THE Africa Development Bank (AfDB) this year channelled approximately $1 billion to support power and infrastructure projects in Africa, the institution has said.
BY BUSINESS REPORTER
The support, which the bank’s Private Sector Department (OPSD) experts describe as “an unprecedented record level”, was disclosed after a meeting held at AfDB’s headquarters in Ivory Coast. The meeting approved a senior loan worth $300 million to support the construction of a 912km railway and associated port infrastructure of Nacala e-Velha running through landlocked Malawi.
“The bank is proud to partner with Vale and Mitsui, along with the group of co-financiers, including International Finance Corporation, Japan Bank for International Co-operation and Nippon Export and Investment Insurance, to enable the financing of this $4,5 billion project finance investment, one of the largest single foreign direct investments into Africa in recent years,” OPSD director, Kodeidja Diallo said.
She said the investment constituted the largest one for 2015, after Eskom South Africa, and stems from the fruitful contributions and valuable collaboration among OPSD staff and the entire bank’s NSO Ecosystem.
AfDB has been at the forefront of financing Africa’s infrastructure projects. In September, AfDB approved combined loans and grants amounting to $428,43 million to finance projects in energy, infrastructure, transport and water and sanitation in eight African countries including Zimbabwe.
Recently, AfDB approved a $53,24 million grant to fund water and sewer projects in Bulawayo, which will benefit over 400 000 residents in the country’s second city. The project, to be implemented in four years starting next month, will focus on rehabilitating and enhancing the water supply system, strengthening institutional capacity, enhancing service delivery and efficiency and improvement of environmental sanitation.
