The Corporación Andina de Fomento Issues Inaugural US$61.6 Million Children and Youth Bond with Crédit Agricole CIB as Sole Sustainable Structurer

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Crédit Agricole CIB acted as Sole Bookrunner and Sole Sustainable Structurer for the Corporación Andina de Fomento’s (CAF) inaugural US$61.6 million Children and Youth Bond, guided by UNICEF’s Child-Lens Investing Framework (CLIF). This is the first bond ever structured in alignment with UNICEF’s CLIF.

CAF is a development bank committed to supporting the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean and improving the quality of life in the region. CAF promotes sustainable development and regional integration while serving the public and private sectors, providing multiple products and services to a broad client base of member countries, private companies, and financial institutions.

The use of proceeds is aligned with CAF’s Sustainable Finance Framework, which was developed in alignment with internationally recognized standards published by the International Capital Market Association (ICMA), including the Social Bond Principles (updated in June 2023). The Framework received a Second Party Opinion from Moody’s Ratings.

"We are honored to support CAF on this innovative transaction that blends their framework with UNICEF's CLIF. This distinctive Social Bond structure sets a new benchmark for mobilizing private capital toward critical social themes in emerging markets, with a focused use of proceeds that drives measurable impact," said Romina Reversi, Head of Sustainable Investment Banking Americas at Crédit Agricole CIB.

The proceeds of this issuance are also consistent with UNICEF’s CLIF, making it a unique structure in the market. Recognizing that investing in children is both a moral obligation and the most cost-effective investment for regional development, CAF developed this issuance with the CLIF to direct capital into new and existing social projects that provide access to essential services, specifically healthcare and education, across Latin America and the Caribbean.

“This issuance marks an important milestone for CAF. By aligning this bond with UNICEF’s Child-Lens Investing Framework and executing it with the support of Crédit Agricole CIB, we have shown that innovative social structures can be delivered with rigor, credibility and scalability, while responding to strong investor demand for highly rated instruments from an issuer with a robust and technically grounded impact framework,” explained Gabriel Felpeto, Chief Financial Officer and Finance Vice President at CAF.

This issuance supports CAF's involvement with the Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) Future Bank initiative, which aims to mobilize US$5 billion over five years to reach 50 million children, adolescents, and young people, addressing an urgent regional crisis.

“We are proud to have led in this transaction given its attractive relative valuation, the critical and distinct targeting of the underlying eligible projects towards investing in children and CAF’s strong impact reporting,” said Stephen M. Liberatore, CFA, Head of ESG/Impact – Global Fixed Income at Nuveen.

Matt Lawton, Head of Impact Investing at T. Rowe Price, added, “We are proud to support CAF’s bond issuance, which enables investors to achieve attractive risk-adjusted returns while intentionally advancing outcomes for children across Latin America and the Caribbean. By directing capital toward education, health, and inclusive development systems, the bond demonstrates how a child-lens investing approach can strengthen long-term human capital and deliver durable value for both society and investors.”

"Through our participation in CAF’s Social Bond on behalf of the L&G Nature & Social Outcomes Strategy, we are financing projects that improve access to healthcare and education for children and young people across Latin America and the Caribbean. CAF’s Future Bank initiative is targeted at priority social needs, and its alignment with UNICEF’s Child-Lens Investing Framework provides a disciplined and credible basis for impact definition and measurement. Partnering again with Crédit Agricole CIB strengthens our confidence in the quality of execution and in the delivery of measurable, long term social outcomes,” commented Jake Harper, Senior Investment Manager, Asset Management at L&G.

About Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank (Crédit Agricole CIB)

Crédit Agricole CIB is the corporate and investment banking arm of Crédit Agricole Group, the 10th largest banking group worldwide by total assets in 2024 (The Banker, July 2025). With over 10,000 employees across Europe, the Americas, Asia-Pacific, the Middle East and Africa, the Bank supports large and mid-cap corporates and institutional clients, helping them meet both local and international financial needs. Crédit Agricole CIB offers a comprehensive range of products and services in capital markets, investment banking, structured finance, commercial banking and international trade. The Bank is committed to supporting its clients in their transition to a low-carbon economy and to aligning its own activities toward net zero. In line with its ambitions, Crédit Agricole CIB is a pioneer and a global leader in sustainable finance (co-founded the Equator Principles, co-authored the Green Bond Principles and Sustainability-Linked Bond Principles).

For more information, please visit www.ca-cib.com.