Conserving Africa’s future by increasing the world’s Wilderness, together
06 Oct 2023
Country
South Africa
Year
2023
Business Unit
Corporate Financing Solutions
Specific Role
Sustainability agent and sole lender
As Africa’s largest bank, Standard Bank is committed to supporting initiatives that are dedicated to protecting our continent’s rich, biodiverse landscape from the threats of anthropogenic activities. As such, we are proud to have executed our first nature conservation loan in Africa for Wilderness.
Wilderness is an Africa-based eco-tourism company with a mission to protect, explore and expand the world’s wilderness though its innovative approach to ecotourism and conservation. Their impact framework is built around three pillars, namely Educate communities through school curriculums and infrastructure, Empower local communities and small businesses with sustainable employment in the tourism ecosystem all in an effort to Protect Human-wildlife co-existence, and wildlife security programmes.
Standard Bank CIB acted as sustainability agent and sole lender for Wilderness to ensure their ability to keep protecting, exploring and expanding Africa’s ultimate, untamed places. Not only will the conservation financing allow our Botswana-based client to expand its operations within and beyond the 8 African countries it already operates in; it will also secure and increase opportunities, employment and education within local communities while providing a sustainable framework for protecting large and biodiverse tracts of unspoilt wilderness for posterity. This serves as a testament to the positive impact sustainably linked investment can make on the planet and the prosperity of its people.