London and Johannesburg capital markets teams advise DBSA on market first UN-backed green bond issuance

Global law firm Norton Rose Fulbright’s capital markets team has acted for the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) on its issuance of ZAR3 billion fixed rate green bonds due 2024, representing the first transaction under the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) Goal Seven (SDG7) Programme to fund green energy in Africa. The green bonds were issued under DBSA’s 2021 green bond framework, which is aligned with the International Capital Markets Association Green Bond Principles.

The SDG7 Programme seeks to support the deployment of private capital towards green energy projects in Africa, including the construction of 10,000 megawatts of green energy generation capacity by 2025.

Global investment management firm, PIMCO, through several of its sub-funds, purchased the bonds. Standard Chartered Bank acted as placement agent and structuring advisor for the transaction.

The team was led by London capital markets partner Peter Young, with assistance from Vishal Mawkin (counsel, London) and Miguel Torres (associate, London). The Johannesburg team included Shawn Barnett (director) and Hishaam Khan (candidate attorney).