Bank Windhoek’s chief treasurer Claire Hobbs last week announced the release of the bank’s third annual Sustainability Bond Impact Report, highlighting ongoing commitment to responsible business practices and environmental stewardship for the 2023-2024 financial year. 

The Bank Windhoek Sustainability Bond was issued based on the sustainable bond framework. 

The bond’s first tranche was issued in June 2021, raising N$227 million; the second tranche was issued in December 2021, raising N$180 million. “As a result, a total of N$407 million was raised for the inaugural issuance of the Bank Windhoek Sustainability Bond,” said Hobbs.

The total Sustainability Bond allocation for 2022 was N$124 million. In 2023, the allocation was N$58 million, and in 2024, it was N$225 million. For the 2024 allocations, the supported sectors are renewable energy, with N$12 million; sustainable water and waste management getting N$425 000; agriculture, with N$25 million; and clean transportation, with N$127 000. A total of N$2 million was allocated to sustainable agriculture, and education received the biggest allocation of N$185 million.

Hobbs said the report marks the final edition for the inaugural Bank Windhoek Sustainability Bond issued in 2021. 

“It highlights the bank’s contribution to achieving sustainable development goals (SDGs), reducing environmental impact and promoting social responsibility through its mandate as a financial services provider. The quantitative and qualitative data in this report is based on estimates provided by installers and the bank’s clients, whom we fund to execute feasible projects,” she said. 

She added that the past three years of this bond allocation process have been an incredible learning journey for the bank as an organisation. “In this journey, we have discovered the need that exists within the Namibian economy for more funding dedicated to creating impact and the significance of ensuring there is a dedicated financial solution that targets explicitly creating effect within the economy, environment, and community,” she said. 

“The Bank Windhoek Sustainability Loan is one of the products that we will continue offering to the market ensuring we continue to leverage on our mandate to create positive change. The loan offering was coined and developed, leveraging on the funding raised from the sustainability bond. Today, it has matured into an offering our clients can access to achieve their sustainability goals and ambitions.”

Hobbs invited members of the public to explore the full report to learn more about how Bank Windhoek positively impacts the environment and supports the well-being of Namibian communities.  “Thank you for your ongoing support as we work towards a more sustainable future together,” she said.

An impact report is a document that reinforces the transparency of a thematic bond issuance and is one critical component for such an instrument, in this case being a sustainability impact report as part of the sustainability bond commitments. It does so by providing highlights of the projects financed with the proceeds raised and impacts achieved, specifically to key stakeholders, particularly the investors in the instrument.