MCB Ltd, the listed banking arm of Mauritius Commercial Bank Group, closed a USD 100 million 10-year climate financing facility on 1 April 2026, with Proparco acting as lead arranger alongside DEG and FMO as co-lenders. The proceeds will be directed primarily towards eligible climate mitigation and adaptation projects across Africa, reinforcing MCB's role as a conduit for development finance into a continent where the gap between climate investment needs and available capital remains substantial.
The transaction represents the second climate financing line that MCB has secured from a Proparco-led syndicate, following a USD 120 million facility arranged by Proparco and DEG in November 2023. The return of the same lead arranger and a co-lender from the original transaction signals that both institutions were satisfied with how the first facility was deployed and that they regard MCB as a credible and capable channel for climate-related lending across the African markets in which the bank operates.
FMO JOINS AS NEW STRATEGIC PARTNER
A notable feature of the April 2026 facility is the participation of FMO, the Dutch entrepreneurial development bank, as a new strategic partner. FMO's addition to the syndicate broadens the institutional base supporting MCB's climate lending programme and brings a lender with deep expertise in emerging and frontier market finance. Development finance institutions such as FMO typically apply rigorous climate and environmental standards to the facilities they fund, adding a layer of oversight that reinforces the credibility of the green use-of-proceeds framework underpinning the transaction.
The involvement of three development finance institutions — Proparco (France), DEG (Germany), and FMO (the Netherlands) — in a single facility reflects a broader pattern of multilateral cooperation in African climate finance. Syndicating climate facilities across multiple DFIs allows each institution to deploy capital at a scale that individual balance sheets might not support alone, while also distributing the credit risk of lending into markets that can be challenging for private commercial banks to access on comparable terms.
MCB'S CLIMATE LENDING STRATEGY
MCB's climate financing activity positions the bank as an intermediary between international development capital and African climate-related investment opportunities. Based in Mauritius, MCB has historically served as a gateway to African markets for international financial flows, and its twin climate facilities with Proparco — totalling USD 220 million across the 2023 and 2026 transactions — demonstrate that this role is extending into the fast-growing field of sustainable finance. The 10-year tenor of the April 2026 facility aligns with the longer investment horizons typically required for climate infrastructure and adaptation projects, which often take years to develop, build, and reach operational maturity.
The bank stated that proceeds would be directed to eligible climate mitigation and adaptation projects, language consistent with established green loan principles that require borrowers to define eligible categories and maintain appropriate allocation tracking. Mitigation projects reduce greenhouse gas emissions — through renewable energy, energy efficiency, or sustainable transport — while adaptation projects help communities and infrastructure withstand the physical impacts of climate change, including flooding, drought, and sea-level rise. For a continent facing acute climate vulnerability, access to long-tenor financing for both categories represents a material contribution to resilience-building across the region.