The World Bank estimates that electricity access in Sub-Saharan Africa is 47% on average as opposed to close to 100% in most parts of the world. In a 2019 study, the Africa Democratic Congress (ADC) estimated that the investment required to cover power generation, transmission and distribution is an average of US$32 million annually. The severe shortfall in power generation and distribution infrastructure across the continent has constrained wider economic growth and development. As it stands, only a few African countries are on track to achieving universal access to electricity as well as climate-friendly energy transition by 2050. To help address this challenge, AFC is partnering with local and international developers to design, finance and construct greenfield projects and expand brownfield generation and transmission infrastructure. AFC deploys financing through a variety of financing instruments including senior loans, mezzanine loans, convertible loans and equity.

We have entered various strategic partnerships to position AFC as a leading climate finance institution on the continent. In 2015, AFC became the first African Development Finance Institution to be accredited by the Green Climate Fund (GCF). GCF supports the efforts of developing countries to respond to the challenge of climate change. Additionally, in September 2017, we secured a €100 million climate financing line of credit with the Agence Francaise de Developpement (AFD) to improve our competitive ability to fund climate-friendly projects.

In recognition of the pivotal need to develop better quality power infrastructure on the continent, AFC also invested in a number of fossil fuel, hydro and renewable energy projects that are designed to improve electrification throughout Africa. A key aspect of this was to build in long-term maintenance frameworks to ensure that assets operate efficiently to their technical design capacities for as long as possible.

Our value proposition is to be the preferred partner/financer for all power generation projects in Africa and to simultaneously establish a leading renewable energy platform. Recognising that Africa has yet to develop base load generating capacity, AFC also aims to remain a leader in the creation of conventional power which will utilise locally available sources of energy while minimising the environmental footprint of power generation.

Our market segments are generation (on-grid and off-grid), transmission and distribution. A key bottleneck in the creation of potentially impactful projects is that the capacity to bring projects to bankability is weak on the continent. AFC works with developers, national regulators and other important stakeholder to create standard documents (power purchase agreements, implementation agreements, transmission interconnection agreements, partial risk guarantees etc.) which foster the creation and replication of bankable power projects. We have used innovative financing options to shorten the time from project feasibility study to financial close from over 7 years to less than 3 years by utilising all equity financing or bridge loans for qualifying projects. As a result, the positive benefits of these projects will crystallise for the target countries sooner.

AFC offers end-to-end solutions and support to all our focus sub-sectors. We deploy capital for project development to fund expansions or buy-outs of existing companies or assets. Our services are tailored to the needs of each sponsor or project. Subject to the availability of quality project documents, AFC is extremely nimble in assessing the attributes of a given project and completing the investment process expeditiously. Our

interventions will typically take the form of the following:

• Project Finance Loans (Senior and Mezzanine)
• Corporate Loans
• Structured Products
• Equity and Quasi-Equity

Furthermore, our partners benefit significantly from our extensive network of contacts, solid technical and financial expertise, as well as our strong relationships with governments, development finance institutions, international finance institutions and commercial banks.

AFC brings a unique understanding of the challenges faced by African businesses on the one hand and the requirements of potential investors on the other. This makes us the natural partner for infrastructure investment in Africa.

AFC has successfully financed and invested in key power assets across Africa, with a cumulative disbursement value of c.US$1 billion across 10 African countries. Notable projects include:

• 26MW Cabeolica Wind farm, Cape Verde
• 60MW Djibouti Wind Project, Djibouti
• 420MW Nachtigal Hydroelectric Project, Cameroon
• 44MW Singrobo Hydro Power Plant, Cote D’Ivoire
• 80MW Hakan-Quantum Peat Power Plant, Rwanda
• 340MW Cenpower Kpone IPP, Ghana
• 1,300MW Kainji/Jebba acquisition, Nigeria
• 65MW Kekeli Efficient Power Project, Togo
• 700MW Ughelli Power Generation acquisition, Nigeria
• KPLC infrastructure expansion, Kenya

We invested in the majority of the above projects at a greenfield stage and have been able to offer price competitive long-term products to our clients.

The Heavy Industry, Telecommunications and Technology (HITT) sector provides capital and expertise for the development, expansion and operation of projects and companies that deliver diversification, industrialisation and modernisation benefits for Africa and drive sustainable long-term growth for the continent.

The HITT sector focuses on industrial projects that transform Africa’s abundant raw materials into manufactured goods, in order to boost exports and reduce reliance on imports. The sector also aims to pivot the continent’s growth via investment in technology and digitisation infrastructure which is expected to drive the next phase of industrial revolution.

AFC’s investments in the heavy industry sector are diverse and consist of four sub-verticals – specifically chemicals (refineries, petrochemicals, fertiliser and natural gas conversion), building materials (cement and float glass), enterprise industrial inputs (bottling, pulp and paper) and metals (steel and mineral beneficiation).

Our telecoms and technology sector focuses on supporting network expansion and upgrades for mobile network operators, financing digital infrastructure (e.g., fibre networks, towers and data centres) and growth capital for tech-enabled businesses.

We target projects that deliver transformational economic benefits across the continent including direct and indirect job creation; the easing of entry into value chains; boosting trade, exports and value add processing; and, for governments, improvements in both balance of payments and tax receipts.

AFC has supported projects in crude refining, cement, ammonia/urea and phosphates in West Africa, East & Central Africa and South Africa.

We provided US$300 million in senior debt to Dangote Industries to part-finance the construction of a 650,000 barrel per day (bpd) crude oil refinery and a 2.8 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) urea fertiliser plant in Nigeria. The refinery will have the capability to double Nigeria’s current refining capacity, making Nigeria self-sufficient in fuel. When it is operational, the refinery is forecast to improve the country’s trade balance by US$8.8 billion, boost GDP by US$13 billion (2.3 percent of total GDP) and increase government revenue by US$3.3 billion.

In Egypt, AFC partnered with Carbon Holdings, a petrochemical developer and operator to deliver an integrated large-scale petrochemicals platform (polypropylene plant, mining grade ammonium nitrate plant and naphtha cracker) in Egypt to take advantage of the country’s geographically strategic location.

As sole Mandated Lead Arranger, AFC successfully raised a €577 million facility to enable SIR to repay historical obligations on crude supply, provide a long-tenured facility and reduce the interest rate of SIR’s stock debt. SIR is currently the largest and most sophisticated operational refinery in West Africa and the AFC facility was integral to the conditionality of the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) financial programme, as the IMF considers SIR to be a strategic asset for the country.

AFC also provided a US$35 million dual currency debt facility towards the development of a 5,000bpd modular refinery sponsored by Waltersmith Petroman Oil Limited, an upstream oil and gas producer in Nigeria.

AFC supported MainOne Cable Company’s development of terrestrial fibre and data centres. The MainOne fibre system is an undersea fibre optic cable system that links countries on the west coast of Africa to Europe and other parts of the world. The cable system consists of approximately 7000 km of fibre optic cable between Portugal and Nigeria with branching units to the Canary Islands, Morocco, Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana. MainOne has also built and commissioned a Tier 3 Data centre to complement its connectivity business. The data centre is operational and has begun to provide services to a wider segment of the business community.

MainOne has dramatically improved regional connectivity and access, with significant technology/broadband cost reductions to local businesses and consumers. In addition, leasing and capacity sales to leading local telecoms operators have generated activity and revenue for these companies, further promoting sector growth. MainOne has spearheaded broadband penetration in African countries and the project is creating better access for educational institutions to a wider pool of knowledge and information. AFC recently exited its investment in MainOne through a strategic investor, Equinix, marking the company’s first entry into the African market - via Nigeria, the most populous and largest economy on the continent.

AFC is strategically positioned to maximise value by leveraging its in-house project development capabilities – by providing technical expertise and early-stage capital for high-quality natural resources projects, in addition to supporting advanced-stage projects alongside experienced project sponsors.

Current and projected demand and price surge in transition metals are driven by the energy transition supply. Oil & Gas remains the bedrock of global energy security while the transition to clean energy develops. Technology will continue to advance to support the inclusion of Gas (and possibly Oil) in the clean energy transition.

Our mining sector focuses on base and precious metals, with an emphasis on EV metals that are pivotal to enabling the ‘green revolution’ as the world transitions from fossil fuels to cleaner energy.

Our Oil and Gas sector focus includes oil and gas exploration and production – but has increasingly shifted to gas-based assets to enhance gas utilisation opportunities across the continent, unlocking other avenues of Africa’s preparedness for the global energy transition.

The natural resources team provides traditional equity, quasi-equity and mezzanine financing, long-term debt, and working capital facilities to various Mining and Oil & Gas projects across Africa.

In addition, paucity of project finance debt is increasing interest in alternative mine-financing. AFC therefore provides streaming and royalty financing options.

We consistently demonstrate strong principal investing appetite and capacity for natural resource transactions, combining significant in-house technical and structuring capability with a willingness to commit our balance sheet.

Mining Transactions:

• US$44 million Senior Debt, Mezzanine debt and Working Capital investment in Lucara Botswana Ltd, for the expansion of the Karowe Diamond Mine in Botswana

• US$85 million debt and equity investment in Dynamic Mining for the construction of the Bon Ami Bauxite mining license in Guinea

• US$10 million Early Works Facility to Dynamic Mining for the development of the Bon Ami Bauxite mining license in Guinea

• US$86 million financing package to Thor Explorations for the construction of the Segilola Gold Deposit in Nigeria

• US$150 million Senior Debt and Equity Investment in Danakali Limited, for the construction of the Colluli potash project in Eritrea

• US$244 million Equity Investment in Nouvelle Gabon Mining for the development and construction of the Franceville and Okondja bauxite deposits in Gabon

• US$70 million equity and convertible notes investment in Alufer Mining for the development and construction of the Bel Air bauxite mine in Guinea

• US$40 million investment in a US$110 million pre-export finance facility to Shalina Resources Limited for the construction of the Etoile Copper and Cobalt mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo
  
  Oil & Gas Transactions:

• US$45 million investment in a US$400 million Receivables Purchase Facility to Sociede National de Combustives to finance capital and operating expenses, in Angola

• US$200 million Convertible Bond investment in Aker Solutions A.S. for development of the Pecan field, offshore Ghana

• US$45 million Reserve Based Lending facility to Svenska Petroleum Exploration for field expansion of the Baobab field offshore Cote D’ Ivoire

• US$28 million subordinated facility to Topic S.A. for pre first oil activities at the Halk El Menzel field offshore Tunisia

• US$30 million RBL acquisition facility to Assala Energy Holdings for acquisition of Shell’s onshore assets in Gabon

• US$30 million Reserve Based Lending Facility to Chevron Nigeria Limited/Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Joint Ventures, for drilling capex across the JVs

• US$70 million investment in a US$2 billion Reserve Based Lending Facility to Petrobras Oil and Gas B.V. to fund the development of the Egina offshore field, Nigeria

• US$1.3 billion Co-Mandated Lead Arranger for Societe Des Hydrocarbons Du Tchad (SHT Chad)

• US$75 million Senior Debt Facility and Commodity Hedge Credit Line to Trans-Niger Oil & Gas Limited, to finance the acquisition of OML 17 in Nigeria

• US$1.2 billion Senior and subordinated debt facilities for Kosmos Energy in Ghana

• US$640 million Co-Mandated Lead Arranger for the Acquisition Financing Facility to Neconde Energy Limited in Nigeria

• US$75 million investment and Lead Arranger for New Age Africa Global US$425 million senior mezzanine facility

Transport and logistics infrastructure are a critical part of Africa’s huge infrastructure requirements and hold the key to unlocking Africa’s potential for economic growth through intracontinental and global trade. Transport is a catalyst for sustainable economic development and growth and AFC’s intent to address the transport infrastructure deficit is designed to deliver the physical interconnectivity that will facilitate and grow domestic, regional and international trade, by lowering the cost of doing business and making African nations more competitive, both within the continent and globally.

The mission of the Transport and Logistics sector is to facilitate the provision of transport and logistics infrastructure, which will unlock the potential of key strategic sectors in countries. The Transport and Logistics Team is focused on originating and executing transactions that have high profit potential and developmental impact. This includes greenfield and brownfield opportunities in Roads, Special Economic Zones, Tank Farms, Storage / Distribution, Rail, Aviation, Ports, E- Logistics, E-Customs, Border Posts etc. The team invests across the capital structure, providing debt, quasi-equity, working capital and equity solutions to its clients.

One of the core strategies for the Transport and Logistics team is to build sizable transport platforms to help economies in Africa that are seeking to improve port and road infrastructure for the efficient movement of goods and services. In addition, these platforms will be sold via trade sales or listings by 2023. The team works closely with other sectors to ensure appropriate transport and logistics infrastructure as a core enabler.

The sector develops adequate multi-user logistics solutions to reduce unit costs to further lead to Africa’s wealth and natural resources being exploited.

• US$140 million for a 21% stake in Gabon Special Economic Zone (GSEZ) now rebranded as Arise and re-organised into 3 separate verticals; Arise Port and Logistics, Arise Integrated Industrial Platforms and Arise Infrastructure Services

• US$55 million senior and mezzanine debt & equity investment in the Henri Konan Bedie Bridge, Ivory Coast – design, construction, operation and maintenance of a 1.5km toll bridge and 6.6km of access roads

• US$158 million financing package comprising equity and mezzanine & senior debt for the expansion of the Takoradi Port in the Takoradi region of Ghana

• US$150 million convertible debt investment for the expansion of the ARISE Integrated Industrial Platform (AIIP) comprised of special economic zone businesses in Gabon (forestry), Togo and Benin (Cashew and Cotton)

• US$60 million acquisition financing to Connex Oil & Gas Holdings for the acquisition of Total’s downstream business in Sierra Leone and Liberia

• US$160 million of debt financing to Arise Mauritania, for the construction of a new container terminal, with an initial capacity of 250,000 TEUs which has the potential to expand to 600,000 TEUs and an oil terminal to accommodate oil and gas vessels with up to 50,000 DWT capacity

• US$20 million equity investment, as part of US$160 million post completion acquisition financing for the Bakwena toll road, South Africa, a 95km section of the N1 highway running from Pretoria northwards and a 290km section of the N4 highway running from Pretoria westwards to the Botswana border