Development Bank of Namibia settles its first bond

DEVELOPMENT Bank of Namibia (DBN) has confirmed the settlement of DBN20, the first bond the bank issued under its N$2.5 billion Medium-Term Note Programme listed on the Namibian Stock Exchange.

The bond matured on 4 September 2020 and settlement of the bond went smoothly and successfully. At maturity, it had 38 bondholders, consisting 37 Namibian entities and one foreign entity.

The issuance of DBN20 in September 2017 marked the first time the Bank formally approached Namibian capital markets to raise funding and deepen the capital market.

Since issuing DBN20, the Bank issued three other bonds (DBN20A1, DBN20B and DBN23), raising a total of N$500 million for lending to financially viable, environmental and socially acceptable projects with developmental impact.

DBN20A1, DBN20B and DBN23 are the first and only amortising bonds issued and listed on the Namibian Stock Exchange. This demonstrates the Bank’s ability to honour its debt obligations as they become due, having successfully honored the capital repayments on these amortising bonds to date.

Since listing its N$2.5 billion Medium-Term Note Programme in July 2017, the bank is currently the fourth largest issuer on the Namibian Stock Exchange outside of the Namibian Government and the largest issuer in the SOEs category on the Namibian Stock Exchange.

The DBN has a long-term issuer default rating of BB and national scale rating of AAA (zaf) by Fitch ratings. This rating is equal to the rating of the Government of the Republic of Namibia.