Dar es Salaam. NMB Bank’s Sh74 billion Jasiri bond was listed on Wednesday on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange (LuxSE) in a move that showcases to the world the top lender’s first debt instrument aimed at financing women-owned small businesses in sub-Saharan Africa.

A statement from NMB Bank Plc issued in Dar es Salaam yesterday says the Sh74 billion Jasiri bond was officially displayed at the Luxembourg Green Exchange (LGX) at an event that also marked the launch of the Luxembourg Women in Finance Charter.

The Luxembourg Minister of Finance, Yuriko Backes, who officially unveiled the Luxembourg Women in Finance Charter, said the listing marks an important milestone for global efforts to promote gender finance.

The events were timed to coincide with International Women’s Day.

“… it underlines the Luxembourg Stock Exchange’s pioneering role in helping to drive new and emerging sustainable financial products. By directing capital towards initiatives that empower women and advance their participation in the economy, the financial sector can thus support the unlocking of new opportunities for growth and innovation to help build a more equitable and sustainable future for all,” she is quoted in the statement as saying.

Though the bond will continue to be traded only at the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange (DSE), its listing at the LGX sends a clear message to global investors that there is a sustainable and gender-based bond in Sub-Saharan Africa that was issued by a Tanzanian lender, the NMB statement further notes.

This also gives room for global investors, who will have seen the Jasiri Bond at the LGX, to think about Tanzania in general and NMB in particular whenever they want to invest in a sustainable debt instrument in Sub-Saharan Africa, the statement adds.

The Jasiri Bond, which saw its offer oversubscribed by 197 percent in April last year before its listing at the DSE, specifically seeks to finance women-owned micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises in Tanzania.

NMB Bank expects that the proceeds of the social bond will provide up to 2,000 women in Tanzania with access to the necessary financing to start or grow their businesses.

According to the CEO of the Luxembourg Stock Exchange (LuxSE), Julie Becker, the bond provides female entrepreneurs in Tanzania with the opportunity to contribute to the socioeconomic development of their communities.

“At LuxSE, we see it as our duty to give issuers such as NMB Bank a pathway to international capital markets so that we can encourage other issuers to raise financing for women’s empowerment while also providing the visibility needed for investors to access these gender-focused investment opportunities more easily,” she said.

NMB Bank CEO Ruth Zaipuna said the listing of the Jasiri Bond on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange underscores the lender’s commitment to gender empowerment.

“Going forward, we remain committed to being a beacon of innovation excellence and sustainability leadership within and outside Tanzania,” said Ms Zaipuna.

In May last year, LuxSE entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with UN Women in which the two institutions committed to joining forces to advance gender finance and gender-lens investing.

As part of its commitments, LuxSE established a gender-focused bond flag on LGX, which highlights debt securities listed on LuxSE and displayed on LGX that raise financing for projects advancing gender equality.