AFC Secures $100 million OPIC and JP Morgan Loan

(OPIC) Lagos, Nigeria - The Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) has secured a US$ 100 million long term loan facility from the United States of America (US) Government’s development finance institution, Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), J.P. Morgan’s Corporate & Investment Bank. US$75 million of the facility amount will be provided by OPIC while the remaining US$25 million will be provided by JP Morgan. The facility is intended to further deepen AFC’s resources to support infrastructure development on the African continent.

Elizabeth Littlefield, OPIC’s President and CEO said, “When effective financial leadership catalyzes investment to create significant development impact, we in the DFI community take notice. Recognition for AFC’s work has been growing as they spur private sector investment in African power and infrastructure projects. OPIC’s support is an indication that we share AFC’s goals to draw additional investor focus to development in Africa. Public resources alone cannot meet the demands in Africa’s power generation and infrastructure sectors. We must engage the private sector. OPIC is enthusiastic about joining forces with J.P. Morgan and AFC to provide tailored financing to the development of these much-needed and highly impactful infrastructure projects.”

Andrew Alli, AFC President and CEO said, “We are delighted with OPIC’s and JP Morgan’s show of faith in the AFC business model and support for our commitment to providing an African led, private sector driven contribution to bridging Africa’s infrastructure divide. Over the last 18 months we have established financing partnerships with a broad range of DFI and private sector partners, with credit facilities in excess of US$850 million. With an investment deficit of over US$40 billion per annum over the next ten years a co-ordinated approach based on strong private and public sector partnerships is vital. AFC has established a world class team of African infrastructure and investment professionals to support the project development, deal structuring and early stage investment that are critical to delivering bankable projects. We will leverage OPIC’s and JP Morgan’s support to further the development of our infrastructure portfolio across Africa.”

Marc Hussey, Managing Director and J. P. Morgan’s joint Senior Country Officer for Sub-Saharan Africa commented, “We are honoured to be the first U.S. private sector financial institution to provide a co-financing structure with OPIC to the AFC. This is a great opportunity to continue to support and contribute to sustainable economic development on the African continent."

AFC is an African-led investment grade rated multilateral development finance institution, established in 2007, to be the catalyst for private sector infrastructure investment across Africa by proactively developing and financing infrastructure, industrial and financial assets. AFC fills a critical void in providing project structuring expertise and risk capital to address Africa’s infrastructure development needs, and is increasingly being seen as the benchmark institution for private sector investment in the core infrastructure sectors of power, natural resources, heavy industry, transport, and telecommunications. Over the last six years AFC have financed investments of approximately US$1.9 billion across the continent.