People
The transaction will enable reliable access to energy for 1.8 million end users.
| Company | PIDG |
| Sector | Power/energy |
| Country | Senegal |
| Total Project Cost | USD 213 million |
| PIDG Commitment |
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| Dates of PIDG involvement |
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Senegal’s renewable energy sector is held back by limited access to long-term, local currency finance and a shallow domestic capital market. While the country has a growing pipeline of solar projects, many remain unfunded due to the national power utility, Senelec’s, constrained balance sheet and the absence of investable financial instruments. Local institutional investors, such as pension funds, are largely absent from infrastructure finance due to high perceived risk, currency mismatch, and lack of precedent for structured green products. The absence of sustainability-linked or securitised instruments has further limited market participation and private sector investment in clean energy.
PIDG provided 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. This transaction will enable Senelec to finance nine new renewable energy projects aligned to its corporate sustainability goals.
The guarantee was provided over part of the senior tranche of the dual-labelled Green Bond and Sustainability-Linked Bond. 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.
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.
The transaction will enable reliable access to energy for 1.8 million end users.
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. It will avoid an estimated 853k tCO₂e annually.
This transaction introduces Senegal’s first sustainability-linked securitisation, backed by Senelec’s electricity receivables and supported by a local currency guarantee from PIDG. This structure creates a model of investment for local and international institutional investors. The deal is designed to serve as a replicable model for future capital market issuances that fund renewable infrastructure.
The transaction establishes a replicable green finance mechanism in a market where such instruments are currently absent. It is expected to catalyse further issuances, deepen local investor participation, and enable a shift toward a more developed green capital market.
