Despite the challenges of Covid-19, Nedbank Corporate and Investment Banking (CIB) was able to secure three significant deals across housing, renewable energy and the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), over the last year.

Firstly, in a first for South Africa, the bank raised ZAR2 billion ($134 million) from the African Development Bank (AfDB) through the issuance of a SDG-linked bond instrument listed on the green segment of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE). The subordinated green bonds are aligned with the Green Bond Principles established by ICMA and were issued under Nedbank's SDGs Issuance Framework.

Secondly, Nedbank partnered with solar development company, the SOLA group, to generate power for AB InBev breweries, one of the world's largest beer producers. The partnership forms part of a larger pool of funding that gives SOLA ready access to capital for the development of future embedded generation projects. According to Nedbank, the partnership has played a key role in AB InBev's commitment to generate 50% of its energy in the region from renewables by 2020.

The bank committed ZAR80 million to housing development company Indlu to provide affordable and formalised housing in South Africa's townships.

"Being recognised as the best investment bank by Environmental Finance is a very credible achievement and stems from our leading position of using our financial expertise to develop world class sustainable solutions in an innovative and impactful way," said Anél Bosman, group managing executive at Nedbank CIB.

In addition, Nedbank established a dedicated sustainable finance team.