ABUJA, Nigeria–(BUSINESS WIRE)–In response to the economic challenges created by the global pandemic and the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) is launching a $2 billion facility to support recovery and resilience in Africa.
AFC has committed to finance up to 50% of the new African Economic Resilience Facility and mobilizing the rest through the Company’s network of international partners and investors. The facility will be announced today at the AFC Live Infrastructure Solutions Summit.
The facility will be disbursed through AFC loans to selected commercial banks, regional development banks and central banks in various African countries, providing them with much-needed hard currency liquidity to finance trade and other economic activities in their jurisdictions. These institutions will be able to leverage AFC’s proven access to global funding to receive funding at competitive rates.
Speaking on the rationale for the launch, the Head of Treasury and Financial Institutions, Banji Fehintola said, “The COVID-19 pandemic has set back Africa’s economic growth trajectory and widened the trade finance gap. , while the Russian-Ukrainian conflict has added a new set of challenges negatively impacting growth prospects across the continent. We are determined to play a leading role in helping the continent’s recovery and resilience, not only through the work we do to close Africa’s infrastructure gap, but also through targeted interventions such as this $2 billion economic resilience facility.
Applications for the Africa Economic Resilience Facility will open this month on the AFC website (www.africafc.org). Through this financing intervention, AFC will accelerate its development impact in Africa, helping to steer the continent towards a new phase of growth focused on maximizing the value of resources and creating domestic jobs.
Over the past 15 years, AFC has gained experience in raising global capital for critical infrastructure projects in Africa. The Company’s recent bond issues include a US$750 million 7-year Eurobond issued in 2021 at the AFC’s lowest yield to date. The Company has also established an independent asset management arm, AFC Capital Partners, which plans to raise US$2 billion to finance climate change adaptation infrastructure projects in Africa.
About AFC
AFC was established in 2007 to be the catalyst for private sector-led infrastructure investment across Africa. It is the second highest rated multilateral financial institution in Africa. AFC’s approach combines specialist sector expertise with a focus on financial and technical advisory, project structuring, project development and venture capital to meet Africa’s infrastructure development needs and drive a sustainable economic growth. AFC invests in high-quality infrastructure assets that provide essential services in the basic infrastructure sectors of energy, natural resources, heavy industry, transportation and telecommunications. To date, the Company has invested US$10 billion in projects in 35 African countries. www.africafc.org
