Green Bond of the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) subscribed by Agence Française de Développement (AFD)

The Development Bank of Southern Africa, a South African development finance institution, has successfully issued in February 2021 its first green bond. The €200m bond was governed by French law and issued through a private placement with the French development finance institution, the Agence Française de Développement.

The bond has been structured in alignment with the DBSA's recently released Green Bond Framework which reiterates the DBSA's commitment to playing a role in the just transition to a low carbon economy. The Framework is aligned with the International Capital Market Association (ICMA) Green Bond Principles.

The proceeds of the issue of the bond will be applied to projects that contribute to climate mitigation and/or adaptation, that are aligned to the South Africa's National Development Plan's objective of an "environmentally sustainable and equitable transition to a low carbon economy" and that are aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

For this transaction, CMS teams in France and South Africa advised the subscriber, the Agence Française de Développement, and were in charge of drafting the documentation.

The CMS teams comprised:

- CMS Francis Lefebvre Avocats (CMS France) with Marc-Etienne Sébire, partner and Yaël Fitoussi, associate, for French law;

- CMS RM Partners (CMS South Africa) with Riza Moosa, partner, Bridgett Majola, partner and Raveshnee Pakkiri, associate, for South African law.