Climate strategy
We are committed to driving Africa’s growth in an inclusive and sustainable manner, supporting a just energy transition.
We strive to create a positive impact through our business on important aspects of Africa’s development such as education, infrastructure, financial inclusion and other UN Sustainable Development Goals. It is also crucial for us to reduce the negative impacts of our business on the environment and society. Climate change is an important issue with implications for Africa’s growth, and as the largest bank on the continent, we have the opportunity to play a leading role in supporting a just energy transition for Africa.

Our climate policy is designed with Africa’s social, economic and environmental context as its starting point. We have set commitments and targets for thermal coal, oil, gas and agriculture, based on their identified levels of elevated climate risk. Over the next 2 to 3 years, climate targets and commitments will also be set in additional sectors including insurance, residential and commercial property, and transportation.
Our industry focuses
We are committed to providing tailored industry-specific insights as well as providing market-specific product and services for key industries.

We encourage sustainable agricultural practices through sustainable loan products that support renewable energy opportunities, climate-smart agriculture and digital platforms to assist small-holder farmers.
We collect data through partnerships with research groups and industry experts to set an emissions reduction target and a portfolio baseline.
We will not finance
- the deforestation of natural forests and indigenous trees (except where this will have a positive impact, as in the de-bushing of farming blocks for grazing and cropping);
- the production of or trade in other non-indigenous forestry products except from sustainably managed forests and
- unsustainable fishing.
We only finance gas-related projects that produce zero to minimal fugitive emissions or are committed to reducing the carbon intensity of liquified natural gas (LNG) plants.
We will prioritise finance for constructing gas-fired power plants when
- providing support services as part of an integrated renewable energy power solution or
- converting existing coal- or oil-fired power plants as part of a clearly defined decarbonisation plan aligned to net zero by 2050.
In line with our view of gas as a transition fuel, we will limit the financing of standalone gas-fired power plants providing general baseload, mid-merit or peaking power to a cap of 0.75% of total group advances after 2026, from a current level of 0.14%.
We will reduce our exposure to gas by 2045, in line with our commitment to net zero by 2050, while considering the energy security of the markets where we operate.


We will reduce
- group advances to upstream oil by 5% by 2030 and
- financing to clients generating power mainly from oil, from 0.05% of total group advances in 2021 to 0.03% in 2026 and zero from 2030.
We will not finance
- companies with unrestricted flaring for new assets, and we will seek from existing companies with flaring timebound plans to eliminate flaring for existing assets;
- the extraction of tar sands or construction of associated export facilities, exploration and production of tight oil resources, and pipelines transporting a significant volume of tight oil and export terminals supplied by a significant volume of tight oil and
constructing new oil-fired power plants or expanding existing generating capacity unless such plants provide support services as part of an integrated renewable energy power plant.
We will limit our exposure to 0.70% of group loans and advances in 2021 and to 0.50% by 2030.
We will not finance the construction of new coal-fired power plants or the expansion of generating capacity of existing plants.
We will reduce the financing of power sector clients that generate power mainly from coal, from 0.18% of total group advances in 2021 to 0.15% in 2026 and 0.12% from 2030.
We will finance new coal mines only when there is an overall positive environmental impact.


We ensure that our strategy is consistent with our mission by managing environmental, social and governance (ESG) risks, formalising ESG compliance and sustainability and embedding a culture of responsible banking across the group.

Our products and services are designed to deliver positive social, economic and environmental (SEE) impacts in 7 key focus areas.