- The African Development Bank (AfDB) is issuing a green bond on the capital market in Australia.
- This transaction is concluded while professionals of the renewable energy sector are gathered until March 23, 2023 in Abidjan in Ivory Coast for the Energy Access Investment Forum (EAIF).
Major development finance organizations active in Africa, such the African Development Bank, are driving the growth of the green bond market in that continent (AfDB). The financial organization with its headquarters in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, has just released a number of green bonds on the global capital market. A 10-year A$50 million (about US$33 million) Kangaroo Bond with a maturity date of March 8, 2033, with the subject “Lighting up and Powering Africa,” is being offered by the AfDB on the Australian market.
One of the five key areas for the AfDB to promote Africa’s development is this. To enable 130 million new power grid connections, the “Light and Power Africa” area wants to assist in financing 160 GWh of additional capacity.
This objective calls for the distribution of 150 million homes with stoves and other clean cooking options in addition to 75 million new off-grid connections. The AfDB calculates that $60–90 billion would be needed annually to achieve this target. For the next five years, the AfDB is anticipated to invest $12 billion of its own money in energy finance. The green bond offered on the Australian market was negotiated by TD Securities and sold to Tokyo, Japan-based investor Fukoku Mutual Life Insurance Corporation.
At a time when, according to the AfDB, just 48% of Africans have access to power, the pan-African financial organization issued this green bond. 900 million people lack access to safe cooking options, which causes an estimated 600,000 fatalities annually from air pollution connected to the use of fuelwood for indoor cooking. At the same time, 90% of African elementary schools lack access to electricity.