The Ecobank Group launched the world’s first ICMA commercial bank-issued Nature Bond on the London Stock Exchange, on Tuesday.
The bond was created to fund international and African biodiversity projects.
Moody’s awarded the transaction its highest possible sustainability quality score, SQS1 Excellent.
The bond is expected to support African farmers, sustainable agriculture businesses and water systems.
Despite hosting 25% of global biodiversity, Africa receives less than 3% of nature finance.
Jeremy Awori, Group Chief Executive Office, Ecobank Transnational Incorporated, said Ecobank’s Nature Bond is a direct response to the gap.
“This transaction is a defining moment for African sustainable finance. Investors did not just support this bond. They demanded more of it, allowing us to increase the size and tighten pricing. We are not a bank that simply labels bonds. We have spent four years building the systems, governance and accountability needed to make nature finance credible and scalable in Africa. This bond is ultimately about the farmers, cooperatives and communities whose livelihoods depend on healthy ecosystems” said Awori.
He also said the investments will be made in 24 markets, with significant deployment in biodiversity-priority countries such as Côte d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso and Ghana.
Importantly, 81% of the eligible lending pool is allocated to countries where agricultural land-use change is the primary driver of biodiversity loss, helping direct capital to the areas where it can have the greatest environmental impact.
The USD 450 million bond was priced following strong investor demand with the final orderbook exceeding USD 1.36 billion – 3.9x the original target size.
The strength of demand enabled Ecobank to increase the transaction by USD 100 million and tighten pricing by 50 basis points.
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