Category: Blended finance
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Mar 30th, 2020
A pioneering $21.6m (€19.3m) sovereign debt restructuring deal to finance marine conservation in the Seychelles has met its impact targets with a third of the Seychelles’ ocean now designated as ’protected’.
The Nature Conservancy, who structured the deal through its NatureVest arm, says more are now in the pipeline in Africa and the Caribbean in the range of $200m-$500m (€178.5m - €446.3m).
In a world first, the Seychelles deal saw the Nature Conservancy raise $15.2m in impact capital loans and $5m in charitable grants to buy back $21.6m of the country’s sovereign debt from creditors in 2016.
The renegotiated terms with the Seychelles government included marine conservation and climate adaptation measures that have now been met, with 32% of its waters designated as Marine Protection Areas.
The country's president, Danny Faure said: “Seychelles is ultimately an Oceanic State and our people are connected to the ocean. By protecting these lar…