Green Infrastructure: Nigeria, AfDB, Others Sign Agreement On Fund Mobilisation

The federal government through the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA), has agreed with key organisations in Africa to mobilise funds to accelerate green infrastructure projects in the continent.

The letter of intent for the capital mobilisation was signed by the African Development Bank, Africa50 and newly launched African Sovereign Investor Forum (ASIF), for green and climate resilient infrastructure projects across Africa.

The three entities will work together to galvanise financing and to drive the development of skills and expertise within the infrastructure sector.

The signing took place in Rabat, Morocco during an event to launch the Africa Sovereign Investors Forum. The newly formed platform will accelerate coordination to mobilise patient capital for the continent’s development.

Ten African sovereign investors have already agreed to set up the Forum.

The signatories are Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA), Agaciro Development Fund of Rwanda, Fonds Souverain de Djibouti, Fonds Gabonais d’Investissements Stratégiques (FGIS), Fonds Souverain d’Investissements Stratégiques (FONSIS) of Senegal, Fundo Soberano de Angola (FSDEA), Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund (GIIF), Ithmar Capital Morocco and The Sovereign Fund of Egypt (TSFE).

Africa 50 CEO, Alain Ebobissé signed for his organisation; AfDB vice-president for Private Sector, Infrastructure and Industrialisation, Solomon Quaynor, signed on behalf of the AfDB; and Ithmar Capital CEO, Obaid Amrane, who will serve as the inaugural chair of ASIF, signed on the new initiative’s behalf.

Ebobissé said: “this is an important step to building strong collaboration between the right stakeholders to meet the substantial infrastructure financing needs of Africa. We must make key regional infrastructure projects attractive and bankable for both global and African private investors and today’s signing will go a long way to address the continent’s infrastructure deficit.

“It is therefore important that we leverage the strength of the African sovereign wealth funds on the continent, who manage significant domestic savings, to drive the growth of Africa’s economies through the development and successful implementation of strategic infrastructure.”

Quaynor said the AfDB’s partnership with ASIF and Africa50 would enable stronger collaborations on project development and co-financing, mobilisation of capital to fund resilient, green and sustainable infrastructure and identification of investment opportunities to promote Africa’s infrastructure and industrialisation.

“This is a key part of the Bank’s strategy to harness the estimated $2 trillion of assets under management from African institutional investors including sovereign wealth funds, pension funds and insurance companies for the continent’s infrastructure and industrialisation,” he said.

The collaboration agreement will also seek to address the identification and preparation of projects, a critical successful factor in attracting financing into any projects.