ESG & Capital Markets Africa 2020 - Virtual Conference

Debunking myths to better integrate ESG into your investment approach

• What does ESG integration look like? Addressing commonly held misbeliefs and incorrect assumptions
• Materiality vs. demand vs. regulation: What is driving ESG integration globally
• What are the trends we are seeing in ESG integration and across the globe?
• What tools and resources are available to investors looking to start or improve upon ESG integration practices?

Deconstructing the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): How can we start applying these principles to the African market?

• SDGs 101: What are the SDGs, and why are they important for the progress of Africa’s financing and development needs?
• What does it mean to be ESG compliant?
• Putting SDGs into practice: How do a selection of the 17 SDGs (education, sanitation, affordable clean energy and infrastructure) fit into the pipeline of Africa’s future development?

Implementing Sustainable Finance products: What can African players learn from successful ESG strategies and issuances in other regions?

• Green bonds, sukuks, SDG linked bonds and loans: Understanding the debut issuer journey
• What were the key challenges they faced, and how did they overcome them?
• What are the benefits?
• How are social bonds operating in different jurisdictions? Would a similar structure translate well to the African market?

How can credit worthiness within an ESG framework benefit sovereign risk analysis in the long-term?

Green vs. Vanilla: Pricing vs. ROI – How do they stack up?

• USD vs. local currency, green vs. vanilla: How does pricing for a USD denominated green transaction compare to vanilla? How does this change when looking at local currency?
• With green transactions requiring more work than vanilla, how does this translate in terms of ROI? Is the ROI and/or benefit of green worth it?
• Short term pain to achieve long term gain: Do the long-term investment benefits outweigh (sometimes) frequent upfront costs?
• Pricing up alternatives for green products: What products other than debt are offered under the “green umbrella”? How do they price in comparison?

Examining the role of DFIs, IFIs, and ECAs pushing forward Africa’s green project pipeline

• What role are banks and DFIs playing in educating the market on cost-effective ways to issue sustainably?
• How do DFIs, IFIs and ECAs compare on their ESG mandates? What strategies are they using to push forward the green project pipeline?
• DFIs as a pillar of ESG financing: What metrics are they using to decide whether to enter a project? What is their stance on transition finance?

One size does not fit all: How can African corporates begin incorporating ESG principles into their long-term growth strategy?

• Where to start when defining a corporate ESG policy? Understanding how Environmental, Social and Governance principles fit into your existing strategy
• What tools can corporates use to measure whether existing and new transactions match up to their newly-outlined ESG principles?
• Understanding green finance as a risk mitigator: How to educate shareholders on the benefits of increased transparency in green reporting
• Learning best practices from success stories: Which African institutions have already made their first steps on the ESG pathway – what best practices can they share?

Understanding the spectrum of “green”: What assessment and reporting metrics are available to borrowers and issuers? (presentation)

• Fifty shades of green: What does the spectrum of green look like?
• What methods are most effective in tracking how transactions match up to sustainable finance and ESG metrics?
• Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) reporting: Why reporting on climate risk is becoming more important
• How to build in TCFD as part of your business’s wider ESG strategy
• To what extent can ESG assessment and reporting criteria be standardised across the continent?
• Does standardisation limit access to sustainable finance for high yield African players?

Catalysing Investments to achieve the SDGs

• The Standards provide rigorous decision-making framework that investors can use to allocate capital
• The Standards fill the gap between high level principles and reporting
• The Standards provide assurance to investors that outcomes have occurred

To what extent are “E”, “S” and/or “G” acting as markers to attract more FDI into Africa? What criteria are investors looking at?

• E vs. S. vs G: How much importance are investors placing on each of the three ESG criterion when looking at Africa?
• What do investors need to see from African borrowers with regards to ESG-compliance to commit to green-based projects?
• How will investors consider institutions with lower scores and/or nascent ESG frameworks? How does investment appetite vary for green vs. brown?
• To what extent are African institutions using ESG as a way to attract more FDI into the continent?
• Understanding impact investing as a tool to increase FDI into Africa: What is the role of impact investing in Africa? And how far along are African funds?
• What more needs to be done to showcase impact investing as a viable option for institutional investors?

The cost of “G”: What is the real cost to companies when implementing increased governance to align with SDGs?

• How can companies adjust governance structures to ensure they better aligns with SDGs goals?
• What is the cost of implementing increased governance to align potential green transactions with UN guidelines?
• How can institutions better manage capital structures to integrate the cost of ESG reporting into a long-term business plan? Where are the additional costs coming from?