The African Development Bank (AfDB) has issued a $100 million 7-year “Feed Africa” Theme Bond due September 2029 in a bid to ramp up food production in the continent.
The new issuance was arranged by Citigroup Global Markets Limited and sold in a Private Placement format to a single Japanese investor, Norinchukin Bank, a strong supporter of the Agricultural, Fishery and Forestry industries, the bank said in a statement.
Through this investment in the African Development Bank’s “Feed Africa” theme bond, the investor aims to support the Bank’s initiatives and contribute to the increase in food production in Africa.
The statement said that the African Development Bank has issued a certain number of theme bonds linked to its five strategic operational priorities known as the “High 5s”, for the purpose of financing projects under each of the High 5 areas since 2015.
The “Feed Africa” bond is intended to support the “Feed Africa” High 5 and the Bank will use its best efforts to direct an amount equal to the net proceeds of the issue of the notes to lending projects which aim to advance the “Feed Africa” strategic priority, subject to and in accordance with the Bank’s lending standards.
Under its Feed Africa strategy, the Bank is working to (i) contribute to reducing poverty; (ii) end hunger and malnutrition; (iii) make Africa a net food exporter; and (iv) move Africa to the top of export-orientated value chains where it has a comparative advantage. Feed Africa’s overall goal is to make Africa a net food exporter by 2025.
