Lagos: TECHz – News Desk
Africa Finance Corporation (AFC), the continent’s leading infrastructure solutions provider, has successfully raised CHF 350 million through a landmark 5-year Digital Bond. This milestone transaction distinguishes AFC as the first African institution to issue a digital bond that is listed, traded, and settled on a regulated digital exchange.
Priced at a coupon of 1.4925%, this is the largest digital bond ever issued in the Swiss Franc market. It efficiently aligns with the Corporation’s US$500 million benchmark issuance completed earlier in June 2026. The timing of the issuance was highly effective amidst ongoing geopolitical uncertainty, benefiting from robust investor sentiment and AFC’s strong dual investment-grade ratings – an ‘A’ with a positive outlook from S&P, and an A3 with a stable outlook from Moody’s.
The offering attracted a high-quality investor base, with Swiss domestic investors accounting for approximately 90% of the demand and international accounts making up the remaining 10%. Among investor categories, banks and financial services institutions led the order book at 57%, followed by asset managers at 37%, and hedge funds at 6%. This is AFC’s fourth and largest Swiss Franc issuance to date, following its inaugural CHF 150 million Green Bond in 2020.
Issued under AFC’s US$5 billion Global Medium-Term Note Programme, the digital bond embraces the future of capital markets. It is structured as a tokenized security leveraging Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT). Ownership is securely recorded on a regulated digital register, while settlement occurs through a regulated digital market infrastructure. The bond is admitted for listing and trading on the SIX Swiss Exchange and is deposited with the SIX Digital Exchange, operated by SIX SIS AG. Commerzbank AG served as the technical lead, alongside Deutsche Bank AG London Branch, which acted through its Zurich branch.
Samaila Zubairu, President & CEO of AFC, highlighted the broader significance of the deal:
“This transaction is about far more than achieving competitive pricing. It marks another significant milestone in AFC’s funding journey and underscores the confidence global investors continue to place in our strategy, credit strength, and development impact”.
Banji Fehintola, Executive Board Member and Head of Financial Services at AFC, emphasized the technological leap:
“Pricing the largest digital bond ever issued in the Swiss Franc market reflects not only the strength of AFC’s credit but the depth of trust that Swiss and international investors have placed in our strategy. The digital format of this bond is not an end in itself but a signal of our commitment to being at the frontier of innovation in the capital markets”.
The proceeds from this digital bond will support AFC’s general funding requirements. Crucially, it strengthens the Corporation’s capacity to finance transformational, high-quality infrastructure assets across Africa – focusing on core sectors like power, natural resources, heavy industry, transport, and telecommunications.
