Safaricom has secured another Ksh. 15 billion Sustainability Linked Loan, bringing the total loan facility to Ksh. 30 billion having closed a similar amount last year.
The loan facility, which is the largest in East Africa, will advance Safaricom’s Environmental, Social and Governance agenda (ESG). The funding has been provided by a consortium of four banks consisting of KCB, ABSA, Standard Chartered, and Stanbic, which will scale up its strategic sustainable investments.
The facility will also help accelerate Safaricom’s transition into a fully-fledged technology company where it seeks to reduce its carbon footprint and enhance its progress on gender diversity, and monitoring its social impact. The telco plans to be a Net Zero carbon emitting company by 2050 with programs put in place to achieve this.
Standard Chartered continues to act as Mandated Lead Arranger and Bookrunner, Global Coordinator and Sustainability Coordinator for the transaction, while KCB acted as Mandated Lead Arranger. Stanbic Bank Kenya and ABSA Bank both acted as Arrangers.
Commenting on the loan, Peter Ndegwa, CEO Safaricom said, “This deal helps to accelerate the advancement of our sustainability agenda. It is a testament that we have achieved the targets we set out to achieve with the first one where we aligned our sustainability agenda with our financial strategy. We are delighted that we have tapped into partnerships with key leaders in the region in the latest chapter of sustainability financing. It will improve our accountability measures on ESG reporting where we will have an opportunity to attract more investment and growth.”
On his part, Dilip Pal, CFO Safaricom said, “Safaricom is dedicated to making conscious efforts to ensure that our projects and initiatives align with the ESG agenda. This deal highlights our commitment to sustainability and the inherent alignment of our sustainability and financing strategies.”