Samaila Zubairu - Afrikan Heroes

Africa Finance Corporation Expands Footprint in Benin, Botswana, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Somalia

May 15, 2023

Africa Finance Corporation, the continent’s leading infrastructure solutions provider, continues to expand and diversify its membership and shareholder base, recently welcoming Benin, Botswana, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Somalia.

Accession to membership by Botswana and Somalia advances AFC’s mandate by conferring privileges and diplomatic immunities in line with the Corporation’s multilateral status and provides support for meaningful engagement in these key African economies. Furthermore, it enables AFC to mobilise global capital to work alongside domestic finance for sustainable and viable infrastructure and industrial development in member states. AFC now enjoys member support from three-quarters of African countries, with a total of 40 sovereign members.

Botswana’s Minister of Finance & Economic Development, Peggy Serame, said: “We are pleased to invest in AFC, as the Corporation has demonstrated its commitment as an African entity dedicated to infrastructure growth. We are proud to be a part of this pan-African triumph and looking forward to developing more critical infrastructure in the future.”

Dr. Elmi M. Nur, Somalia’s Minister of Finance, commented: “As Somalia continues to rebuild and grow, our membership in the Africa Finance Corporation will play a crucial role in securing the financial support needed to drive our nation’s development forward. We look forward to this exciting partnership.”

Additionally, the equity investments in AFC by existing members Benin and DRC enhance the Corporation’s pan-African spread of shareholders, which include governments, development finance institutions, and institutional investors.

A stellar record of consistent financial performance combined with a strong risk management framework and a growing and diversified shareholder base are behind AFC’s A3 investment-grade credit rating, which the Corporation leverages optimally to fulfill its mandate to close Africa’s infrastructure and industrial financing gap.

Romuald Wadagni, Benin’s Minister of Economy and Finance, said: “Our investment in the Africa Finance Corporation reaffirms our commitment to addressing Benin’s infrastructure and socio-economic challenges with endogenous financing solutions. We are optimistic that this new synergy will catalyze growth and development for our people.”

Nicolas Kazadi, Minister of Finance of the DRC, commented: “We are looking forward to leveraging our relationship with the AFC to sustainably build critical supporting infrastructure that will maximise our resources.”

AFC’s investments in Benin, Botswana and DRC span the natural resources, transportation & logistics and industrial sectors, with a combined portfolio size of US$53 million in the three countries. The Corporation is working with the government of Somalia to fund infrastructure and economic development that will optimise the country’s key resources.

“We are always pleased to welcome new African countries as Member States and Shareholders of AFC as it reinforces our growing appeal as the resilient and reliable bridge to a prosperous African future of enhanced value capture and retention ” said President & CEO of AFC, Samaila Zubairu. “We remain committed to working alongside our member countries to accelerate sustainable development impact in their respective countries by developing and financing infrastructure, natural resources and industrial assets that will enhance productivity and economic growth.”

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

Africa Finance Corporation Wins DFI of the Year for Europe and Africa at the IJGlobal Awards

March 13, 2023

Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) (www.AfricaFC.org), the continent’s leading infrastructure solutions provider, has been awarded “DFI of the Year-Europe & Africa” at the 2022 IJGlobal Awards. IJGlobal, a prominent industry publication for the energy and infrastructure market, presented the prestigious award to AFC at a ceremony last night in London, UK.

Samaila Zubairu, President & CEO of Africa Finance Corporation, said: “We are incredibly proud and humbled to receive this distinguished award. We extend our gratitude to IJGlobal Awards and its judges for acknowledging our accomplishments. Our success is the result of the unwavering commitment and tireless efforts of every individual at AFC, as well as the invaluable support of our partners and stakeholders. Our resolve to provide efficient sustainable solutions that bridge Africa’s infrastructure deficit and unleash its economic potential remains unflinching. Our ultimate goal is to establish Instrumental Africa as the powerhouse catalyst for worldwide economic growth, particularly as humanity grapples with the pressing challenge of resource scarcity and depletion. This time, we are committed to ensuring that Africa captures and retains value from its immense critical resources.”

AFC has a proven track record of developing key transformational projects on the continent, providing pragmatic solutions for Africa’s infrastructure deficit and challenging operating environment for over 16 years. One of the Corporation’s early investments at inception was the Cabeolica wind farm, a 26MW project supplying at the time 25% of the country’s electricity needs. Since then, AFC has made investments in Singrobo, a 44MW hydro-electric power project, a 60MW wind farm project in Djibouti, and the 1,300MW Kainji Hydro Dam in Nigeria and, most recently, the joint acquisition of Lekela Power, Africa’s largest renewables-focused independent power producer, with plans to more than double capacity of the operating assets within four years.

One of the judges of the awards said: “AFC deserves to be recognised for the leading role it plays in the development of project finance and infrastructure in several African countries. We were impressed that AFC was seen to be truly value-additive through its participation, helping other lenders get comfortable with risks or projects they would otherwise be uncomfortable with.”

As part of its drive to address Africa’s vulnerability to climate risk, AFC launched an asset management arm, AFC Capital Partners, with its debut offering of the Infrastructure Climate Resilient Fund (ICRF) targeting US$500 million in its first twelve months (US$2 billion over the next three years). The ICRF will act both as a direct investor and a co-investment fund to enhance the quality of African ports, roads, bridges, rail, telecommunications, clean energy and logistics in the face of rising temperatures in parts of the continent, increased precipitation and flooding in others and rising sea levels due to climate change.

The Corporation’s unique ecosystem investment model, which focuses on value accretive beneficiation and import substitution, has been proven in Gabon where the ARISE Integrated Industrial Platform, a $1 billion wood-based export ecosystem, has been recognized as the first carbon neutral industrial zone in Africa, contributing $842 million to Gabon’s GDP and tripling jobs to over 34,000. Given its success in sustainably diversifying Gabon’s economy, creating jobs and ensuring high value creation, this model has been replicated at scale across the continent for other raw materials, including in Benin, Togo, Rwanda, Cote d’Ivoire, DRC, Nigeria and Chad.

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

Egypt Joins Africa Finance Corporation as First Shareholder From North Africa

March 7, 2023

Egypt has joined Africa Finance Corporation (www.AfricaFC.org), the continent’s leading infrastructure solutions provider, as the first North African sovereign shareholder, further diversifying AFC’s expanding equity investor base.

An AFC Member State, Egypt’s equity commitment and its imminent representation on the AFC Board of Directors enhance the Corporation’s pan-African spread of shareholders and diversified Board and management, which now includes governments, development finance institutions and institutional investors. In 2022 alone, AFC onboarded Sierra Leone, Democratic Republic of Congo, Cote d’Ivoire, South Africa’s Public Investment Corporation, and the pension funds of Mauritius and Seychelles as shareholders. Other sovereign shareholders include Ghana, Gabon, Togo and Guinea.

As the largest North African economy, Egypt’s investment leads the way for other countries and investors from the region to join AFC’s shareholders and use its platform to boost regional trade and co-investment opportunities.

Egypt’s Minister of Finance, H.E. Dr Mohamed Maait, said: “This equity investment is a testament to our confidence in AFC’s role as a trusted partner in delivering transformational impact in Egypt and overall in Africa. We look forward to boosting our partnership with the Corporation as we work together to develop the key infrastructure projects in the pipeline.”

A growing and diversified shareholder base alongside profitable returns and consistent dividends are behind AFC’s A3 investment-grade credit rating, which the Corporation leverages to fulfil its mandate to close Africa’s infrastructure and industrial financing gap. With a membership of 39 countries now and total investments of US$11.5 billion over 16 years, the Corporation continues to deliver on its promise to support sustained robust growth and development in Africa.

AFC focuses on developing and financing sustainable investments in the core sectors of power, natural resources, heavy industry, transport and telecommunications, with a strategy of adding value to exports and creating jobs through the development of industrial ecosystems. The Corporation is committed to making Africa pivotal in the global race to net zero by reducing global shipping through localised production—including in minerals critical to battery production—while preserving Africa’s carbon sinks through optimal utilization of transition fuels and simultaneously developing its formidable renewable energy resources.

AFC has already identified an immediate project pipeline worth over US$1 billion in critical infrastructure across key sectors in Egypt, including renewable energy, natural gas, heavy industries, technology, telecoms, banking and finance. That is in addition to US$265 million of existing investments by AFC in Egypt.

“We welcome Egypt as a highly valued member of our core shareholders, helping us to maximise the impact of investments in systemic solutions within Egypt and across the continent,” AFC President & CEO Samaila Zubairu said. “We look forward to expanding our collaboration to elevate Egypt’s economy through delivering resilient infrastructure, in line with our mandate of catalysing economic growth, value accretion, and industrial development for all African countries.”

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

Samaila Zubairu Joins Ghana’s Aker Energy as Member, Board of Directors

October 8, 2019

The President and CEO of Africa Finance Corporation (AFC), Mr. Samaila Zubairu has joined the Board of Aker Energy AS, as Vice Chairman of Aker Energy Board of Directors. Mr. Zubairu’s membership of the Board of Aker Energy is seen as a step in the right direction as he will bring his wealth of experience in infrastructure financing and management to bear on Aker Energy’s projects. The Africaa Finance Corporation (AFC) is the leading infrastructure solutions provider in Africa with 25 African member countries and has invested US$6 billion across 29 African countries. Ghana, where Aker Energy’s Pecan field is located, is in addition to being a member state also an equity shareholder of AFC.

Samaila Zuberu — Mr. Zubairu has previously served as CEO of AfriCapital Management Limited and as CFO of Dangote Cement Plc. Mr. Zubairu

Speaking on the development, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Aker Energy Sverre Skogen said that AFC is an important partner to Aker Energy and that Aker Energy is honoured to welcome Mr. Samaila Zubairu to the Board, as he brings extensive experience with innovative infrastructure development and financing across the African continent, as well as geopolitical and industrial insight.

Aker Energy is part of the Norwegian Aker group of companies and is, through its subsidiary Aker Energy Ghana Ltd., the operator of the Deepwater Tano / Cape Three Points (DWT/CTP) block offshore Ghana. Aker Energy has its sole focus in Ghana and has submitted a Plan of Development and Operations (PDO) for the block. Speaking, Mr. Zubairu said that AFC’s investment in Aker Energy is an exciting milestone – “we have partnered with the subsidiary of one of the most highly respected international oil, gas and industrials companies to support its first project in the African market as an operator. This is an opportunity for AFC to invest alongside a technically and financially strong sponsor that requires project development expertise and public sector advice in Africa, both of which AFC is ideally placed to offer. It is therefore a great honour to now also being joining the Board of Aker Energy as Vice Chairman”.

In July 2019, AFC became an investor in Aker Energy following the issue of subordinated convertible bonds of USD 100 million with a mandatory conversion to equity in the event of an Initial Public Offering (“IPO”) of Aker Energy. AFC intends to take part in other capital market activities initiated by Aker Energy in the future.

Mr. Zubairu has previously served as CEO of AfriCapital Management Limited and as CFO of Dangote Cement Plc. Mr. Zubairu is an Eisenhower Fellow and sits on the Eisenhower Fellowship’s Global Network Council,. He holds several non-executive board positions including the Advisory board member for KSE Africa a leading operations and management provider of captive power plants in the mining sectors in Botswana and Nigeria. Mr. Zubairu, is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants, Nigeria (FCA) and holds a BSc in Accounting from Ahmadu Bello University, Nigeria. He is an Ex-Boy of the Nigerian Military School, Zaria.

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.

Africa needs the private sector to bridge the infrastructure gap – Zubairu

July 30, 2019

Samaila Zubairu is President, Africa Finance Corporation (AFC), a pan-African multilateral development finance institution focused on infrastructure development in Africa.

In this interview, he speaks on the need for Africa to bridge its yawning infrastructure gap and how the AFC is working towards providing the infrastructure base that will allow for regional trade to take place on the continent. Excerpts:

Despite efforts of development finance institutions to boost infrastructure outlay, Africa still has a huge infrastructure deficit. What needs to change to bridge the gap?

There are several ways of looking at Africa’s infrastructure gap. Let’s start at the macro level. Look at the investment required for infrastructure; it is about $170billion annually and most of that is for water and sanitation infrastructure which should take $67billion. Energy requires an investment of about $50billion, transport and logistics take $47billion while ICT takes $7billion.

However, Africa has been spending $77billion annually on infrastructure in the last seven years and that leaves a deficit of about $93billion. So, we should look at areas where the private sector can come in such as transport and logistics, based on a public-private -partnership basis.

Why is PPP not as forthcoming as you would like?

There are several points through which the private sector can come in. Water and sanitation is a bit of a challenge for private sector investment because they are viewed as social goods and so governments need to really concentrate on that. For energy, what is important is a pragmatic view of what is required. Governments fail to understand that they alone cannot make the investments that the continent needs, so they need private players. However, they need to de-risk the sector for private capital to come in.

So, the big challenge with infrastructure is that private capital is not flowing into that space. Capital is shy and you have to make it comfortable. So, African governments need to understand that they should make investors comfortable so they can come into the sector and once the sector receives these investments and the critical mass is built, they can withdraw the credit enhancement that is required to attract the investment.

Which countries have successfully deployed this model you described?

We have seen it in several economies. For example, in Turkey, they had bankable power purchase agreements (PPAs) to mobilize and encourage investors. However, when they achieved the requisite investment critical mass, they stopped providing the PPAs. So, there are no PPAs in Turkey today, as the power market has stabilized. Businesses produce the power and the government buys as it needs.

The AfCFTA has come into force and a common market will be launched in July. What role can the AFC play to ensure that it achieves its goal?

We have always believed that infrastructure deficit is a hindrance to regional trade. Africa has the lowest level of regional trade in the world. Some say it is at 10 percent while others say it is 18 percent.

However, the best estimate we have seen is 20 percent which is still very low when compared to Europe where it is 70 percent and Asia at 60 percent. A major bottleneck is an infrastructure. For example, a company in Nigeria finds it difficult to export to Cameroon or Benin Republic because of poor infrastructure. What we are trying to do at AFC is to provide that infrastructure base that will allow for regional trade to take place.

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.

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Tag: Samaila Zubairu

Africa Finance Corporation Expands Footprint in Benin, Botswana, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Somalia

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Africa Finance Corporation Wins DFI of the Year for Europe and Africa at the IJGlobal Awards

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Egypt Joins Africa Finance Corporation as First Shareholder From North Africa

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Samaila Zubairu Joins Ghana’s Aker Energy as Member, Board of Directors

Africa needs the private sector to bridge the infrastructure gap – Zubairu

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