Ashurst acts for African Development Bank on €533m guaranteed ESG financing for Côte d'Ivoire
18 January 2024
Ashurst has acted as international legal counsel to the African Development Bank on a €400m structured partial credit guarantee supporting a €533m ESG loan facility arranged by Standard Chartered Bank for Côte d'Ivoire. The facility will enable Côte d'Ivoire to finance multiple strategic ESG projects in line with its sustainable development goals, contributing to Côte d'Ivoire's national development plan and supporting the country in its progress towards the realisation of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
In relation to the same financing, our team also advised the African Development Bank on a €194m strategic risk-sharing arrangement with the insurance subsidiary of the Islamic Development Bank, the Islamic Corporation for the Insurance of Investment and Export Credit (ICIEC), further supporting sustainable development in Côte d'Ivoire.
Lead Partner Tom Longmuir said: "These strategic, big-ticket guaranteed financings represent a major advance in the financing of ESG projects in Africa and in the risk mitigation instruments offered by multilaterals to mobilise private financing. We are pleased to have supported the African Development Bank Group in its delivery of strategic financing support for ESG projects in Africa."
Sujithav Sarangi, Executive Director, Structured Export Finance at Standard Chartered, said: “Standard Chartered is pleased to have played a leading role in successfully delivering the first African Development Bank guaranteed sustainable loan to finance social and environmental projects for the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire. As a leading financial institution, we promote sustainable finance in our markets and look to replicate this type of financing, in partnership with AfDB, for other sovereigns in the African region.”
Ashurst's Projects & Energy Transition team was led by Partner Tom Longmuir, supported by senior associate Joe Newton and associates Samia Khennous and Rohan Last, working with Thomas Karalis, Counsel in our London Arbitration team.
