AFRICA –  The Emerging Africa Infrastructure Fund (EAIF), a private infrastructure development group (PIDG) company, has successfully raised US$294 million for additional debt facilities, achieving over half of the Fund’s target to raise US$500 million by 2025. 

Backed by prominent financial institutions, the package unlocks fresh capital to advance EAIF’s strategic, operational, and financial capabilities – enabling its investment portfolio to expand and meet rising opportunities in frontier and developing economies. 

The Fund will invest across various infrastructure assets, including those aligned with the energy transition, low-carbon economies, and energy-efficient smart cities. 

As a PIDG company, EAIF fulfills the Group’s key strategic priorities, focusing on pioneering infrastructure projects that offer an innovative, agile, and sustainable approach to delivering essential infrastructure services for economic development. 

Allianz Global Investors led the financing on behalf of Allianz Group, one of the world’s leading insurers and asset managers, committing a further €75 million and US$50 million to EAIF. 

Standard Bank, Africa’s largest lender by assets, provided a US$75 million multi-currency revolving credit facility with sustainability-linked features and a US$25 million sustainability-linked term debt facility. 

KfW, the German state-owned development bank, committed a further €60 million loan to EAIF. 

EAIF secured US$385 million of debt capital in 2018, with KfW and Allianz among the participating lenders in the funding round, committing €75 million plus US$50 million and €75 million and US$25 million, respectively. 

The new finance package marks the maturity of Africa’s debt capital markets and illustrates the Fund’s ability to take on and manage risk while delivering sustainable returns and economic impact.

EAIF acts as cornerstone investor to anchor Zambia’s First Green Bond

EAIF has committed to de facto underwrite US$50 million of Zambia’s first US$53.5 million green bond, to finance key solar infrastructure and support diversification of the country’s energy sector.

EAIF acted as the cornerstone investor of the bond issued by CEC Renewables (CECR), an affiliate of Copperbelt Energy Corporation Plc. (CEC), a private energy generation, transmission and distribution company listed on the Lusaka Securities Exchange (LuSE) since 2008.

The funding will enable the development and growth of CECR’s clean energy portfolio, consisting of two solar PV plants, with a combined generating capacity of close to 100MW, and supports the company’s ambitions to provide over 200MW of renewable energy.

EAIF to support 20MW solar PV project in Zambia

EAIF has pledged approximately US$19 million for a groundbreaking 20MW solar PV project in the remote and underserved region of north-western Uganda. 

The financing, finalized during COP28, aligns with SDG 7 (affordable and clean energy) and SDG 13 (climate action), marking a significant step toward addressing the region’s energy needs and reducing reliance on polluting thermal power.

The project, named Ituka, illustrates the PIDG strategy by showcasing the viability of low-carbon and climate-resilient infrastructure in emerging markets. The EAIF team collaborated with AMEA Power to overcome technical and financial challenges, ensuring the project’s transformative impact on local communities.

The Ituka project involves the development, construction, and operation of a 24MWp/20MWac solar PV power plant in Ombachi, situated around 400km from Kampala in north-western Uganda. With one of the lowest electricity access rates in sub-Saharan Africa, Uganda’s West Nile region is in dire need of quality infrastructure development

Since EAIF’s establishment in 2001, the Fund and its partners have completed 96 projects and mobilized total investment commitments of over US$2.1 billion across 20 African countries and 10 infrastructure sectors. 

Reinforcing its leading position as an attractive vehicle for investors seeking exposure to the growing African infrastructure asset class, Moody’s reaffirmed EAIF’s foreign currency long-term issuer rating of A2 with a stable outlook as a testament to its strong capital position, diverse portfolio, and track record of success in Africa. 

PIDG plays a unique catalytic role in increasing private investors’ appetite for investing in emerging market infrastructure and responding to macroeconomic trends and the climate crisis.

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