NMB Bank brings East Africa’s first sustainability bond to LuxSE

Just over a year after listing the first Sub-Saharan Africa gender bond on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange, Tanzania-based NMB Bank returns to the exchange with East Africa’s first sustainability bond.

During an official visit by NMB Bank Plc representatives to the Luxembourg Stock Exchange (LuxSE) last Friday, the two institutions celebrated the listing of the Tanzania-based bank’s dual-currency sustainability bond on LuxSE. Known as the NMB Jamii bond, meaning “community” in Swahili, the bond aims to deliver positive environmental and social impacts to the communities that customers, employees, shareholders, and all stakeholders of the bank live in. The Jamii bond is displayed on the Luxembourg Green Exchange (LGX), the world’s leading platform for sustainable securities.

“Mobilising financing for sustainable development in Africa has become a key priority for our exchange. We are delighted to mark this landmark sustainability bond listing with NMB, and we are committed to continuing in our shared mission of fostering sustainable finance in the region and contributing to closing the funding gap,” said Julie Becker, CEO of LuxSE.

The bond comprises of a USD tranche and a TZS tranche and raised a total of approximately USD 157 million. The proceeds of the bond will be used to strengthen resilience against climate change and for investments in renewable energy, sustainable agriculture, gender equality and youth empowerment, among other key social and environmental projects.

Financing an inclusive transition

NMB Bank is one of the largest commercial banks in Tanzania and has been instrumental in the country’s socio-economic development for 26 years. The bank has implemented initiatives that contribute to the Tanzania National Development Plan 2025/2050 and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals within the fields of the green and blue economy, agriculture, education, health, gender equality, and industrialisation.

NMB’s CEO Ruth Zaipuna commented “The issuance of the first Gender Bond in Sub-Saharan Africa in 2022, the NMB Jasiri Bond, and now the first sustainability bond in East Africa, the NMB Jamii Bond, that we are cross-listing today at the LuxSE and LGX, attest to our commitment of advancing sustainable development and promoting responsible investment practices, with the assurance of rigorous impact assessment and transparent reporting.”

Ms. Zaipuna also added that “Being a domestic bond with both retail and institutional investors’ participation, the NMB Jamii bond has provided investment opportunities for retailers to invest and trade in the bond in lower denomination. This has not only stimulated the development of our local capital markets but also provided the much-needed financial inclusion and access.”

The sustainability bond, which is dual-listed on LuxSE and the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange (DSE) in Tanzania’s capital city, will finance eligible projects set out in the bank’s Sustainable Financing Framework, published in August 2023.

The bond was met with strong demand from both local and international investors, with leading development finance institutions such as the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the Netherland’s FMO and the UK’s British International Investment (BII) having made significant investments in the Jamii bond.

Gender finance beyond borders

On 8 March 2023, LuxSE celebrated International Women’s Day by marking the admission of the NMB Bank’s gender bond on LuxSE and LGX. Known as the “Jasiri” bond, meaning brave in Swahili, the gender bond was NMB Bank’s inaugural social bond issuance and raised the equivalent of USD 32 million.

The bond made history as the first ever gender bond issued in Sub-Saharan Africa, and the proceeds of the bond provided nearly 3,000 women in Tanzania with access to the financing necessary to start or grow their own business.

To find out more about NMB Bank’s sustainability bond, go to www.luxse.com/issuer/NMBBank/111754