The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank (AfDB) has announced a plan to borrow $10.4 billion from the capital markets under its 2021 borrowing scheme.
This was disclosed by the AfDB in a statement on Sunday, citing the board’s approval in the December 11th meeting in Abidjan.
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The multilateral bank said that the borrowing programme would enable it “to mobilize, next year, funds on the international capital markets in order to contribute to the financing of its projects and its program on the African continent.”
The bank stated that the loan would be in dollars, as it was an active player in international markets, using foreign currencies like the US dollars, Australian dollars, euros and pounds sterling.
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It added that, “The Bank will continue to promote the development of African capital markets with the issuance of debt denominated in local currency to facilitate the financing of its operations in these same currencies, in parallel with other initiatives.”
AfDB noted that it played an active role in socially responsible investments and would increase its role in the issuing of green and social bonds.
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“This year, the African Development Bank issued a three-year three-year social bond called ‘Combat Covid-19’. This earned it being named best issuer of Covid-19 bonds at the Global Capital Bond Awards 2020.
“The African Development Bank also continued to use its operational priorities, the “High 5” for the issuance of 19 thematic obligations, including those related to the priorities of “improving the quality of life of people in Africa” and “enlightening Africa,” it said.
The bank said that its triple-A rating from global rating agencies and its rating from “ESG” rating agencies benefited its operations.
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What you should know
- Nairametrics reported last week that the AfDB had said that it was committed to mobilizing the sum of $25 billion in climate finance in Africa by 2025, as well as a number of other initiatives by the bank that would address climate adaptation.
- AfDB President, Dr. Adesina recently said that “Africa must grow by mobilizing domestic resources, especially by unlocking its over $1 trillion in pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, and insurance funds to help close the annual infrastructure financing gap estimated at $64-108 billion.”
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