Africa Finance Corporation Issues CHF 350 Million Tokenised Bond On Swiss Digital Exchange

The Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) has successfully issued a CHF 350 million digital bond, marking the first time an African institution has utilized the SIX Digital Exchange (SDX) for such a transaction. This five-year bond, which is also listed on the traditional SIX Swiss Exchange, represents the largest digital bond ever issued in the Swiss franc market. The issuance was structured as a tokenized security using distributed ledger technology, with settlement managed through the regulated infrastructure of SIX SIS AG. Commerzbank AG and Deutsche Bank AG acted as the lead arrangers for the deal, which saw strong demand from Swiss domestic investors. By leveraging SDX’s interoperability with traditional custodial systems, the AFC was able to attract institutional participation without requiring investors to overhaul their existing infrastructure. This milestone highlights the growing trend of supranational and development finance institutions adopting DLT to diversify funding sources and improve capital market efficiency. The success of this issuance underscores the increasing maturity of regulated digital bond markets and the potential for tokenization to bridge the gap between traditional finance and blockchain-based settlement.