GuarantCo has completed its first transaction in Senegal with an up to USD 50 million payment default guarantee for a pioneering USD 213 million bond sponsored by Société Nationale d’Electricité du Sénégal (Senelec), the national power utility.

The guarantee was provided over part of the senior tranche of the dual-labelled Green Bond and Sustainability-Linked Bond issued by the FCTC Senelec 2025-2030 (the “Local Bond”), a securitisation Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) based in Togo.

This marks the first issuance of a Green Bond by a public company in Africa and the first bond issuance in Africa to obtain a dual label (Green Bond and Sustainability-Linked Bond).

The guaranteed bond was subscribed to by Symbiotics, with M&G Investments providing the liquidity and being the bond’s anchor investor. The Local Bond was arranged and managed by BOAD Titrisation (BT).

The Local Bond was purchased by a Symbiotics-arranged vehicle in Luxembourg, which took the benefit of the GuarantCo guarantee and issued a guaranteed bond, which was fully subscribed to by M&G Investments. This transaction marks the continuation of the successful cooperation between M&G Investments, Symbiotics and GuarantCo, after the closing of the benchmark maiden transaction with Valency International in September.

This transaction will enable Senelec to finance nine new renewable energy projects aligned to its corporate sustainability goals.

Senelec will use the proceeds of the Green Bond component of the issuance to finance 585MW of solar power generation and a 329MW Battery Energy Storage System.

The transaction will enable reliable access to energy for 1.8 million end users and avoid estimated 853k tCO₂e annually.

It therefore supports progress towards the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals 7 (affordable and clean energy) and 13 (climate action). The significant mobilisation of private capital achieved by this transaction is aligned to SDG 17 (partnerships for the goals).