Inside Jordan’s $100m blue bond debut
The EBRD will invest $100m in an inaugural blue bond issued by Jordan’s Housing Bank
Jordan’s Housing Bank has given the country some of its oldest banking legacy. In 1977, it was the first to introduce a monetary reward to incentivise savings. It established the Kingdom’s first children’s branch in 1993. Over a decade ago, the bank rolled out a bus with a bank inside – Jordan’s first mobile banking experience.
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Now, the bank has issued a $100m blue bond, backed by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). It is the country’s first. Proceeds will finance, inter alia, the largest water infrastructure project in Jordan’s history.
Blue milestone
“The launch of Jordan's first blue bond marks an important milestone for the Kingdom's capital market”, says Housing Bank’s chief executive Ammar Al-Safadi.
In statements released by EBRD and Housing Bank, commentary around the bond’s pricing remains undisclosed. The two have instead chosen to highlight alignment – between the ICMA and IFC guidelines for labelled use-of-proceeds debt and the bank’s own green bond framework.
The framework has been some years in the making. It traces back to 2023, when the bank launched a new green financing programme – in partnership with EBRD, the EU and Green Climate Fund.
Eligible projects under the framework include renewable energy, energy efficiency improvements, electric transport and water management systems.
Exclusions apply too. Indirect or direct exposure to fossil fuel energy generation, upstream extraction, nuclear power plants, mining projects is off limits. Even energy efficiency projects by oil and gas companies are explicitly excluded.
The blue bond builds on that framework.
“As a dedicated financing instrument, it will support projects that protect and sustainably manage water resources, preserve ecosystems, and develop critical infrastructure, contributing to Jordan's long-term water security while reinforcing the country's position as a regional leader in sustainable finance”, Al-Safadi explains.
Regional implications also emanate from Housing Bank’s ownership. A listed entity trading on Amman’s stock exchange, the bank is majority owned by Qatar’s National Bank (38.57%), Kuwait’s Investment Authority (18.6%), the Libyan Foreign Bank (17.2%). Jordan’s own social security corporation owns just over 15%.
Mike Taylor, EBRD’s director for financial institutions also subscribes to the milestone theory. It is, by his accord, ‘a significant step forward for sustainable finance in Jordan’.
Water security
Among the list of target projects is Jordan’s National Water Carrier Project. With a capital cost estimated at $4.3bn, it is the country’s largest water infrastructure project.
The project is aimed at desalinating 300 million cubic meters of seawater each year. The engineering is complex too, a 450km pipeline will pump water nearly 1,100m above sea level. Government disclosures suggest renewable energy could power a third of the project. If all goes to plan, by 2030, it could end up supplying about 40% of Jordan’s drinking water needs.
For the Housing Bank, its latest issuance builds on existing financial relationships with the project. In 2025, it led a syndicate of lenders into a loan worth nearly $770m.
“Jordan’s first blue bond is a landmark transaction that strengthens the link between sustainable finance and Jordan’s water-security priorities”, says EBRD’s Taylor.
For Jordanians, water security is also a question of climate adaptation. A climate vulnerability assessment for the Aqaba-Amman Water Desalination and Conveyance Project reveals the country’s reliance on rainfall for water supply.
The document raises concerns with scarce rainfall across the Kingdom, increasingly frequent winter flash floods, summer heatwaves, high salinity and critically low water levels in underground resources.
“These conditions are direct consequences of global climatic changes that have recently affected many location”, the document reads.
Jordan’s blue bond debut therefore sets a precent of some significance. It speaks to a wider conversation over labelled debt, governance alignment and an underlying push for climate adaptation.
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