Latest news with #SamailaZubairu
Zawya
09-06-2025
- Business
- Zawya
Nigeria: Africa Finance Corp to sign $320mln deal with Italy to bolster Lobito funding
Africa Finance Corporation, a Lagos-based continental financier, will sign a deal with Italy for $320m financing partly for a new transport corridor linking critical mineral fields with an Angolan port, its chief executive said on Thursday, 5 June 2025. AFC, which is owned by African central banks and development lenders, is the financing partner for the United States-backed rail and road corridor linking the Angolan port of Lobito on the Atlantic coastline with Zambia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where the minerals are mined. "The government of Italy has continued to express their support for the project. There will be a signing event of the facility that they are going to advance for the project," Samaila Zubairu noted in an interview after the launch of the financier's annual Africa infrastructure report. There will also be a meeting in Rome focusing on the Lobito corridor project as it is known, in the coming weeks, he added. The Lobito rail corridor is a project to help transport critical minerals from the central African copperbelt to the West and is considered key in countering Chinese control over copper and cobalt supplies in the region. Some of the cash from the Italian government will go towards AFC's regular lending operations, he said, without giving a precise split. AFC, which usually aims to raise $2-3bn every year, has raised more than $1bn this year so far, and it is looking to raise roughly $1bn more via a syndication facility soon, Zubairu said. "We have a huge syndication that we are launching shortly," he said, without providing more information.
Reuters
05-06-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Africa Finance Corp to sign $320 million deal with Italy to bolster Lobito funding
NAIROBI, June 5 (Reuters) - Africa Finance Corporation, a Lagos-based continental financier, will sign a deal with Italy for $320 million financing partly for a new transport corridor linking critical mineral fields with an Angolan port, its chief executive said on Thursday. AFC, which is owned by African central banks and development lenders, is the financing partner for the United States-backed rail and road corridor linking the Angolan port of Lobito on the Atlantic coastline with Zambia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where the minerals are mined. "The government of Italy has continued to express their support for the project. There will be a signing event of the facility that they are going to advance for the project," Samaila Zubairu told Reuters in an interview after the launch of the financier's annual Africa infrastructure report. There will also be a meeting in Rome focusing on the Lobito corridor project as it is known, in the coming weeks, he added. The Lobito rail corridor is a project to help transport critical minerals from the central African copperbelt to the West and is considered key in countering Chinese control over copper and cobalt supplies in the region. Some of the cash from the Italian government will go towards AFC's regular lending operations, he said, without giving a precise split. AFC, which usually aims to raise $2-3 billion every year, has raised more than $1 billion this year so far, and it is looking to raise roughly $1 billion more via a syndication facility soon, Zubairu said. "We have a huge syndication that we are launching shortly," he said, without providing more information.
Zawya
27-05-2025
- Business
- Zawya
Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) Backs Mota-Engil Africa with EUR 100M Facility to Boost Gold Mining in West Africa
Africa Finance Corporation ( the continent's leading infrastructure solutions provider, today announced that it has provided a EUR 100 million, 5year term facility to Mota-Engil Africa (MEA), the regional arm of the global construction giant, Mota -Engil Group. The funding will support the acquisition of equipment, inventories, and site infrastructure for the execution of three new gold- mining contracts in Côte d'Ivoire and Mali. AFC's funding will enable Mota-Engil Africa to scale up operations in West Africa's burgeoning mining sector, where gold remains a critical export commodity and a driver of local employment and foreign exchange earnings. The new mining contracts represent a significant boost for the mining industries in both Côte d'Ivoire and Mali, countries with substantial untapped mineral potential. The facility is another milestone in AFC and MEA's longstanding strategic relationship with MEA, which began in 2016. AFC has played a leading advisory role in several of the institution's recent landmark transactions including the new Bugesera International Airport project in Rwanda, the US$2 billion Kano Moradi rail project in Nigeria and the 1,289km Lobito I rail line project in Angola, where AFC is acting as financial adviser to Lobito Atlantic Railway- the consortium comprising Mota Engil Africa, Trafigura and Vecturis SA. Commenting on the transaction, Samaila Zubairu, President&CEO of Africa Finance Corporation, said: "This transaction underscores the strength of our decade-long relationship with Mota-Engil Africa and our shared vision to deliver sustainable economic transformation across Africa. Gold continues to be a vital economic driver for many African nations, and through this investment, AFC is helping to unlock long-term value- supporting export earnings, job creation, and broader industrial development of the region.' Manuel Mota, Chairman, Mota-Enjil Africa said: 'Today marks a significant milestone for Mota-Engil Africa. We are proud to announce the successful closing of financing for three new mining projects, in partnership with Africa Finance Corporation. This achievement reflects not only the strength of our project portfolio but also the confidence that premier institutions like AFC place in our strategy, our capabilities, and our people.' This latest investment builds on AFC's strategy to expand its portfolio into critical contractor financing initiatives across Africa; not only supporting the execution of critical public and private sector projects but unlocking much needed on and off-balance sheet financing opportunities. Notably, AFC is also the commercial tranche financier of the 186 Metallic Bridges project being constructed by Conduril Engenharia S.A. in Angola. AFC continues to work with contractors, providing critical funding to unlock value and to close the infrastructure gap, driving industrialisation, economic resilience, and sustainable development across the continent. Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Africa Finance Corporation (AFC). Media Enquiries: Yewande Thorpe Communications Africa Finance Corporation Mobile : +234 1 279 9654 Email : About AFC: AFC was established in 2007 to be the catalyst for pragmatic infrastructure and industrial investments across Africa. AFC's approach combines specialist industry expertise with a focus on financial and technical advisory, project structuring, project development, and risk capital to address Africa's infrastructure development needs and drive sustainable economic growth. Eighteen years on, AFC has developed a track record as the partner of choice in Africa for investing and delivering on instrumental, high-quality infrastructure assets that provide essential services in the core infrastructure sectors of power, natural resources, heavy industry, transport, and telecommunications. AFC has 45 member countries and has invested over US$15 billion in 36 African countries since its inception.
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Africa looks to unleash local capital as US drives global uncertainty
African policymakers and bankers are exploring ways to unlock trillions of dollars tied up in the continent's institutional funds to build infrastructure amid growing uncertainty around international investment caused by erratic US trade policies. 'There is about $4 trillion in Africa, mostly in banks, pension funds and foreign reserves,' Samaila Zubairu, CEO of the Africa Finance Corporation, a Lagos-based multilateral lender, told Semafor during this week's Africa CEO Forum in Abidjan, citing research by his institution. 'The issue is, how we get it to flow into projects.' The topic was a recurring talking point for business leaders during this week's conference, with the need to deploy local capital becoming more acute after the White House dismantled its main foreign aid body USAID, piling new pressure on African government finances. Ethiopis Tafara, vice president of the International Finance Corporation, the World Bank's private investment arm, told delegates there was a need to mobilize private capital to plug gaps left by the withdrawal of aid. Governments and the private sector need to engage in more dialogue, he said, to help administrations shore up the 'bankability' of projects that could not be funded with public money. Zubairu said AFC, which specializes in infrastructure development, is in talks with authorities in Angola, Botswana, and Kenya to replicate InfraCredit, a Nigerian credit institution that supports pension fund investments in infrastructure projects, with the west African country's sovereign wealth fund providing guarantees on local currency debt. AFC is an equity investor, along with the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority, which strengthens InfraCredit's capital base. African investors have long wanted to unlock private capital from existing institutional funds. The thinking is that if more domestically held capital supports major projects then the continent could draw larger pools of international funds at more favorable interest rates. In areas such as infrastructure, for example, Africa is estimated to have a $100 billion a year funding gap. One way to bridge that shortfall, analysts say, would be to unlock a larger portion of African funds, which have been concentrated in more conservative assets such as fixed income and treasury bills. 'Raising financing domestically for our critical infrastructure projects is a huge priority for our continent,' said Acha Leke, chairman of McKinsey's Africa group. 'We've estimated that if African pension funds doubled their current allocation to back such projects to 4%, this could unlock more than $20 billion of additional financing per year.' One institution that has had some success in changing that mix has been Africa50, a development finance platform that seeks to help tackle infrastructure gaps. Last year Africa50's Infrastructure Acceleration Fund announced it had raised $225 million, predominantly from African development banks and funds, and hopes to hit a $500 million target this year. Joseph Atta-Mensah, a senior fellow at the African Centre for Economic Transformation think tank in Accra has argued that Africa's relationship with the World Bank and International Monetary Fund must change in order to drive economic development. 'Africa needs to make the international financial infrastructure work in its favour,' he wrote in a London School of Economics blog. The continent 'needs a new global financial architecture — one that reduces dependence on expensive commercial debt and expands access to concessional finance,' Atta-Mensah wrote. 'Innovative instruments like debt-for-climate or debt-for-investment swaps can tie sustainability to solvency.' While private capital from angel investors has played a vital role in helping to build the foundation of Africa's startup investment space, it has been heavily reliant on international funds once the startups need venture capital. There's been a push to further professionalize and expand the impact of local angel investors, according to Fadilah Tchoumba, president of Africa Business Angels Network. 'We're really focusing on accelerating local capital participation by refining our key investment vehicles to give more potential investors confidence,' said Tchoumba. 'We've also doubled down on recruiting even more African angel investors to expand our local capital base while also building partnerships with domestic and international financial institutions to increase their impact.' Pension funds can be a catalyst for solving Africa's financing crisis, according to the Africa Private Capital Association. But encouraging capital allocators to deploy capital in Africa is a challenge. Sign in to access your portfolio
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.
