ALCB Fund

Last week, Moody's Ratings affirmed the ALCB Fund's long-term issuer rating at Baa1, with a stable outlook. Credit ratings are a fundamental part of debt capital markets, providing investors an external credit benchmark for which to make investment decisions and price transactions. This is why the ALCB Fund encourages local issuers to get one, and has provided some with the technical assistance required to support this exercise. Since inception, 24 of the ALCB Fund's issuers have undergone a rating. The Fund itself has been rated since 2019 and was upgraded in 2023 from Baa2 to Baa1. https://lnkd.in/eh4V--M3

We are delighted to welcome Gladness Deogratias to the Investment Committee of the ALCB Fund. Gladness is Head of Global Markets at NMB Bank Plc, where her responsibilities include developing the bank’s capital markets strategy. In this role, she has overseen NMB issue the first gender bond in Sub-Sahara Africa (NMB Jasiri Bond), and the first sustainability/ cross-listed foreign currency bond in East Africa (NMB Jamii Bond). She is also a member of the Board of the Tanzania Mortgage Refinance Company Limited (TMRC), member of the Board of Trustees of the NMB Foundation, and was part of the taskforce that developed the Tanzanian Alternative Project Financing Framework, whose work helped pave the way for the first sub-national green revenue bond issuance in the country (TANGA UWASA). Gladness brings over 15 years of credit and banking experience, having worked at NMB Bank PLC, BancABC and Lehman Brother’s International Europe. We look forward to her applying this experience to support the ALCB Fund’s growth strategy and mandate of strengthening capital markets on the continent. The ALCB Fund is managed by Cygnum Capital.

The ALCB Fund has acted as anchor investor on LAPO Microfinance Sierra Leone’s debut bond programme. The ALCB Fund has invested SLE 27 million (USD 1.2 million) in LAPO (Lift Above Poverty Organisation) Sierra Leone’s 2-year amortising bond, the first bond issued by a microfinance institution in Sierra Leone. Acting as an anchor investor, the Fund was the largest investor to the programme and provided crucial transaction structuring support . The bond proceeds will enable LAPO SL to expand its loan book, furthering its mission to economically empower low-income households. Currently, LAPO SL serves ca. 33,000 Sierra Leoneans across its 37-branch network.  The ALCB Fund’s anchor role was vital given the nascent bond market predominantly featuring sovereign bonds. This is the first non-sovereign bond issuance in the country in over a decade. The Fund’s participation was facilitated with the support of Invest Salone, a private sector development initiative funded by Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) to encourage investment in Sierra Leone. Invest Salone supported the transaction by providing the Fund with a grant to support the transaction hedging cost and by providing local investors with a limited partial guarantee. The ALCB Fund was founded by KfW in 2012 and is managed by Cygnum Capital. https://lnkd.in/eFeYxSmw

This week Brock Hoback spoke at the #GlobalABS conference in Barcelona about the securitisation market in Africa; alongside Jérémie Bismuth of Gide Loyrette Nouel and Jean-Philippe Aithnard of BOAD Titrisation.    The ALCB Fund has invested in eight securitisations across the African continent since inception, including an investment of XOF 6.5 billion (USD 10.1 million) in the debut securitisation of BOAD in 2023.    The Fund's Technical Assistance Facility has also supported several market development exercises to facilitate private capital to the securitisation and wider local bond markets in Africa. This includes a technical assessment of the securitisation market's potential in Kenya, and a comprehensive review of the WAEMU and CEMAC regulatory framework for bonds.  The ALCB Fund is managed by Cygnum Capital.   Link for study: https://lnkd.in/ez73HDh2

The ALCB Fund has invested USD 7.4 million in Tanga Urban Water Supply and Sanitation Authority’s (Tanga UWASA) 10-year green bond, the first ever sub-national bond issued in East Africa. Proceeds of the transaction will help improve production efficiencies, whilst addressing the growing demand for water and sanitation services in the Tanga region of Tanzania. The bond has impact indicators that align with the #SDGs and has been listed on the Dar Es Salaam Stock Exchange (DSE). The United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) provided technical and financial support to Tanga, while the FSD Africa supported the development of the green bond framework and provided technical assistance for the Second Party Opinion (SPO), obtained from ISS Corporate Solutions. The ALCB Fund also played a critical role in assessing the company’s environmental & social practices, through the appointment of a third party consultant, and conducted an extensive legal review to improve the quality of transaction documents to the benefit of all investors. ALCB Fund is managed by Cygnum Capital. Read more here: https://lnkd.in/eA2VmEmS

ALCB Fund launches €150 million European MediumTerm Note (EMTN) program -https://lnkd.in/eWfc5AYi - offering European institutional investors the opportunity to gain or increase their exposure to Africa’s debt capital markets. DEG anchors it. Brock Hoback Cygnum Capital #africa #privatedebt #privatecapital #news #fundraise

Great read from TCX and Making Finance Work for Africa (MFW4A). Like them, the ALCB Fund aims to play a key role in building domestic capital markets, helping to de-risk and strengthen local financial sector ecosystems. TCX has been a key partner in facilitating our activities, through its hedging solutions, while we work to facilitate new local currency bond issuances. Making Finance Work for Africa (MFW4A) is an important driver of changes in policy and the way we think about building/supporting financial markets on the continent.

Yesterday Fola Pedro, FCCA, Executive Director, ALCB Fund, attended the listing of NMB Bank Plc’s Jamii Bond on the London Stock Exchange, the first Sustainability Bond in East Africa. The ALCB Fund invested in the Jamii Bond in 2023 and is pleased to have supported the successful issuance of the Sustainability Bond, which was 284% oversubscribed. The bond issuance underscores NMB Bank's commitment to mobilising private capital for inclusive growth, and will fund investments in projects that will deliver social and environmental benefits. The ALCB Fund’s mandate is to support African issuers in raising local currency funding to drive investments in impactful projects to the benefit of low-income households and SMEs. The Fund provides anchor investments and technical assistance, investing in economically inclusive transactions that foster sustainable development in Africa. The ALCB Fund is managed by Cygnum Capital #inclusivegrowth #sustainabledevelopment #sustainability #capitalmarkets #africanbusiness #localcurrency #inclusivity #eastafrica #SMEs #SDGs https://lnkd.in/epvQ7-GF

The ALCB Fund has launched its EUR 150 million European Medium-Term Note (EMTN) programme, with German development finance institution DEG providing a 5-year initial anchor investment of EUR 25 million. The EMTN programme is part of the ALCB Fund’s approach to increase private-capital mobilisation, crowding-in European institutional investors and providing exposure to African debt capital markets. The approach used by the ALCB Fund will support investment in economically-inclusive sectors such as MSME finance, affordable housing, renewable energy and agriculture. The ALCB Fund is managed by Cygnum Capital Read more here: https://lnkd.in/g6iwJgiC #sustainability #sustainabledevelopment #capitalmarkets #renewableenergy

En direct des Bonds, Loans & ESG Capital Markets Africa 2024 : Premier one to one de UMOA-Titres avec ALCB Fund - Cygnum Capital. GFC Media Group presents Bonds & Loans #BondsLoans #issuers #waemu #bond #finance #sovereigndebt #MTP