The Arab Petroleum Investments Corporation or Apicorp has successfully raised $750 million from its debut green bonds, said local reports on Wednesday, October 6.
Apicorp is a multilateral development financial institution focused on the energy sector.
The US-denominated five-year benchmark issuance was the first green bond in the Mena region issued by an energy-focused investment institution.
It was nearly three times oversubscribed, garnering $2.2 billion in orders from more than 80 institutional and sovereign investors.
All projects funded by Apicorp using these green bonds will reportedly be aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with a focus on renewable energy, green buildings, pollution prevention and control, and low-carbon technologies and solutions.
A designated Green Bond Committee or GBC is expected to oversee the evaluation process of the projects to ensure their compliance with Apicorp’s recently launched ESG and Green Bond Frameworks, alignment to best practices, and that they support local and national energy sustainability strategies.
In addition, Apicorp apparently plans to issue an Annual Green Bond Report on the environmental impact of the bonds to ensure stakeholder visibility.
Commenting on the success of the bonds, Apicorp CEO Ahmed Ali Attiga said: “Through our debut green bonds, Apicorp opens new investment avenues to build a more sustainable future for the Arab world and give millions of people access to safer, cleaner, and more affordable energy sources.”
In terms of geographic distribution, investors from outside the Arab region accounted for 93 percent of the total subscribers of the issuance, with 45 percent based in the UK and Europe.
Around 63 percent of the subscribers are said to be strictly ESG-focused investors.
