Obi Emetarom is an ambitious man. He wants his fintech company Appzone to be at the heart of African banking and payments with its proprietary cloud and blockchain based technology, and, after raising US$10mn in series A funding earlier this year, he is building the team to do it.

With US$10 trillion in combined assets – many of which are highly polluting – the world’s sovereign wealth funds have been accused of lagging behind the rest of their financial sector in terms of their climate change commitments. What can be done to change the status quo?

Italian energy company Enel sold a multibillion-dollar sustainability-linked bond at the start of July, as the nascent deal structure, which sees a coupon step up on missed ESG targets, continues to gain global popularity.

ESG veteran Solomon joins Equitile

Hampleton expands with Bell

The pandemic served as a catalyst for changes that were already underway, not least greater digitisation and better non-financial risk management. 

Sir Paul Collier has been working in Africa for four decades and is one of the world’s leading voices on the economies of the region. He tells EMEA Finance that, while the pandemic has ravaged the continent, there are clear signs of hope for sustainable economic growth.

The Brexit deal has posed challenges for London-based financial services firms, which look set to lose some of their EU business as a result. 

With a record number of projects taking place from Scotland to Mallorca and across the Middle East, green hydrogen looks like a sensible option for energy transition. Little used at present, governments, developers and investors are beginning to bet big on the future promise of sustainably produced H2.

European renewable energy companies AMPYR Solar and Qair have tapped the private funding market for €443.7m, as the continent continues its push to net zero carbon output.

Fintech Nebix has launched in the Qatar Financial Centre, in the latest attempt to convince the tech-wary trade finance lenders to embrace a way of doing business that does not rely so heavily on pen and paper.

Only four African sovereigns have tapped the international bond markets this year, with borrowers forced to seek alternative means of raising capital. The prospect for issuance next year is likely to remain muted with investors turning increasingly selective.