…N7.5bn Series 2, 5-year fixed-rate bond to finance women-owned, women-led SMEs
Chapel Hill Advisory Partners Limited (Chapel Hill) has launched Nigeria’s first Gender Bond. The N7.5 billion Series 2 five-year fixed-rate bond is issued by Chapel Hill Financing SPV Plc under its N250 billion Debt Issuance Programme. The bond is a milestone for the Nigerian capital market. It is the first gender bond whose proceeds will provide financing to women-owned and women-led businesses, and it opens a new channel of long-term capital to a historically underserved segment.
The net proceeds will be used to finance women-owned and women-led SMEs and MSMEs through Chapel Hill Denham Nigeria SME Limited (SME.NG), Chapel Hill’s gender lens SME impact investment platform. Every borrower must meet SME.NG’s eligibility requirements, the 2X Criteria set by 2X Global, and a framework aligned with the International Capital Market Association (ICMA) Social Bond Principles.
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Bolaji Balogun, Chief Executive Officer of Chapel Hill, said: “Women-owned businesses create jobs, opportunities and drive growth across Nigeria, yet they find access to longer-duration capital hard to find. This bond puts long-term capital directly behind them. We are grateful to FSD Africa for its partnership in this landmark transaction.”
FSD Africa (Financial Sector Deepening Africa), funded by the UK’s FCDO, played an important role as Sustainable Finance Adviser in supporting the successful issuance of Nigeria’s first Gender Bond. Chapel Hill acknowledges FSD Africa’s partnership and commitment to advancing sustainable finance and deepening Nigeria’s capital markets.
Agusto & Co. provided an independent Second Party Opinion, verifying and certifying that both the Gender Bond issuance and the underlying portfolio of eligible women-owned and women-led businesses to be financed by SME.NG are aligned with the ICMA Social Bond Principles and consistent with Chapel Hill’s broader sustainability strategy. This independent assessment provides investors with assurance regarding the transparency, integrity and impact credentials of the issuance.
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Evans Osano, chief financial markets officer at FSD Africa, said: “Nigeria’s first gender bond is a milestone for the capital market, showing that investor capital can be directed deliberately to women. Through our technical assistance toolkit, FSD Africa has worked with Chapel Hill to build a credible, independently reviewed structure that links every Naira raised to women-led and women-owned businesses. We hope this offer becomes the template for many more issuers.”
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Iheanyi Nwachukwu, is a creative content writer with over two decades journalism experience writing on banking, finance, capital markets, and tax. The multiple awards winning journalist is Deputy Editor, BusinessDay. Iheanyi holds BSc Degree in Economics from Imo State University; Master of Science (MSc) Degree in Management from University of Lagos.
Iheanyi has attended several work-related trainings including (i) Advanced Writing and Reporting Skills (Pan African University, Lagos); (ii) News Agency Journalism (Indian Institute of Mass Communication {IIMC}, New Delhi, India); and (iii) Capital Markets Development and Regulations (International Law Institute {ILI} of Georgetown University, Washington DC, USA).
Other trainings Iheanyi attended include: Economic/Political Risk Analysis (By Thomson Reuters Foundation); International Financial Journalism (IFJ) (By PMA Media Training, UK); Effective Business Writing Skills (By Phillips Consulting); Reporting on Corporate Governance (By International Finance Corporation (IFC) & Thomson Reuters Foundation UK); etc. In addition, he has participated in high-level economy & markets events in Dubai, South Africa, Morocco, and other African countries like Zambia, Ghana and Gambia.
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