East African Breweries Plc (EABL) is integrating International Financial Reporting Standards for Sustainability (IFRS S1 and S2) into its reporting framework as it plans to go to market with a sustainability-linked debt facility in the medium to long-term.
A sustainability-linked bond refers to a debt instrument issued by an organisation with the proceeds dedicated purely to meeting defined green or environmentally friendly objectives that are in line with growing efforts to mitigate the adverse effects of climate change.
IFRS S1 and S2 are financial reporting standards developed by the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB), which compel organisations to disclose material sustainability-related risks that are likely to impact their operations.
Whereas IFRS S1 is specific to environmental, social, and governance-related disclosures, IFRS S2 is specific to climate-related risks and their likely impact on the operations of an organisation.
The listed alcoholic beverage manufacturer says that, whereas it had considered issuance of a sustainability-linked bond in its October 2025 return to market, the time it would take to structure the facility presented a challenge and compelled it to opt for the traditional issuance.
In October 2025, EABL Plc raised Sh16.76 billion through its latest corporate bond, registering a subscription rate of 154.0 percent for the five-year note that is priced at 11.8 percent.
‘It is quite challenging on the manufacturing side to land a sustainability-linked facility. Doing it is easy, but it’s making sure the measures are met, and you have to lay down a whole infrastructure. We looked at it, we knew it was an option, but it would have taken a lot more time, and the timing of striking a deal is just as important as the deal itself,’ EABL’s Chief Finance Officer and Head of Strategy, Risper Genga Ohaga, said.
‘So, when we have IFRS S1 and S2 integrated from a manufacturing point of view, it will be very easy to issue a sustainability-linked facility,’ she added.
Among the company’s credentials on the sustainability and lower carbon footprint front is EABL’s rollout of three biomass plants, two at Kenya Breweries Ltd and one at Uganda Breweries Ltd, in 2022. EABL said it is currently undertaking a gaps assessment to evaluate the extent to which operations align with the requirements of IFRS S1 and S2, including greenhouse gas emissions.
‘I think there will come a time when that will be hugely attractive. We are doing a lot of work in implementing S1 and S2, and when those are in place, from a manufacturing point of view. It is indeed an option, but you have to be sure that you have the governance, the controls, and the infrastructure that you need to be able to support that issuance. In the latest issuance, which happened in October 2025, we were weighing timing versus perfection, and in the end just opted to go with the conventional bond,’ said Ms Ohaga.