RMB facilitates sustainability linked financing package for Lango

The challenge

Lango Real Estate (Lango) – a leading pan-African real estate firm, owns a diversified and growing portfolio of prime commercial assets, worth more than USD600 million, in Ghana, Nigeria, Zambia and Angola. To promote growth and secure the long-term sustainability and longevity of its assets, Lango required a sustainability strategy in line with international best practice and funding to support this strategy. They subsequently appointed RMB to act as sole Sustainability Adviser and Co-ordinator for their first sustainability-linked financing package.

The RMB solution

RMB, which also has a minority shareholding in the business, has acted as a funding partner to Lango since inception and has an aligned interest in enabling Lango’s sustainability strategy.

As Sustainability Adviser RMB was instrumental in supporting Lango’s establishment of a holistic Sustainable Finance Framework (SFF), which considers both use of proceeds loans (such as green and social loans) and sustainability-linked loans. The SFF integrated Lango’s financial strategy and sustainability goals, while enhancing the transparency of sustainability reporting, giving Lango the opportunity to credibly access the sustainable finance market.

As sole Sustainability Co-ordinator, RMB implemented a USD325 million Sustainability-Linked Loan (SLL) funding package. At the time, the SLL package was one of the largest sustainability-linked loans implemented in Africa.

Results and benefits

RMB worked with Lango’s senior management to identify the key performance indicators (KPIs) to catalyse Lango’s decarbonisation and overall sustainability ambitions. These KPIs included increasing the use of renewable energy sources, ensuring buildings are green certified and improving Lango’s gender diversity.

The renewable energy that is expected to be installed over the period of the SLL is anticipated to equate to the power requirement for approximately 2,437 homes. Lango will also aim to achieve 20% improvements in energy, water, and embodied energy in materials in most of their buildings by 2025.