The Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) has admitted Mauritius as its 23rd member nation. This comes few weeks after Madagascar joined the Corporation, becoming the Corporation’s 22nd member. The AFC, an investment grade multilateral finance institution with an equity capital base of US$1 billion, to be the catalyst for private sector-led infrastructure investment across Africa has been experiencing surging growth with a current balance sheet of approximately US$4.5 billion, making it the second highest investment grade rated multilateral financial institution in Africa.
Mauritius membership is coming at a time the southern African island nation is registering impressive economic progress across the board, including a near fivefold increase in its GDP per capita in the last 30 years. Moreso, Mauritius has consistently maintained one of the highest-ranking countries in Africa in the UN’s Human Development Index striving to move from a middle income country to a high income country. The government also said that this development is in line with the current economic strategy, titled “Achieving the Second Economic Miracle” which places high emphasis on infrastructure investment which informs the country’s identification with the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) focus on power, transport & logistics.
With this development, the AFC is now free to start series of engagements with Mauritius and its private sector on the best ways it can contribute towards developing the country’s infrastructure, leveraging AFC’s award-winning approach to deliver high quality, sustainable infrastructure projects. Equally noteworthy is the fact that the Mauritius Africa Fund (MAF), SBM Group and AFC are in discussions currently with regards to the establishment of an Africa-focused infrastructure and industrialization fund (the Fund). The Fund, a Mauritius initiative, will seek to collaborate and mobilize funds from key institutional investors for investment in crucial infrastructure projects and facilitate the setting up of special economic zones across the African continent. It would be similar to the Nigerian Trust Fund (NTF) domiciled at the African Development Bank (AfDB).
Speaking on the development, the President & CEO of the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) Mr. Samaila Zubairu, expressed the Corporation’s pleasure in welcoming Mauritius as a Member State of AFC. Noting that through its commitment to promoting private sector-led solutions for its development challenges, Mauritius presents an excellent partnership opportunity for AFC’s mandate to develop and finance infrastructure, natural resource and industrial assets for enhanced the productivity and economic growth of African states. He added that the Corporation looks forward to significantly contributing to Mauritius’s growth story.
It could be recalled that the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) has an A3/P2 (Stable outlook) rating from Moody’s Investors Service and that it successfully raised US$650 million in 2019, US$500 million in 2017 and US$750 million in 2015 through Eurobonds all of which were oversubscribed and attracted investors from Asia, Europe and the USA. Combining 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, the AFC has invested in high-quality infrastructure assets that provide essential services in the core infrastructure sectors of power, natural resources, heavy industry, transport, and telecommunications in projects within 29 countries across Africa.
Kelechi Deca
Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry.