The Development Bank of Namibia (DBN) has launched its inaugural Sustainable Finance Framework (SFF), a scheme aimed at funding green climate and social projects.
The launch precedes the bank’s plan to debut the sustainable bond issuance in the second half of the year.
“As a bank, DBN has a strong ambition to become the go-to Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) bank in Namibia. The launch of the board-approved Sustainable Finance Framework is an important milestone for the Bank’s sustainability journey. The launch is in advance of a planned debut sustainable bond issuance in the second half of 2023,” said DBN CEO Martin Inkumbi.
He said DBN’s funding framework intends to achieve the environmental objectives of climate change mitigation, sustainable use and protection of water and marine resources, protection and restoration of biodiversity and ecosystems.
It further aims to attain social objectives of raising living standards, increasing social inclusion, improving access to essential healthcare and education.
Inkumbi said the bank had obtained a Second Party Opinion (SPO) from S&P Global Ratings, which assessed its framework to determine if it is aligned with the category principles.
“It is aligned with the four core components of the International Capital Market Association’s (ICMA) Green Bond Principles 2021, Social Bond Principles 2021, Sustainability Bond Guidelines 2021, as well as the Loan Market Association’s (LMA) Green Loan Principles 2023 and Social Loan Principles 2023,” said the CEO.
He said the bank’s new business model had received a strong alignment score across the use of proceeds section, given a clear description of eligible categories and sustainability objectives, and the reporting section.
This comes as the bank last month extended its funding programme to greenhouse projects in households, a bid to ease the financial burden of electricity and bridge the power supply gap. The bank is considering installing solar energy systems in affordable housing developments to provide solar water heating and power generation for household use.
