Kenya's Safaricom raises $117m with local sustainability-linked loan

Kenya's biggest telecoms operator Safaricom has raised 15 billion shillings ($116.73m) via the second tranche of a sustainability-linked loan from a consortium of local banks, it said on Tuesday, 24 September.

Pedestrians walk outside the Safaricom mobile phone customer care centre during the launch of its 5G internet service in the central business district of Nairobi, Kenya, 27 October 2022. Reuters/Monicah Mwangi/File Photo

The company, which is part-owned by South Africa's Vodacom and Britain's Vodafone, started the sustainability-linked loan programme last year when it raised a similar amount in the first tranche.

The cash will be used for investments like the conversion of its transmission sites to renewable energy instead of expensive diesel.

"This deal helps to accelerate the advancement of our sustainability agenda," Safaricom's CEO Peter Ndegwa in a statement.

The four participating banks in the transaction are KCB, ABSA, Standard Chartered Kenya and Stanbic, Safaricom said, adding that Standard Chartered acted as the lead arranger and bookrunner.