Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI) has marked the listing of its US$450 million Sustainable Agriculture & Natural Capital Bond with a Market Open Ceremony at the London Stock Exchange, underscoring a significant milestone for African sustainable finance and nature-focused investment.
The transaction is being described as the world’s first International Capital Market Association (ICMA)-designated Nature Bond issued by a commercial bank and the first use-of-proceeds green bond globally to receive ICMA’s Nature Bond secondary designation.
The bond is aimed at supporting eligible lending across sustainable primary production, sustainable agri-processing, and water supply and sanitation projects in 24 markets within Ecobank’s footprint. The bank said financing will be concentrated in markets considered priorities for nature conservation and biodiversity.
The issuance also reflects Ecobank’s broader strategy of mobilising African and international capital towards sectors considered critical to the continent’s long-term resilience, including food systems, natural capital, supply chains and water infrastructure.
Investor appetite for the bond exceeded expectations, with the final order book surpassing US$1.36 billion—representing 3.9 times oversubscription against the initial target size of US$350 million.
The strong demand enabled Ecobank to increase the size of the transaction by US$100 million to US$450 million and tighten pricing by 50 basis points from initial guidance. The transaction achieved a 50-basis-point greenium, highlighting investor willingness to support sustainability-linked financing.
Moody’s assigned the bond its highest Sustainability Quality Score, SQS1 (Excellent).
The bond attracted a diversified international investor base. According to Ecobank, allocations were distributed approximately 55 percent to investors in the UK and Europe, 38 percent to Africa, 3 percent to the Middle East, 2 percent to the United States and 2 percent to Asia.
Development finance institutions and sustainability-focused funds featured prominently among investors, with Dutch entrepreneurial development bank FMO acting as anchor investor.
Structured as a Tier 2 capital instrument, the bond carries a tenor of 10.25 years and is callable after 5.25 years.
Senior executives representing the pan-African banking group attended the London Stock Exchange ceremony, including Chairman Papa Madiaw Ndiaye, Group Chief Executive Officer Jeremy Awori, Group Executive Director and Chief Financial Officer Ayo Adepoju, and Group Head of Sustainability Rachael A.O. Antwi.
Ecobank served as issuer, originator and sole sustainability structuring adviser for the transaction, while Standard Chartered Bank and Renaissance Capital Africa acted as joint lead managers and joint bookrunners.
The London Stock Exchange event highlighted the growing role of African financial institutions in developing market-based solutions for climate and nature-related investments, while reinforcing the continent’s increasing participation in global sustainable finance markets.
Ecobank Group operates in 34 sub-Saharan African countries and maintains a presence in France, the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates and China. The banking group serves more than 30 million customers through consumer, commercial, corporate and investment banking platforms and employs over 14,000 people globally.
Source: businesspostonline
