Ecobank Group Launches the World’s First Nature Bond, Mobilising Global Capital to Protect Africa’s Natural Ecosystems
Ecobank Group has launched, on the London Stock Exchange, the world’s first Nature Bond issued by a commercial bank, in line with ICMA principles, creating a new pathway to direct international and African capital toward the protection of African biodiversity.
Rating agency Moody’s assigned the transaction its highest sustainability quality score, SQS1 Excellent. The bond will support African farmers, sustainable agriculture businesses, and water systems, helping to protect some of the planet’s most critical ecosystems.
Tangible Impact Across Africa
Africa holds some of the world’s most significant natural capital — including arable land, tropical forests, freshwater systems, and biodiversity spanning hundreds of millions of hectares. Yet private capital dedicated to nature has not flowed to Africa in proportion to the continent’s ecological importance for global resilience. Despite hosting 25% of the world’s biodiversity, Africa receives less than 3% of nature-focused financing.
Ecobank’s Nature Bond is a direct response to this gap. It will support smallholder farmers adopting sustainable agricultural practices, agri-processing companies with verified deforestation-free supply chains, and water infrastructure protecting the freshwater ecosystems on which millions of people depend. Unlike many conservation-focused financing instruments, the Ecobank Nature Bond channels capital directly into Africa’s real economy — financing businesses and communities whose daily activities shape environmental outcomes at scale.
Investments will be deployed across 24 markets, with significant allocation in biodiversity-priority countries such as Côte d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, and Ghana. Notably, 81% of the eligible loan portfolio is allocated to countries where agricultural land-use change is the primary driver of biodiversity loss, directing capital where it can have the greatest environmental impact.
