The United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) has officially announced the appointment of the National Bank of Commerce Ltd. (NBC) as the Lead Transaction Advisor (LTA) to finalize critical steps towards the issuance of the first sub-national water infrastructure green revenue bond to be issued by Tanga UWASA.

The announcement was cemented by the signing of a strategic agreement with NBC, who will lead a consortium of five other financial and licensed capital market advisors, a requirement by the Capital Market and Securities Authority CMSA, and a path for the transaction to be listed at the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange. As part of the bond structure, this assignment includes finalizing the prospectus and securing relevant clearances from the government and capital markets regulators. The bond is expected to be issued by the first quarter of 2023.

Speaking during the event Head of UNCDF in Tanzania Mr. Peter Malika highlighted that " We are proud to appoint NBC, a national institution to finalize this historic transaction. It is a way of establishing and strengthening national capacity to create innovative financing instruments for development. UNCDF as a development finance partner plays an important role in catalyzing and addressing market imperfection and financing gaps especially in developing economies where financial markets are less mature

Speaking during the event, managing director of Tanga UWASA, Mr. Geofrey Hill, said that " The collaboration with UNCDF, guided by the government directives on exploring alternative project financing has led to this important day. We look forward to working with NBC to fast track the completion of the remaining stages of unlocking financing to serve our communities to increase our water supply capacity to unserved demand "

On their side, the Head of Corporate and Investment Banking at NBC Bank, James Meitaron, said that "As a local bank that the government partly owns, we are proud to be the first bank in the country to take part as the Lead Transaction Adviser for a transaction of this kind. Today we have witnessed history being written where, for the first time in the country, a sub-national entity, the Public Authority (Tanga-UWASA) in collaboration with UNCDF has opened new avenues for capital mobilization that is going to be done through green bond issuance. The funds will be used to improve water infrastructure in Tanga and hence significantly boost the welfare and well-being of the people in those areas. We at NBC Bank are proud to use our experience and expertise to bring solutions to the challenges facing the society around us "