Latest news with #AfricanFinanceCorporation
Reuters
09-04-2025
- Business
- Reuters
African Finance Corp reports record $1.1 billion annual revenue
LAGOS, April 9 (Reuters) - The African Finance Corporation's (AFC) revenue rose 22.8% last year to $1.1 billion, it said on Wednesday, citing project finance and infrastructure deals across Africa. The AFC said the revenue performance was its strongest to date, adding that net income rose 22.3% to $400 million, up from $327 million a year ago. The Reuters Tariff Watch newsletter is your daily guide to the latest global trade and tariff news. Sign up here. Chief Executive Samaila Zubairu said the result shows that strategic investment in African infrastructure creates lasting value for beneficiaries and investors. "In 2024 we exceeded the billion-dollar revenue mark, delivered game-changing projects, and reinforced our financial resilience, demonstrating the scalability of our unique model that blends purpose with performance to accelerate Africa's economic transformation," Zubairu said. The corporation said it mobilised capital for African projects ranging from energy to natural resources. Some of the projects funded included the Lobito Corridor, a 1,300km railway that connects Angola's port of Lobito to the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia. The AFC also said it invested $150 million in the Kamoa-Kakula Copper Complex in the DRC, Africa's largest copper producer. It provided financial support for the commissioning of the Dangote refinery, Africa's largest, and continued to provide support for AFC-backed Infinity Power Holding's 10GW clean energy target. The corporation said it also invested in the 15GW Xlinks Morocco-UK Power Project, providing $14.1 million to support early stage development of a transcontinental renewable energy pipeline between North Africa and Europe.
Reuters
10-03-2025
- Business
- Reuters
AFC chief pushes to unlock billions from African pension funds
Summary Companies Africa's domestic capital could invest $15-$20 bln long term AFC targeting projects to lure and leverage outside capital Lobito Corridor will progress regardless of U.S. money - AFC LONDON, March 10 (Reuters) - The African Finance Corporation said it is accelerating efforts to mobilise the continent's own money for investments, and tapping investors in the Middle East and Asia, as developing nations grapple with seismic shifts in geopolitics and funding flows. Samaila Zubairu, chief executive of the AFC - a development finance institution owned by Nigeria's central bank and other African financial institutions - said in an interview the lender is ready to weather a world in which the United States and Europe cut financial aid and turn increasingly inward. "The only thing we want ... to change, is to get domestic capital more available for investment within the continent," Zubairu said. "We would accelerate our initiatives to mobilize domestic capital from African pension funds, African institutional investors, to invest domestically," he said, adding that in the long term, some $15-$20 billion could come from domestic pension funds. U.S. President Donald Trump's America First agenda, and cuts in U.S. aid money, could drain billions from projects in Africa. European countries are also slashing aid funding, with Britain redirecting much of it to boost defence spending. Africa's low savings rates and shallow markets have stymied efforts to mobilise local pools of cash. Zubairu said the AFC, which deploys $2.5-$3 billion each year, would scale up fund allocation "prudently" by choosing projects other backers could pile into. It launched the pilot project InfraCredit to support pension fund investments in much-needed infrastructure projects, with oil-rich Nigeria's sovereign wealth fund providing guarantees on local currency debt. The project has mobilised some 230 billion naira ($152 million), including investments from 21 pension funds, which previously invested almost exclusively in government debt. Zubairu said he expects to launch similar programs as early as this year in Botswana, Angola and Kenya. "This is kind of program that we think needs to be replicated at scale," he said. "If we do programs like this, then you see a lot more billions available for investment." Pension funds had also placed money in the Infrastructure Climate Resilience Fund, boosting a $52 million commitment from the European Investment Bank, he said. Investors from the Gulf and Europe are also looking to place money in other AFC projects, such as ARISE Integrated Industrial Platforms which designs and finances industrial projects. Trump has yet to publicly signal his plans for U.S. investment in the Lobito Corridor - a railway project linking resource-rich Democratic Republic of Congo with Zambia and Angola's Atlantic port of Lobito. Former U.S. President Joe Biden visited the site during his inaugural - and only - trip to Africa. Zubairu said he was confident Trump would see the value in backing the corridor, though it was a strong, bankable framework that would move forward regardless. ($1 = 1,510.0000 naira)
Zawya
07-02-2025
- Business
- Zawya
African Finance Corporation closes $400mln Sharia-financing for infrastructure
African Finance Corporation (AFC) has announced a $400 million Shariah-compliant commodity Murabaha facility to fund African infrastructure, with participation from UAE and Saudi banks. The Lagos-based entity said the Islamic financing facility had been upsized from $300 million and was oversubscribed by 47%. The transaction involved 11 Islamic financial institutions including Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, Al Rajhi Bank and Emirates Islamic. Emirates NBD Capital, First Abu Dhabi Bank, and SMBC Bank International Plc acted as joint lead arrangers and bookrunners.
