Kuni Tyessi in Abuja
The Alternative Bank has stepped up its climate action drive, becoming the first financial institution in Nigeria to formally partner with the Federal Ministry of Environment on the commemoration of World Environment Day.
The distinction was made publicly at the 2026 World Environment Day celebration in Abuja by the Ministry’s Director of Planning, Research and Statistics, Babagana Bukar.
The event also marked the Federal Government’s official launch of the National Tree Planting Campaign, targeting 20 billion trees across Nigeria by 2030.
“The Alternative Bank is the first bank to partner with the Ministry on the commemoration of World Environment Day,” Bukar said.
“Whenever we think environment, they think environment. When we speak environment, they speak environment. We are aligned in our vision and objectives.”
Speaking at the event, Head of Business Enablement at The Alternative Bank, Maryam Mohammed outlined the bank’s expanding green finance portfolio, which currently supports more than 2,120 electric tricycles on Nigerian roads and includes the country’s first women-owned electric tricycle scheme.
According to.her, the bank also offers dedicated products for solar home systems and other clean energy solutions, promotes recycling through its Waste Banc initiative, and is developing financial products to support tree-planting and afforestation projects.
“Our role is to provide financial support and create financing opportunities for initiatives such as these. We also provide a platform for SMEs and businesses operating within the environmental and sustainability sectors,” Mohammed said.
Environment Minister Balarabe Abbas Lawal called the target achievable before raising the bar himself. “We can do much more,” he said.
Director of Forestry, Halima Bawa Bwari provided the context behind the urgency, warning that Nigeria loses an estimated 163,000 hectares of forest every year to agricultural expansion, illegal logging, bush burning, and urban development.
“This is not a distant future threat. It is a present and very real danger,” she said.
The event closed with a symbolic tree-planting exercise, marking the start of a five-year national reforestation drive.
World Environment Day 2026 is the latest chapter in a story The Alternative Bank has been writing for years.
In Kano, a fleet of pink electric tricycles has been quietly changing women’s lives through the Mata Zalla initiative, delivering 120 electric tricycles to women cooperatives, training them as drivers and mechanics, and building battery-swapping infrastructure within the metropolis so riders can keep earning without interruption.
That was followed by a landmark N14 billion deal with the Niger State government to finance 5,000 electric tricycles, described at signing as the single largest delivery of electric vehicles in Nigeria and on the African continent. Serious climate action in Nigeria will need serious financial backing. The Alternative Bank is a key part of it.
