Finnfund in South Sudan deal
Finnfund has announced a $5 million mezzanine loan to Communication & Renewable Energy Infrastructure.
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Finnfund has announced a $5 million mezzanine loan to Communication & Renewable Energy Infrastructure (CREI) in order to facilitate installing, operating and maintaining 413 telecom site hybrid power solutions in South Sudan.
“I can’t think of a better project to kick off the Africa Connected programme and Finnfund’s path as an implementing partner of the EFSD+ Guarantees,” says Valtter Louhivuori, head of Finnfund’s Nairobi office. The Africa Connected programme seeks to accelerate investments in impactful digital infrastructure and solutions companies in Africa. “Improved mobile connections contribute to economic growth and improve living standards and inclusivity through increased access to financial, education and healthcare services,” Louhivuori adds.
The financing package includes investments from The Facility for Energy Inclusion (FEI) and the asset management company of ieng Group, Communication & Renewable Energy Infrastructure (CREI), and will be used to finance CREI’s Telecom Energy Service Company in South Sudan. The financing will enable CREI to provide “energy as a service” to a telecom stakeholder in South Sudan by developing, building, operating, and maintaining energy assets.
“The Facility for Energy Inclusion continues to play a leading role in the TESCO sector in Africa where the funds has been able to leverage its experience to provide a tailored and pragmatic financial solution to deliver this landmark transaction in South Sudan. This is a testimony of FEI and Cygnum Capital’s ability to support investment across frontier markets,” said Carmen de Castro, managing director and FEI fund lead at Cygnum Capital.
“We are thrilled to join forces with FEI and Finnfund in the financing of our TESCO project in South Sudan. This partnership aligns with our mission to lead the transition towards sustainable telecom and energy infrastructure across Africa and Asia; and achieve lasting positive impact. We are confident that our combined efforts will enable the telecom stakeholder to expand and contribute to the Telecom sector development of South Sudan”, said Kadri El Hakim, CEO at CREI.
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