A EUR1 billion Social Bond has been launched to improve access to funding for small and medium-sized enterprises, especially those owned by women, in low-income countries.
According to Africa Business Communities, the eight-year Non-Call seven-year offering is global cross-border bank Standard Charter’s first Social Bond issuance and follows the launch of three sustainability bonds. Proceeds from the social bond will also be used to finance access to healthcare and education, and facilitate investment into affordable basic infrastructure and food security.
Group CFO Diego de Giorgi says the bank’s first social issuance ‘demonstrates Standard Chartered’s unique ability to raise capital in the world’s largest financial centres and deploy it across borders, into those markets where the need for sustainable finance is most acute’.
‘The fact that 99% of our social assets are located in Asia, Africa and the Middle East is a differentiating factor for us as an organisation and enables us to offer clients a dynamic sustainability proposition to jointly drive impact across our footprint,’ says the bank’s chief sustainability officer, Marisa Drew.
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