The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, and Ecobank Group are serving as anchor investors in a FCFA 60 billion (approximately $100 million) sustainable bond issued by Shelter Afrique Development Bank, a pan-African multilateral development bank focused on financing affordable housing, urban development and related infrastructure.
Announced on October 5, 2026, the issuance is the development bank’s first sustainable bond and is designed to mobilise local-currency funding for affordable and sustainable housing projects across the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU).
CGF Bourse Dakar is acting as lead arranger, while Ecobank Senegal is representing Ecobank Group in the transaction.
The bond is structured in two tranches: a five-year instrument offering a 6.10% interest rate and a seven-year tranche with a 6.30% rate. The subscription period runs from October 7 to October 30, 2026.
The transaction comes amid efforts by Shelter Afrique Development Bank to diversify its funding sources, expand access to African capital markets and strengthen its capacity to finance housing and urban development across its 44 shareholder countries.
The bank said the issuance would help address the housing deficit in the WAEMU region, estimated at approximately 3.5 million units, with an additional 250,000 homes required annually to accommodate population growth and urbanisation.
By raising funds in local currency, Shelter Afrique aims to reduce the foreign-exchange risks associated with financing long-term real estate projects, particularly where project revenues are generated in the same currency as the financing.
The issuance is supported by a Sustainable Financing Framework developed in collaboration with the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI). The framework received a favourable opinion from S&P Global, while the bond obtained regulatory approval from the Autorité des Marchés Financiers de l’UMOA (AMF-UMOA).
The transaction also aligns with the New African Financial Architecture for Development (NAFAD), as reflected in the Abidjan Consensus, which seeks to deepen African capital markets and mobilise domestic and regional savings for development financing.
Shelter Afrique Development Bank said it had completed 11 bond issuances across African markets to date. Its most recent issuance was in April 2022, when it raised ₦46 billion, equivalent to approximately $110 million at the time, in the Nigerian market.
The latest transaction marks a further step in the bank’s transition towards a pan-African multilateral development bank, with a focus on mobilising long-term capital for affordable housing, urban infrastructure and sustainable development.
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