Africa Finance Corporation has raised CHF350 million through a five-year digital bond, marking a major expansion of the institution\u2019s presence in the Swiss capital market.\n<\/p>\n
The transaction makes AFC the first African institution to issue a digital bond that is listed, traded and settled on a regulated digital exchange.\n<\/p>\n
It also represents the largest digital bond ever issued in the Swiss franc market, highlighting the growing use of digital infrastructure in international debt markets.\n<\/p>\n
The bond carries a 1.4925 per cent coupon and forms part of AFC\u2019s $500m benchmark issuance completed in June 2026. The transaction was conducted under the corporation\u2019s $5bn Global Medium-Term Note Programme.<\/p>\n
Unlike a conventional bond, the instrument is structured as a tokenised security using Distributed Ledger Technology. Its ownership is recorded on a regulated digital register, while settlement is carried out through regulated digital market infrastructure.\n<\/p>\n
The bond has been listed and admitted for trading on the SIX Swiss Exchange and deposited with the SIX Digital Exchange, with clearing and settlement handled by SIX SIS AG.\n<\/p>\n
AFC said the funds raised will be used for its general funding needs, strengthening its ability to provide financing for infrastructure projects supporting Africa\u2019s economic transformation.<\/p>\n
Commerzbank AG acted as technical lead for the transaction, while Deutsche Bank AG London Branch, through its Zurich Branch, served as arranger.\n<\/p>\n
The issuance came amid continued geopolitical uncertainty but benefited from positive investor sentiment and AFC\u2019s investment-grade credit ratings. S&P Global Ratings assigns the Corporation an A rating with a positive outlook, while Moody\u2019s rates it A3 with a stable outlook. <\/p>\n
Investor participation was heavily concentrated in Switzerland, with about 90 per cent of demand coming from domestic Swiss investors and the remaining 10 per cent from international accounts.\n<\/p>\n
Financial institutions dominated the order book, accounting for 57 per cent of total demand, while asset managers contributed 37 per cent and hedge funds six per cent.\n<\/p>\n
The transaction represents AFC\u2019s fourth and largest Swiss franc issuance to date, building on its CHF150 million Green Bond issued in 2020, which was its first green bond.\n<\/p>\n
AFC President and Chief Executive Officer, Samaila Zubairu, said the transaction demonstrated continued investor confidence in the Corporation\u2019s strategy, credit strength and development mandate.\n<\/p>\n
He said the institution would continue diversifying its funding sources and developing new capital solutions to mobilise long-term financing for Africa\u2019s industrialisation and economic transformation.<\/p>\n
Head of Financial Services at AFC, Banji Fehintola, described the transaction as an important milestone for the Corporation\u2019s funding programme.\n<\/p>\n
He said the record size of the digital bond reflected both AFC\u2019s credit strength and the confidence Swiss and international investors have placed in the institution.\n<\/p>\n
Fehintola added that the digital structure was part of AFC\u2019s broader effort to remain at the forefront of capital-market innovation while diversifying its funding base to support infrastructure development across Africa.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Africa Finance Corporation has raised CHF350 million through a five-year digital bond, marking a major expansion of the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":116679,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[4],"tags":[55935,55934,9760,1552,56766,43219,56767,6325,41,12625,17,56768],"class_list":["post-116678","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-switzerland","tag-afc","tag-africa-finance-corporation","tag-african-development","tag-capital-markets","tag-digital-bond","tag-financial-innovation","tag-infrastructure-funding","tag-six-swiss-exchange","tag-swiss","tag-swiss-market","tag-switzerland","tag-tokenized-security"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ch\/117113700038317027","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116678","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=116678"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116678\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/116679"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=116678"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=116678"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=116678"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}