Bank Windhoek raises N$407m for sustainability fund

Bank Windhoek has been able to raise N$407 million for its sustainability fund, its chief treasurer Claire Hobbs announced this week.

The Bank Windhoek Sustainability Bond was issued based on the Sustainable Bond Framework. The bond’s first tranche was issued in June 2021, raising N$227 million; the second tranche was issued in December 2021, raising N$180 million.

“As a result, a total of N$407 million was raised for the inaugural issuance of the Bank Windhoek Sustainability Bond,” she said.

The total sustainability bond allocation for 2022 was N$124 million. In 2023, the allocation was N$58 million, and in 2024, it was N$225 million. For the 2024 allocations, the supported sectors were renewable energy with N$12 million; sustainable water and waste management with N$425 000, agriculture with N$25 million and clean transportation with N$ 127 000.

Meanwhile, N$2 million was allocated to sustainable agriculture, and education received the biggest allocation of N$185 million.

Hobbs said the report marks the final edition for the inaugural Bank Windhoek Sustainability Bond issued in 2021. “It highlights the bank’s contribution to achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), reducing environmental impact, and promoting social responsibility through its mandate as a financial services provider. The quantitative and qualitative data in this report is based on estimates provided by

installers and the bank’s clients, whom we fund to execute financially feasible projects."

She added that the past three years of this bond allocation process have been an incredible learning journey for the bank as an organisation. “On this journey, we have discovered the need that exists within the Namibian economy for more funding dedicated to creating impact and the significance of ensuring there is a dedicated financial solution that targets explicitly creating effect within the economy environment, and community,” she said. “The Bank Windhoek Sustainability Loan is one of the products that we will continue offering to the market, ensuring we continue to leverage on our mandate to create positive change. The loan offering was coined and developed, leveraging on the funding raised from the sustainability bond. Today, it has matured into an offering our clients can access to achieve their sustainability goals and ambitions," Hobbs said.