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The Lagos-based multilateral infrastructure financier that on 12 August 2026 became the first African institution to issue a bond listed, traded and settled on a regulated digital exchange, raising CHF 350m of five-year paper through SIX Swiss Exchange and SIX Digital Exchange under its existing medium-term note programme.
Africa Finance Corporation was established in 2007 as a multilateral institution investing in African infrastructure, and describes itself as the continent's leading infrastructure solutions provider. It has 48 member countries and says it has invested US$18.5bn across Africa since inception, in power, natural resources, heavy industry, transport and telecommunications, combining principal investing with project development, financial advisory and syndication. It funds itself in international capital markets and carries a dual investment grade rating, 'A' with a positive outlook from S&P and A3 with a stable outlook from Moody's, which is unusual for an institution headquartered in a sub-investment grade sovereign. Its borrowing runs through a US$5bn Global Medium-Term Note Programme, and the Swiss franc is an established currency for it: the digital bond of 12 August 2026 is its fourth and largest issue in francs, following a CHF 150m green bond in 2020 that was its first green bond, and it followed a US$500m benchmark issued in June 2026. Samaila Zubairu is President and Chief Executive Officer and Banji Fehintola is Executive Board Member and Head of Financial Services. The corporation appears on this beat as a borrower rather than as a builder of onchain markets: what it changed in August 2026 was where its paper is registered and settled, not what the paper is.
Developments in which Africa Finance Corporation is a named party, newest first.
Africa Finance Corporation raised CHF 350m of five-year paper on 12 August, listed on SIX Swiss Exchange and deposited with SIX Digital Exchange under its existing $5bn note programme. About 90 per cent of demand was Swiss domestic.
AFC raised CHF 350m of five-year paper at a coupon of 1.4925% on 12 August 2026, admitted for trading on SIX Swiss Exchange and deposited with SIX Digital Exchange, under its US$5bn Global Medium-Term Note Programme. About 90 per cent of demand came from Swiss domestic investors, and it is the first such issue by an African institution.
What issued, what settled, what the supervisors changed, with the numbers behind it and a note on what the numbers do not show. One email, Thursday mornings.
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