An Africa-focused infrastructure fund raised US$294-million (R5.5-billion) in debt capital to invest in projects on the continent as well as diversifying into Asia.

The Emerging African Infrastructure Fund reached that level via a funding round that closed in December, passing the halfway mark of its $500-million target by 2025.

“What we have raised right now, together with the existing facilities and the recycling of the capital of the fund, gives us investment capacity up to 2025,” said Martijn Proos, co-head of emerging market alternative credit at Ninety One, the fund manager for EAIF. “We will start to raise the next round of capital by June this year, another $200-million or $250-million to meet our target,” Proos said.

Allianz Global Investors led the financing round committing a total of $132-million to the EAIF in both euros and dollars. Standard Bank provided a combined $100-million via two separate facilities with sustainability-linked features while KfW, the German state-owned development bank, added a $66-million loan to the fund.

The EAIF will invest in infrastructure projects focused on the energy transition, low-carbon economies and energy-efficient smart cities, it said in an e-mailed statement. The fund has committed $1.3-billion to projects on the continent since its founding in 2001 and plans to raise that by about $300-million over the next two years.

Asia

It also plans an expansion to Asia, parts of which has similar infrastructure needs as Africa, Proos said in an interview. The expansion to Asia will help EAIF diversify its portfolio, grow its assets faster and also align its operations with its parent company, the Private Infrastructure Development Group.

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“The core focus of the fund will still remain Africa but with small inroads into the Asian market to complement our offering within the PIDG group,” Proos said, adding “it will not erode our focus on Africa at all”. — Anthony Osae-Brown, (c) 2024 Bloomberg LP