Seeding Transformative Change with our $211M Sustainability Bond

Our Responsible Leadership in Action

We believe that by investing to advance socio-economic progress and environmental stewardship in the emerging markets that we serve, our actions not only move communities forward but also sustain our own future success. With the launch of Millicom’s Sustainability Bond Framework and the issuance of our inaugural Sustainability Bond in May 2019, we stepped up to further align our financing strategy with CR.

Our Sustainability Bond of SEK 2 billion (or about $211 million) is the first Green and Social Bond issued from Latin America. It supports initiatives geared toward reducing our climate footprint and promoting greater digital and financial inclusion for the unconnected and underserved as well as the thriving middle class and businesses in Latin America. To be eligible for funding through a Sustainability Bond, all projects must comply with either the Social Bond Principles or Green Bond Principles published by the International Capital Markets Association.

We allocated the first year of the bond to a range of projects that encompass distinct social and environmental objectives and benefits.

Our projects under the bond include:

  • DataCenters: We developed an UPTIME Tier III certified facility in Bolivia, designed to operate at PUE 1.6 and with an estimated power reduction of 40% when compared to our previously existing traditional Datacenter in Santa Cruz. (see related story on page 25)

We’ve also armarked proceeds from the Sustainability Bond for a range of projects focused on expanding digital and financial inclusion, such as:

  • Broadening Technology Access: Expand our fixed and mobile networks that will extend coverage to unconnected and underserved population
  • Empowering Women: Training more than 200,000 women in El Salvador, Paraguay and Bolivia to use mobile and internet technology as a pathway to employment, higher income and greater potential
  • Protecting Children: We have delivered training to more than 60,000 students, parents and teachers in El Salvador, Paraguay and Bolivia on digital literacy and tools, computer and programming skills, robotics and child online protection
  • Improving Supplier Performance: Training more than 170 of our suppliers on corporate responsibility issues including health and safety, compliance, fair labor, ethics, eco-efficiency and child rights.

The Sustainability Bond Framework gives us a potent means of attracting capital from investors who share Millicom’s interest in seeding environmental and social progress in Latin America through our business.