By Adedapo Adesanya
The African Development Bank (AfDB) has confirmed being admitted into the Nasdaq Sustainable Bond Network (NSBN).
The NSBN is a global and publicly available platform designed to improve transparency in the market for green, social and sustainability bonds.
In a statement released on Wednesday, the AfDB said 10 of its bonds were added to the platform, including its landmark $3-billion Fight COVID-19 Social Bond, launched in March, which was the largest social bond ever launched at the time in international capital markets.
The Fight COVID-19 still remains the largest dollar-denominated social bond. It aims to help alleviate the economic and social impact of the pandemic on livelihoods and Africa’s economies, the AfDB said in the statement.
Speaking on this, Nasdaq European Union Bond Listings and Sustainable Debt head and Vice President, Ms Ann-Charlotte Eliasson, said, “By joining the NSBN, socially responsible issuers are provided a unique opportunity to bring attention to their concrete actions in terms of financing climate change and green growth.”
“Nasdaq welcomes the inclusion of the AfDB on our NSBN, especially with its Fight Covid-19 Social Bond, launched to alleviate the impact of the pandemic on African economies and livelihoods.
“We are proud to offer visibility to an issuer with such a strong social mandate, which the world needs more than ever, especially in these challenging times,” she said.
Since the launch of the NSBN in December, more than 40 issuers from 13 countries have added more than 4,000 bonds to the platform.
On the part of AfDB, treasurer Mrs Hassatou Diop N’Sele, said, “The NSBN platform allows us to showcase our work in combating poverty and in helping move the African continent forward. Our Fight COVID-19 Social Bond is about saving lives and livelihoods.”
The AfDB established its social bond framework in 2017, and raised the equivalent of $5.5 billion through five transactions supporting 89 eligible social projects in 28 African countries.
In 2018, AfDB was designated as the second most impressive social or sustainability bond-issuer at Global Capital’s Socially Responsible Investment awards and AfDB’s NOK1-billion 3-year social bond issued in 2019 was awarded the social bond of the year by Environmental Finance.
