The African Development Bank has raised $3bn for a three-year bond to combat the social and economic fallout from Covid-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
Tanguy Claquin, Crédit Agricole’s head of sustainable banking, said: "As the Covid-19 outbreak is threatening Africa, the African Development Bank lives up to its huge responsibilities and deploys funds to assist and prepare the African population through the financing of access to health and to all other essential goods, services and infrastructure."
Akinwumi Adesina, the African Development Bank’s president, said: "This is the largest dollar social bond transaction to date in capital markets. We are here for Africa, and we will provide significant rapid support for countries."
The bank noted that although the coronavirus was slow to arrive in Africa, almost 3,000 people were known to be infected, putting fragile healthcare systems under strain.
The $3bn bond will be first part of the bank’s plan to help the continent deal with the pandemic.
Recently, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank also announced health infrastructure investment to combat the virus.
Image: An face mask commonly used to stop the spead of the Coronavirus (Dontree/Dreamstime)
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