The African Development Bank (AfDB) has raised an exceptional amount of $ 3 billion over three years to help mitigate the economic and social impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on African livelihoods and economies.
The raising of this fund has caught the interest of central banks and official institutions, bank treasuries and asset managers, including socially responsible investors, with offers exceeding $ 4.6 billion, a statement from the African financial institution said on Friday.
According to the AfDB, this operation is the largest of its kind ever launched on international capital markets and the largest reference in US dollars ever issued by the Bank. It will be reimbursed with an interest rate of 0.75%.
The AfDB is therefore working to provide flexible responses aimed at mitigating the serious economic and social repercussions of Covid-19 on its member countries, as well as on the African private sector.
“These are critical moments for Africa as it addresses challenges arising from the Covid-19. African Development Bank takes bold steps to support African countries,” the Group President Akinwumi Adesina was quoted as saying in a press release, adding that $ 3 billion Covid-19 bond is the first stage of “our global response to be announced too.”
“It is indeed the largest transaction of social bonds to date on the capital markets. We are here for Africa and we will provide rapid and significant support to the countries,” he promised.
The fight against Covid-19 has been entrusted to central banks and official institutions (53%), bank treasuries (27%) and asset managers (20%), adding that statistics on the breakdown of bonds shows that Europe leads with 37%, followed by the Americas (36%), Asia (17%), Africa (8%) and the Middle East (1%).
HA/fss/Dng/APA