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CIEL Limited, one of the largest conglomerates in Mauritius, led by the Arnaud Dalais family, has issued a MUR 1.45 billion (about US$31 million) sustainability-linked bond, making it among the first in Africa in its category to do so.
The bond is tied to ambitious performance targets: increasing women empowerment, cutting carbon emissions, and reducing water consumption. The company’s six business clusters will be measured against those metrics under the terms of the deal.
Guillaume Dalais, CIEL’s Chief Executive Officer, said the issuance marks “an important milestone in our Sustainability journey,” adding that the strong investor interest underlined “that our long-term vision resonates with the market.”
The bond was oversubscribed by 1.5 times. Foreign investors also participated, including the Africa Local Currency Bond Fund, based in London, helping to deepen Mauritius’ local currency debt market.
CIEL developed its sustainability finance framework with technical support from MCB Capital Markets, guidance from Morningstar Sustainalytics for independent assessment of the targets, and additional backing from FSD Africa. These partnerships, executives said, help lend credibility to the environmental and social goals embedded in the bond.
Industry observers noted this issuance reflects growing sophistication in Mauritius’ financial markets. Corporate bonds outstanding in the country currently total roughly MUR 125 billion (around US$3 billion), and instruments tied to sustainability are increasingly in demand.
The funds raised will be deployed across CIEL’s six sectors of operation, which include textiles, hospitality, property, agriculture, financial services and technology. Arnaud Dalais, chairman of CIEL, has been driving a strategy of integrating sustainability with growth, insisting that value creation must go hand-in-hand with social and environmental responsibility.
