The Development Bank of South Africa (DBSA) has launched a €200M green bond (US$240M) to finance climate change initiatives throughout the country. Established through a private placement with the French Development Agency, the loan is intended to contribute to South Africa’s climate change mitigation efforts.
The loan is aligned with the country’s Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement program, intended to boost domestic renewable energy investment and production, and will help fast-track sustainable and climate-friendly projects.
“The bond will be structured in accordance with the Bank’s recently published Green Bond Framework, which reiterates the DBSA’s commitment to playing a role in the just transition to a low-carbon economy,” said the DBSA in a statement. “The framework is aligned with the International Capital Markets Association Green Bond Principles.”
The DBSA is accredited with the Global Environment Facility and Green Climate Fund (GCF), which made US$56M available to Southern African countries for the financing of climate projects in 2019.
“In partnership with the GCF, the DBSA has implemented large-scale programs that support the transition to a low-carbon economy, including the Climate Finance Facility, a lending facility set up to encourage private sector investment in climate-related projects in Southern Africa, and the Embedded Generation Investment Program, a support facility for integrated renewable energy project in South Africa,” stated GBSA.
