There’s nothing micro about microfinance company Tasaheel’s bond issuance:MNT-Halan microfinance subsidiary Tasaheel Finance has issued EGP 3.8 bn worth of securitized social sustainability bonds — the first such bonds in Egypt and Africa— it said in a statement (pdf). The issuance, which is part of a three-year EGP 13 bn program, came in six tranches rated A- and P1 by Middle East Rating Services (MERIS) and was 1.4x oversubscribed.

Social sustainability bonds? Also known as just social bonds, social sustainability bonds are bonds whose proceeds are used to finance projects with a positive social income — think poverty alleviation, improving electricity access, and making education more accessible. In this case, the proceeds will be used to finance projects “with a social dimension” that “contribute to sustainable development goals.” The proceeds will be divided amongst a number of segments, with 40% earmarked for people under 35, 50% for women, and 94% for those in rural governorates that lack banking services.

Moody’s-approved: Moody’s gave the securities a sustainability quality score of SQS1 — thehighest score possible for this type of bond. The score indicates that the securities are “expected to make a high contribution to the issuer’s advancement of long-term sustainable development.”

Who bought in: Bank ABC, Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, Al Ahli Bank of Kuwait, and Arab International Bank subscribed to the issuance, while CIB acted as an underwriter alongside the National Bank of Egypt, the Arab African International Bank, and the Suez Canal Bank.

Advisors: CIB acted as financial advisor and transaction manager. Matouk Bassiouny & Hennawy was legal counsel, KPMG was the auditor, Moody’s Investors Services acted as the sustainability technical advisor.

This marks Egypt’s and MNT-Halan’s second securitization in 2024 after MNT-Halan’s consumer finance arm Halanclosed a EGP 971.5 mn securitized bond issuance earlier this month.

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