For Immediate Release, 15th December 2023: Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE) is pleased to inform its valued stakeholders that today, the first-ever Sustainable Bond has been listed on the BSE. The bond, amounting to P47.4 Million, was listed by Absa Bank Botswana Limited (Absa) under its P2.0 Billion Medium Term Note Programme.

The BSE CEO, Mr. Thapelo Tsheole said, “This is historic for the market, and I would like to congratulate Absa and their stakeholders for this magnificent achievement. Largely, it’s as a result of the various strategic undertakings to cultivate and foster a conducive market for Sustainable Bonds. Pursuant to introducing the listing requirements for Sustainable Bonds, extensively building capacity around these instruments and introducing the fee incentives, we have introduced a new Sustainable Bonds Segment where Green, Social, Sustainability and Sustainability-Linked Bonds can be listed to raise funds for sustainable development”.

Mr. Tsheole elaborated that the impact of the fee incentives for listing Sustainable Bonds, which is a 25% discount on initial listing fees and annual sustaining fees relative to conventional bonds, were critical in lifting Botswana’s ranking in the Absa Africa Financial Markets Index (AFMI) 2023 from number 8 in 2022 to number 6 in 2023.

“In the next year, we are looking to roll out ESG Guidelines, Guidelines for Listing Sustainable Bonds, and explore introducing ESG Ratings for issuers. For today’s feat, we could not have achieved this much alone. Let me thank FSD Africa for their technical assistance under the SADC Green Bond Programme, recognize the investors who subscribed to this issuance and once again applaud Absa for taking the lead”, Mr Tsheole added.

For more information, contact the following;

Botswana Stock Exchange
Market Development Department
marketdev@bse.co.bw
Tel: (+267) 367440