This amount, the first tranche of a GH¢600 million facility, will be utilised to bolster the compa­ny’s working capital, finance capital expenditure, including operational expansion, and refinance short-term debts.

The debt instrument, procured from the stock market, carries a lending rate of 26 per cent, significantly lower than the Ghana Reference Rate of approximately 34 per cent. It also features a fixed rate for three years.

Mr Daniel Addo, Managing Di­rector of CBG, speaking at a joint press conference organised by CBG and Kasapreko Company in Accra on Monday, said the decision to support the latter was in line with the bank’s commitment to sup­porting local businesses, especially, Small and Medium-sized Enterpris­es (SMEs) to grow.

The move, he said, was to help the company to raise cheaper funds to support its growth, saying, “The solution to funding SMEs lies with us. It’s up to us to deal with the per­ceived risks associated with SMEs. Our business is not to run away from risk but to manage the risk.”

He emphasised the significance of this collaboration between indigenous companies in overcom­ing financing challenges through innovative means, thereby fostering mutual growth and contributing to national development.

“This transaction is a testament to our overriding ambition to make an impact in the communities in which we operate. At the core of our business philosophy is the idea that our lending must be economi­cally impactful,” Mr Addo said.

He said,“It is also very import­ant because it is the first time an indigenous Ghanaian Bank has worked with an indigenous manu­facturing company to raise funding from local pension funds in the public market.”

Mr Richard Adjei, Managing Director at Kasapreko PLC, said, “This landmark move underscores Kasapreko’s commitment to growth and operational excellence within Ghana’s vibrant economic landscape.”

He said it was to help the company to raise additional capital to finance the operations of the company.

Mr Adjei said Kasapreko PLC decided to use the capital mar­ket funding which was relatively cheaper than debt capital as parts of efforts to diversify its funding sources of the company.

According to him, Kasapreko PLC was the first indigenous bev­erage company list on the Ghana Fixed Income Market to raise capital.

He said the first tranche had been hundred per cent subscribed on the capital market and serves as the single largest capital raised on Ghana Fixed Income Market.

Mr Adjei explained that the coupon rate was 26 per cent while the coupon payment cycle will be bi-annual, adding the coupon pay­ment dates had been fixed for July 26 and January 29 respectively.

Earlier at the listing, the Man­aging Director of the GSE, Abena Amoah, said Kasapreko was the first beverage indigenous company to list on the Ghana Fixed Income Market.

“We are particularly excited that Kasapreko is the first to list a cor­porate bond in 2024 and we believe that this is going to be the begin­ning of a long- lasting relationship between GSE and Kasapreko PLC after many years of engagement,” she stated.