Kenya’s Very First Green Bond Commences Trading in Stoke Exchange

On Monday, Kenya’s first green bond was listed for trading on the Nairobi Securities Exchange giving investors the opportunity to put money into an environmentally-friendly fixed income security for the first time in the bourse’s 65 year history.

The bond, worth 4.3 billion shillings ($42.5 million), was issued by Nairobi-based property developer Acorn Holdings last October to build student accommodation

Green bonds raise capital for projects in green transport, renewable energy, energy efficiency, and waste-water treatment.

Kiprono Kittony, a member of the board of the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) said, “Our capital markets, our investors and indeed our government have started to take climate change seriously,”

“They will be listing the green bond also on the London Stock Exchange next week which is a first also to have a Kenyan shilling bond listed in the United Kingdom.”

Kenya’s financial sector has a joint green finance initiative, bringing together banks and even regulators, which encourages issuance of new products like green bonds to help fight the impact of climate change

Patrick Njoroge, the governor of the central bank, said the initiative was important because developing countries like Kenya were being disproportionately hit by global warming, despite being some of the lowest polluters on the planet.

He told a launch ceremony for the Acorn bond at the NSE, “Eventually, all finance will be green,”

Julius Muia, the principal secretary at the ministry of finance said that the government was considering issuing such bonds.

“We are going to be very innovative in our in our revenue-raising initiatives,” Muia said.