is to support an initiative that has a direct impact on the nation. Every private-sector organisation should see itself as a stakeholder and team player in this effort because it serves a national objective.

Mohammed Abdul, Divisional Head of Commercial and Institutional Banking at AltBank, stated that environmental sustainability must transition from corporate social responsibility statements to become a core business strategy. He urged every private-sector organization to act as a stakeholder and team player in achieving national environmental objectives. AltBank itself has integrated social, environmental, and ethical considerations into its lending and operations, viewing its corporate social investment through an impact-driven lens.

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The challenge is not the absence of policy. The challenge is implementation, enforcement, coordination and accountability.

Speakers at the summit agreed that Nigeria's primary environmental challenge is not a lack of policy, but rather inadequate implementation, enforcement, coordination, and accountability. Governance strategist Dr. Murtala Mohammed proposed creating a Nigerian Environmental Governance Index to benchmark states on their performance, compliance, financing, and institutional capacity.

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A commitment made in Abuja that does not reach Kebbi, Borno, Nasarawa, or the local government areas is not ‘accountability’. It remains paperwork.

Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Health, Uju Rochas Anwukah, warned that environmental commitments made at the federal level are meaningless if they do not translate into action at state and local government levels. Mrs. Rita Michael-Ojo, Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Environmental Summit Group, stressed the need for multi-stakeholder collaboration, stating, "The government must lead. The private sector must invest. Development partners must collaborate. Communities must participate."

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We are here because we recognise that no single institution, sector or individual can solve these challenges alone. The government must lead. The private sector must invest. Development partners must collaborate. Communities must participate.