The transaction is the world’s first Nature Bond from a commercial bank to receive the International Capital Market Association (ICMA) Nature Bond secondary designation, and the first use-of-proceeds green bond from a commercial bank globally to carry the designation.

The bond is designed to support eligible lending across three categories: sustainable primary production, sustainable agri-processing, and water supply and sanitation. Financing will target projects across 24 markets within Ecobank’s operating footprint, with lending concentrated in countries where nature and biodiversity priorities are most significant.

The issuance reflects Ecobank’s broader role in mobilising African and international capital for sectors critical to the continent’s long-term resilience, including food systems, natural capital, supply chains, and water systems.

The bond attracted strong investor demand, with the final orderbook exceeding US$1.36 billion, representing 3.9 times oversubscription against the original target size of US$350 million. The strong demand enabled Ecobank to increase the transaction size by US$100 million to US$450 million and tighten pricing by 50 basis points from initial guidance, delivering a 50-basis-point greenium.

Moody’s assigned the transaction its highest Sustainability Quality Score, SQS1 (Excellent).

The bond attracted a diversified international investor base, with final allocations distributed approximately 55 per cent to the UK and Europe, 38 per cent to Africa, 3 per cent to the Middle East, 2 per cent to the United States, and 2 per cent to Asia. Participants included development finance institutions and sustainability-focused funds, with FMO, the Dutch entrepreneurial development bank, serving as the anchor investor.

The bond is structured as a Tier 2 capital instrument with a 10.25-year tenor and is callable after 5.25 years.

Senior Ecobank representatives attending the Market Open Ceremony included Papa Madiaw Ndiaye, Chairman of Ecobank Transnational Incorporated; Jeremy Awori, Group Chief Executive Officer; Ayo Adepoju, Group Executive Director and Chief Financial Officer; and Rachael A.O. Antwi, Group Head of Sustainability.

Ecobank Transnational Incorporated acted as the issuer, originator, and sole sustainability structuring adviser for the transaction. Standard Chartered Bank and Renaissance Capital Africa acted as joint lead managers and joint bookrunners.

The London Stock Exchange ceremony marked the transaction as a milestone for African sustainable finance and highlighted the growing role of African financial institutions in developing credible, market-based solutions for climate and nature-related investment.

Ecobank Group is a leading private pan-African banking group with operations in 34 sub-Saharan African countries, as well as France, the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates, and China. The Group employs more than 14,000 people and provides consumer, commercial, corporate, and investment banking products and services to over 30 million customers across multiple channels, including digital platforms.