Sector
Waste & pollution control
Country
Ivory Coast
GGC Guarantee
USD 60 million
Transaction total
USD 60 million
Transaction
The Green Guarantee Company provided a USD 60 million guarantee for the issuance of a green bond by Valency International, as arranged by HSBC and advised by Blend Finance, with Legal & General being the sole investor.
The proceeds of the green bond will be used to finance an integrated and circular Cashew Waste Value Park in Côte d’Ivoire, generating value from cashew nut shells and by-products to produce industrial bio-oils and green energy, as well as a green warehousing facility for storage.
The transaction demonstrates how institutional capital can be mobilised towards climate-focused infrastructure and industrial development projects in emerging markets through innovative guarantee structures.
The green bond has received the Climate Bonds Initiative Certification with a 1.5°C aligned use of proceeds classification. It is the first bond Certified under Climate Bonds' new Bioenergy Criteria.
The USD 60 million is part of Valency’s overall USD150 million investment programme to build an integrated and circular cashew ecosystem in Côte d’Ivoire, capturing full value from cashew nut waste products.
Impact
The wider Cashew Waste Value Park programme is expected ultimately to process approximately 90,000 tonnes per year of cashew shell waste into: cashew nutshell liquid and cardanol as bio-based chemical substitutes and biofuel precursors; biofuel pellets as renewable fuel; biochar and bio-fertiliser for soil carbon storage and fertiliser substitution, and syngas used to generate 5 MW of renewable electricity.
The project supports Côte d'Ivoire's national strategy to raise domestic cashew processing to 50% by 2030* and to position the country as an international hub for value-added agro-industry, strengthening its role in the global cashew value chain and bringing high-value industrial processing to the Global South (SDG 9.2 inclusive and sustainable industrialisation). It also supports a high-employment domestic industry and significant employment opportunities for women**.
The project is expected to also deliver significant climate mitigation benefits, with an estimated 880,000 tCO2e avoided over a twenty-year period, from diverting cashew waste from open burning and unmanaged decomposition (SDG 12.5 substantially reduce waste through prevention, reduction, recycling and reuse) and renewable electricity generation displacing fossil-based grid power (SDG 7.2 increase the share of renewable energy).
Sources:
* World Bank Group 2025. In a Nutshell: Agri-processing adds value in Côte d’Ivoire’s cashew industry report. Read report.
** Valency estimates that 65 to 70 percent of the employees are women.
