Standard Bank Group (SBG), Africa’s largest bank, completed real estate transactions in many countries during the review period. It extended 20 new facilities totalling $249.05 million to both existing and new clients, and 13 refinancings totalling $408.8 million to existing clients.
Funding was provided across different real-estate sectors, including retail, industrial, residential, mixed-use and commercial offices.
The bank has continued to build its portfolio of environmental, social and governance-qualified loans with 12 additional facilities valued at $570 million, taking its total ESG portfolio to nearly $1 billion from inception in 2021.
ESG activities include green loans, sustainability and social-linked facilities.
On the social-impact front, the bank deployed the first social loan in the real-estate space in South Africa with a $35 million loan structure for Growthpoint’s purpose-built student accommodation.
SBG has also initiated real estate investment trust frameworks in markets such as Nigeria and Kenya.
In technology, the bank deploys Openspace, a reality capture tool that allows clients, their professional team and funder to view progress on a worksite from anywhere in the world.