Republic of Mauritius becomes Africa Finance Corporation’s 23rd member state
11 September 2019
The Republic of Mauritius (“Mauritius”) has become the twenty-third (23rd) member state of Africa Finance Corporation (“AFC” or “the Corporation”), Africa’s leading investment grade, infrastructure solutions provider.
Mauritius has continued to register impressive economic progress across the board, including a near fivefold increase in its GDP per capita in the last 30 years. Additionally, it is consistently one of the highest-ranking countries in Africa in the UN’s Human Development Index.
As the country strives towards moving from a mid-income to a high-income country, its strategy, titled “Achieving the Second Economic Miracle”, places a high emphasis on infrastructure investment, with a particular focus on three of AFC’s sectors on investment: power, transport & logistics.
Following its accession to the membership of AFC on 21st August 2019, the Corporation will therefore engage the Mauritian authorities and private sector on how it can best contribute towards developing the country’s infrastructure, leveraging AFC’s award-winning approach to deliver high quality, sustainable infrastructure projects.
The Mauritius Africa Fund (MAF), SBM Group and AFC are in discussions currently with regards to the establishment of an Africa-focused infrastructure and industrialization fund (the Fund). The Fund, a Mauritius initiative, will seek to collaborate and mobilize funds from key institutional investors for investment in crucial infrastructure projects and facilitate the setting up of special economic zones across the African continent.
Samaila Zubairu, President & CEO of AFC, commented on the announcement: “We are pleased to welcome Mauritius as a Member State of AFC. Through its commitment to promoting private sector-led solutions for its development challenges, Mauritius presents an excellent partnership opportunity for AFC’s mandate to develop and finance infrastructure, natural resource and industrial assets for enhanced the productivity and economic growth of African states. We look forward to significantly contributing to Mauritius’s growth story.”
About AFC – www.africafc.org
AFC, an investment grade multilateral finance institution, was established in 2007 with an equity capital base of US$1 billion, to be the catalyst for private sector-led infrastructure investment across Africa. With a current balance sheet of approximately US$4.5 billion, AFC is the second highest investment grade rated multilateral financial institution in Africa with an A3/P2 (Stable outlook) rating from Moody’s Investors Service. AFC successfully raised US$650 million in 2019, US$500 million in 2017 and US$750 million in 2015 through Eurobond issuances. All Eurobond issues were oversubscribed and attracted investors from Asia, Europe and the USA.
AFC’s investment approach combines specialist industry expertise with a focus on financial and technical advisory, project structuring, project development and risk capital to address Africa’s infrastructure development needs and drive sustainable economic growth. AFC invests in high-quality infrastructure assets that provide essential services in the core infrastructure sectors of power, natural resources, heavy industry, transport, and telecommunications. To date, the Corporation has invested over US$4.5 billion in projects within 28 countries across Africa.
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