There is resuscitation in the financing of Nigeria’s infrastructural projects, courtesy of the African Development Bank (AFDB), as the lender signed into a $1 billion Multi-Lateral Development Bank and private sector investors’ facility, tagged Room2Run.
The project which includes the European Commission, Mariner Investment Group, Africa50, and Mizuho International Plc, is aimed at pioneering the use of securitization for new and previously unexplored segment of the financial markets.
Structured as an impact investment, Room2Run is designed to enable AFDB increase lending in support of its mission to spur sustainable economic development and social progress.
The bank is already in connection with Room2Run, and has committed to redeploying the freed-up capital into renewable energy projects in Sub-Saharan Africa, including projects in low income and fragile countries.
Meanwhile, the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has closed in on another facility, signing into a Korea-focused $150 million club loan, which has Shinhan Bank as coordinator and lender, with other participating institutions in the three-year tenor deal including KEB Hana Bank, Woori Bank and NongHyup Bank.
Denys Denya, Afreximbank’s Executive Vice President in charge of Finance, Administration and Banking Services, stated that the facility would greatly enhance Afreximbank’s capacity to achieve its core mandate, in particular, expanding intra-African trade, supporting export manufacturing. He said it will also significantly fill the trade finance gap the continent was currently experiencing, by providing it with the requisite funding capabilities at competitive pricing.
