New Development Bank issues first local-currency bond in South Africa

The New Development Bank (NDB) successfully issued its first South African rand-denominated bond in the South African bond market on Tuesday.

Over 2,5 billion rand in bids across both the 3- and 5-year tranches allowed NDB to exercise its option to upsize the trade from 1 billion rand to 1.5 billion rand (about US$79 million), according to the institution.

The order book was well diversified, with 71 percent of bids being allocated to institutional investors and the remainder taken up by local banks, NDB said in a statement.

“NDB is seeking to increase its presence in the local capital markets of its member countries, to fund its robust portfolio of local-currency loans,” said Leslie Maasdorp, NDB vice president and chief financial officer.

The proceeds will be used to fund infrastructure and sustainable development projects in South Africa, Maasdorp said.

The Shanghai-headquartered bank, established by Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) in 2015, is aimed at mobilising resources for infrastructure and sustainable development projects in BRICS and other emerging economies.

In 2021, NDB initiated an expansion of its membership and admitted Bangladesh, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Uruguay as new member countries. – Xinhua