UNDP BIOFIN supports Ethiopia’s preparations for a green bond market

Posted 5 October, 2026
UNDP BIOFIN supports Ethiopia’s preparations for a green bond market

Ethiopia is exploring how its emerging capital market can mobilise finance for climate and biodiversity priorities. On 5 October 2026, a UNDP BIOFIN Global Team mission and the UNDP Innovative Finance Lab met with the Ethiopian Capital Market Authority (ECMA) to discuss preparations for a green bond market and the pathway towards Ethiopia’s first green bond issuance.

The mission, led by Bruno Mweemba, Regional Team Leader for Africa, together with Ahmed Abdelmaksoud, Environmental Finance Specialist, is supporting BIOFIN Ethiopia’s transition from biodiversity finance planning to implementation. Work on the green bond market is led by Dagmawit Shiferaw Dabi, Director of the UNDP Innovative Finance Lab, in partnership with ECMA.

Discussions focused on the foundations of a credible market: an enabling regulatory framework, clear institutional responsibilities, incentives for issuers, reliable systems for measuring and reporting impact, and sustained national capacity. Participants also highlighted the need to develop a pipeline of investment-ready projects and consider how biodiversity priorities can be integrated into eligible investments.

“We need to do what we can to ensure the mainstreaming of biodiversity across different sectors in Ethiopia,” said ECMA Director General Hana Tehelku.

With support from the Global Environment Facility (GEF), UNDP BIOFIN in Ethiopia is completing the assessments that will inform its Biodiversity Finance Plan. In parallel, support from the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD) is enabling early implementation of priority finance solutions, including preparations for a green bond market.

The collaboration brings together biodiversity finance planning and capital-market development, with the aim of opening new channels for investment in Ethiopia’s climate, biodiversity and sustainable development priorities.

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