Scoping the green bond landscape in Africa

This briefing by the Stockholm Environment Institute maps the green bond landscape in Africa as of January 2021. It identifies the market as nascent and underdeveloped, dominated by a few states and entities, and outlines the structural barriers and opportunities for scaling up green finance to meet climate mitigation and adaptation needs across the continent.

• The African green bond market is currently nascent and underdeveloped, with cumulative issuances between 2012 and 2019 representing less than 1% of global volumes. As of October 2019, over US$2 billion had been issued in Africa, excluding supranational entities, consisting of 17 bonds across six states.
• South Africa, Morocco, and Nigeria are the primary drivers of the African green bond market. South Africa was the first African state and emerging market to issue a green bond in 2012 and is the leading issuer by both value and number of issuances. Morocco and Nigeria have also developed national frameworks to advance the market.
• Climate certification for African green bonds is relatively low; approximately 35% (US$422 million) of the bonds issued as of October 2019 were climate certified. Nigeria was the only African state to issue a first Climate Bonds-certified sovereign green bond in December 2017, raising US$30 million for renewable energy and afforestation.
• Several systemic barriers hinder the growth of the green bond market in Africa, including a lack of technical capacity within regulatory agencies and banks, the absence of qualified independent verifiers within Africa, and a lack of fiscal incentives. Kenya is noted as the only state providing fiscal incentives for issuing infrastructure bonds.
• There are significant opportunities to expand the market by integrating sustainability into Africa's large infrastructure deficit, particularly in renewable energy, and by utilizing green bonds for sustainable urban development to support projected city and population growth.
• The document recommends that stakeholders develop capacity through training and data sharing, ensure national guidelines reflect local market conditions rather than relying on a single framework, and research fiscal incentives like tax breaks to stimulate demand.

APA

Marbuah, G. (2021). Scoping the green bond landscape in Africa. Stockholm Environment Institute. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/210205a-killeen-marbuah-green-bonds-db-2101d-final.pdf

Chicago

Marbuah, George. Scoping the green bond landscape in Africa. Stockholm Environment Institute, 2021. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/210205a-killeen-marbuah-green-bonds-db-2101d-final.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Marbuah |first1=George |title=Scoping the green bond landscape in Africa |publisher=Stockholm Environment Institute |date=January 2021 |url=https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/210205a-killeen-marbuah-green-bonds-db-2101d-final.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{marbuah2021scoping, author = {Marbuah, George}, title = {{Scoping the green bond landscape in Africa}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2021}, month = jan, url = {https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/210205a-killeen-marbuah-green-bonds-db-2101d-final.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }