GuarantCo provided CamGSM (Cellcard) with a USD 70 million guarantee to support an internationally certified sustainability bond fully subscribed by institutional investors Manulife and Prudential Cambodia, listed at the Cambodian Stock Exchange on 24th November 2023, and loan financing from Deutsche Bank AG, Singapore Branch.

Both the bond and loan have obtained second party opinions from Moody’s Investor Services on their alignment with the international ICMA Green Bond, Social Bond, Sustainability Bond Principles as well as LMA/APLMA/LSTA Green Loan, Social Loan Principles. All proceeds from the bond and loan will be allocated towards green/social Use of Proceeds categories financing 4G telecommunication towers, energy efficient 4G equipment and future-proofing the network in preparation for 5G rollout.

This transaction aims to enhance Cellcard’s service quality for its customers including improved coverage, speed and increased data capacity supporting UN Sustainable Development Goal 9: Significantly increase access to information and communications technology.

This impact that the transaction will deliver to local people in Cambodia is significant; it is expected that over one million consumers will benefit from increased internet speed and coverage, improving their quality of life and productivity, whilst businesses will also benefit from enhanced productivity through improved speed and coverage of service.

In total around 260 jobs will be created: 200 jobs in construction for installers, riggers, engineers, surveyors, designers, network optimisers, network testers and drivers and 60 jobs for tower maintenance workers and back-office roles. The project will also make an important contribution to empowering women as 20 percent of Cellcard’s management and 30 percent of the workforce are women.