daniel chigunweAn Africa-focused infrastructure fund raised US$294 million in debt capital to invest in projects on the continent as well as diversifying into Asia. The Emerging African Infrastructure Fund reached that level via a funding round that closed in December, passing the halfway mark of its US$500 million target by 2025.
“What we have raised right now, together with the existing facilities and the recycling of the capital of the fund, gives us investment capacity up to 2025,” said Martijn Proos, co-Head of emerging market alternative credit at Ninety One, the fund manager for EAIF.
“We will start to raise the next round of capital by June this year, another US$200 or US$250 million to meet our target,” Proos said.
Allianz Global Investors led the financing round committing a total of US$132 million to the EAIF in both euros and dollars. Standard Bank provided a combined US$100 million via two separate facilities with sustainability-linked features while KfW, the German state-owned development bank, added a US$66 million loan to the fund.
The EAIF will invest in infrastructure projects focused on the energy transition, low-carbon economies and energy-efficient smart cities, it said in an emailed statement. The fund has committed US$1,3 billion to projects on the continent since its founding in 2001 and plan to raise that by about US$300 million over the next two years.
It also plans an expansion to Asia, parts of which has similar infrastructure needs as Africa. — Bloomberg.
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