A US$100 million loan facility has been secured by the Africa Finance Corporation(AFC) from the U.S. development finance institutions — Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) and J. P. Morgan — to support infrastructural development in Nigeria and other African countries, the local Vanguard newspaper reported Thursday, quoting AFC Chief Executive Officer, Andrew Alli.
It quoted Alli as explaining that US$75 million of the facility will be provided by OPIC while the remaining US$25 million will be provided by the global investment banking leader, J. P. Morgan.
According to Alli, “We are delighted with OPIC’s and J.P. 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”.
The facility is also intended to further deepen AFC’s resources to support infrastructure development on the African continent.
Over the last 18 months, AFC had established financing partnerships with a broad range of Development Finance Institutions (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 coordinated approach based on strong private and public sector partnerships is vital”, he added.
Already, 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.
AFC said it will leverage OPIC’s and J.P. Morgan’s support to further the development of its infrastructure portfolio across Africa.
