The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on February 9 raised Kazakhstani tenge (KZT) 8.4bn (€17mn) from the first gender bond issued in Kazakhstan.

The bond’s proceeds will help finance the KZT38bn Promoting Gender Equality in Housing Finance Project aimed at expanding lending operations of the Housing and Construction Savings Bank of Kazakhstan (Otbasy Bank) and promoting affordable residential mortgage loans for women borrowers in rural areas. The ADB loan is the first external borrowing entered into by Otbasy Bank. The loan is guaranteed by the Ministry of Finance of Kazakhstan.

The 10.15% semi-annual coupon bond features a 10-year bullet maturity, redeeming in December 2030. The bond stands as the longest-maturity local currency bond issued by any multilateral development bank in Kazakhstan. Auctioned and listed on the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange in a bond issuance arranged by Tengri Partners, the offering was oversubscribed and sold to domestic institutional investors. 

The ADB is also preparing to issue another tenge bond to fund the CAREC Corridors 1 and 6 Connector Road Reconstruction Project.

“ADB is gratified to contribute to the development of Kazakhstan’s thriving capital markets,” said ADB treasurer Pierre Van Peteghem. “This inaugural tenge-denominated gender bond follows soon after our first green bonds last November and underlines the catalytic nature of ADB’s borrowing program in Asian local currencies.”

ADB has issued over $3.2bn in thematic bonds to support education, gender, health, and water projects as investors allocate more funds to environment, social, and governance (ESG) goals.