Ecobank Completes $450m Sustainable Agriculture & Natural Capital Tier 2 Eurobond

Adebayo Obajemu

Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI), the Lomé based parent company of the Ecobank Group has announced the successful pricing of USD 450,000,000 Sustainable Agriculture & Natural Capital Bond. These Tier 2 capital instruments have a 10.25-year (callable in 5.25 years) tenor and are to be listed on the main market of the London Stock Exchange, with settlement expected on 19 May 2026.

The transaction attracted exceptional demand from fixed-income investors. The final order book was over USD 1.36 billion, representing a 3.9x oversubscription on the original target size of USD 350 million. The strength and quality of demand allowed Ecobank to upsize the Notes by USD 100 million to USD 450 million and to tighten pricing by 50 basis points. Investor participation was geographically diverse, with demand from the United Kingdom, continental Europe, the United States, the Middle East, Asia and Africa.

The Notes carry the ICMA Nature Bond secondary designation under the “ICMA Sustainable Bonds for Nature: A Practitioner’s Guide (June 2025)”, and are aligned with the four core components of the ICMA Green Bond Principles (June 2025). This makes Ecobank the first commercial bank globally to issue a use-of-proceeds green bond with the ICMA Nature Bond secondary designation, and the first ICMA-aligned nature bond from any African commercial bank.

Moody’s Ratings awarded the transaction a Sustainability Quality Score of SQS1 — Excellent — the highest possible score to be awarded to any pan-African commercial bank, underscoring Ecobank’s leadership in sustainable finance and its robust alignment with international best practices. The net proceeds will be used to finance a concurrent any-and-all tender offer for ETI’s outstanding USD 350,000,000 8.750% Tier 2 Sustainability Notes due June 2031, and to finance or refinance eligible assets under ETI’s Green Bond Framework. An amount equivalent to the full net proceeds will be allocated to the eligible pool of sustainable agriculture and water infrastructure loans across 24 African countries, as further described in ETI’s Green Bond Framework.

FMO, the Dutch entrepreneurial development bank, provided an anchor order of USD 50 million. This marks the second consecutive Ecobank Tier 2 capital transaction in which FMO has served as anchor investor and follows its USD 50 million anchor order in Ecobank’s inaugural USD 350 million Tier 2 Sustainability Notes in June 2021.

“This transaction is a defining moment for Ecobank and for African sustainable finance. Investors not only embraced this bond — they demanded more of it, allowing us to upsize and to tighten pricing by 50 basis points. That is the market telling us that rigour and credibility in sustainable finance are rewarded. We are not a bank that labels bonds. We are a bank that has spent four years building the infrastructure, the governance, and the conditions that make nature finance real. This bond belongs to the millions we serve, to the farmers and cooperatives across 24 African countries whose livelihoods depend on the ecosystems we are now formally committed to protecting” said Jeremy Awori, Group Chief Executive Officer, Ecobank Transnational Incorporated.

“The success of this transaction validates both the strength of Ecobank’s credit and the quality of our sustainability architecture. By refinancing our 2021 Tier 2 Sustainability Notes ahead of their June 2026 call date and upsizing to USD 450 million in the same transaction, we have executed a clean liability management exercise while simultaneously advancing our sustainable finance programme. We remain grateful for the support and partnership from Renaissance Capital Africa and Standard Chartered Bank who acted as Joint Lead Managers and Joint Bookrunners, Ecobank Development Corporation, which acted as Co-manager and African Finance Corporation, which served as the Financial Adviser for the transaction ” added Ayo Adepoju, Group Chief Financial Officer, Ecobank Transnational Incorporated.

“Nature finance in Africa has too often been discussed far from the communities and environments it is meant to support. This bond helps change that. It reflects the systems, standards and tools Ecobank has put in place to make nature finance practical and credible. As a pan-African bank, we understand that climate and nature risks are also financial risks. Moody’s SQS1 recognition confirms the strength of our approach” said Rachael A.O. Antwi, Group Head of Sustainability & ESRM, Ecobank Transnational Incorporated.