OREANDA-NEWS. EMEA Finance magazine announced the winners of the 2014 Achievement Awards, with the African Development Bank (AfDB) taking the awards for Best Supranational Borrower and Best Sterling Bond.

The EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) Finance Achievement Awards, which are nominated by banks and their clients and chosen by the EMEA Finance editorial team, highlight the innovative work taking place in the region's capital markets.

"African Development Bank's borrowing during 2014 illustrated once again its appeal to investors – and, as importantly, its dedication to developing Africa's own capital markets. Its naira-denominated issuance was a landmark deal for that market, and taken alongside its dollar benchmark bond and sterling transaction made the Bank a worthy winner of this award," said Tim Burke, Editor, EMEA Finance magazine.

“We are very proud to have won these awards as they recognise the importance we placed on diversifying our funding sources and the efforts we have made over the years to canvass investors across capital markets,” said Hassatou N’Sele, Officer-in-Charge, AfDB Treasury Department. “2014 was particularly noteworthy as we returned to several public markets we have long been absent in, such as sterling, South African rand and New Zealand dollars, as well as issued in exciting new markets, such as Nigeria. Being awarded Best Supranational Borrower and Best Sterling Bond by EMEA Finance goes a long way to cement our view and position as a premier supranational borrower across capital markets.”

EMEA Finance is a bi-monthly magazine produced in London and covering the capital markets of Central & Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The Achievement Awards are now in their eighth year and recognise the most notable transactions and the firms behind them across a variety of markets, including debt and equity capital markets, loans, Islamic finance, structured finance and more. More information on the publication and the awards can be found at www.emeafinance.com.