NMB BANK JAMII BOND RAISES A RECORD TZS 400 BILLION

• The dual-tranche sustainability bond received strong demands from local retail investors and impact investors globally, further diversifying NMB’s investor base.
• The Target at the Opening was TZS 75 Billion with a green shoe option of up to TZS 25 Billion in TZS Tranche and USD 10 Million with a green shoe option of up to USD 5 Million.
• The TZS tranche marked 284% subscription level, mobilising TZS 212.9 Billion from the initial TZS 75 Billion, whilst the USD Tranche marked 730% subscription level, mobilising USD 73 Million from the initial USD 10 Million.
• Attracted over 5,600 Investors and collected a historic amount of TZS 400 Billion collectively from both TZS and USD Tranche. This marks the largest Sustainability Bond ever listed in the history of our market.

Dar es Salaam, December 12, 2023: NMB Bank PLC (“NMB”) has received a total of TZS 400 billion from its dual-tranche sustainability bond, dubbed ‘the NMB Jamii Bond’. The bank raised TZS 212.9 Billion and USD 73 Million from the largest Sustainability Bond ever issued in the East African region through its 1st tranche of its TZS 1 trillion Medium-Term Note (MTN) Program. The landmark transaction marks NMB’s first Sustainability Bond under its current MTN, following the global award winning, TZS denominated ‘debut Social Bond’ (Jasiri Gender Bond) which was issued in 2022, under the previous MTN.

The issuance of the Jamii Bond further reinforces the position of NMB Bank as the market leader and a pioneer in Sustainability.

Recently, NMB’s ESG and Sustainability commitment has been well recognized and positions the Bank among the best players in the African Capital markets. Among the slew of over 30 local and international awards received in 2023, NMB has been recognized as:

• The Best Commitment to ESG Principles, Tanzania (International Banker Banking Awards 2023)
• The Best Bank for CSR in Tanzania (Euromoney Awards for Excellence 2023)
• The Best Corporate Social Responsibility Initiative in Tanzania (Global Business & Finance Magazine 2023
• The Safest Bank in Tanzania 2023 (Global Business & Finance Magazine 2023)
• The Largest and Most Compliant Taxpayer in Tanzania, for the second year in a row, underscoring NMB’s market leadership and strong commitment to high governance standards.

The collective amount received from the Jamii Bond is more than three times the amount that was earlier approved by Capital Markets and Securities Authority (CMSA) of raising at least TZS 75 billion with a green shoe of TZS 25 Billion on the TZS Tranche and USD 10 Million with a green shoe of USD 5 Million on the USD Tranche. This is the first time a bank has raised such an amount in the history of the Capital Markets in East and Central Africa.

The net proceeds of the Jamii Bond will be used to finance activities that align to the Bank’s updated Sustainability Financing Framework. The proceeds shall finance eligible climate, social, and environment-focused projects that positively impact resilience against climate change, achieve sustainable infrastructure, and promote efficient and sustainable use of natural resources such as water and energy.

The issuance recorded a very high quality of the order book, resulting in a significant oversubscription. Upon seeking and receiving approval from CMSA to further increase the green shoe option, the Bank has accepted all the received applications worth TZS 212,940,980,000 and USD 73,000,000.

The total number of applications in the TZS tranche was 5,608; among these, 5,591 applications were through the NMB branch network, equivalent to 99% of total number of applications.

Local investors in the TZS tranche were 5,602, equivalent to 99.9% of the total, while there were four global investors, including co-anchors International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, and British International Investment plc ("BII"), an institution wholly owned by the United Kingdom Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office.

It is important to recognize that the NMB Jamii Bond has made a significant contribution in boosting economic growth, including bringing foreign currency to the country where we see an increase in US dollar liquidity in the financial market but also the foreign direct investment (FDI).

Commenting on the Bond’s historic success, Ms. Ruth Zaipuna, CEO NMB Bank Plc, said:

‘‘At NMB Bank, we believe business success and building a sustainable future must go hand in hand’’.

‘‘The extraordinary success of the bond demonstrates the strong appreciation among Tanzanian and global investors for the soundness of NMB Bank and its commitment to sustainability of its operations, business, community, and environment. It further reiterates the Bank’s creditworthiness and the desire of local and international investors to take advantage of the multiple safe and impactful investment opportunities offered by the robust investment climate of the country’’. She added.

Following the listing, investors can trade their bonds on the DSE while earning an annual interest rate of 9.5% pa, paid quarterly for the TZS tranche and 6 Months SOFR plus 250 basis points per annum paid semi-annually for the USD Tranche.

NMB Bank’s internal arrangers worked with ABSA Bank Tanzania Limited as joint lead transaction advisors, KPMG, Certified Public Accountants as the reporting accountant, Rex Advocates as the legal advisor and Orbit Securities as a sponsoring broker.

The NMB Sustainable Finance Framework received a second-party opinion (SPO) from Sustainalytics. FSD Africa provided technical assistance for the bank's portfolio review, which the Climate Bonds Initiative (CBI) assessed for alignment with ICMA and multilateral Development Bank (MDB) principles.