Africa's best bank for sustainable finance 2019: Standard Chartered

There have been several ground-breaking sustainable finance deals in the last 12 months in Africa and one bank has been at the forefront of them: Standard Chartered.

In May 2018, the bank partnered with the UK’s development finance institution, the CDC, on an investment facility that would lend up to $100 million to businesses in Zimbabwe, allowing them to grow, create jobs and improve the country’s economic future.

Standard Chartered and the CDC are sharing the default risk of the five-year facility, which is the largest investment in the country’s private sector for many years and comes at a critical time for the country that has suffered a 20-year economic crisis yet holds real potential for future growth.

In October 2018, Standard Chartered launched the world’s first sovereign blue bond for the Republic of Seychelles in partnership with the World Bank. It acted as placement agent for the bond, which will help expand and protect marine areas, improve governance of priority fisheries and develop the Seychelles’ blue economy.