African financial company issues approximately $431 million in digital bonds for the first time

According to Ledger Insights, Africa Finance Corporation issued digital bonds worth 350 million Swiss francs (approximately 431 million USD) through the SDX platform of the Swiss Stock Exchange (SIX). This marks the first time an African institution has issued digital bonds through a Central Securities Depository (CSD) and an exchange.

The five-year bond has a coupon rate of 1.4925% and is one of the larger digital bonds on the platform, although UBS had previously issued bonds worth 375 million Swiss francs in 2022. This transaction was arranged by Commerzbank AG (technical lead) and Deutsche Bank.