Italian DFI signs debut €100m funding for AFC
The Italian development finance institution Cassa Depositi e Prestiti SpA (CDP) has agreed a debut €100 million loan for Africa Finance Corporation (AFC), the leading infrastructure solutions provider on the African continent, to facilitate investments in renewable power, energy efficient projects and climate-resilient infrastructure.
CDP, with assets totalling over €400 billion, is providing the bilateral loan to support AFC projects that are urgently needed to transform African infrastructure to help combat and adapt to global warming, as well as catalyse industrialisation, create jobs and reduce poverty.
“Building strong partnerships with major international institutions such as Africa Finance Corporation is part of our strategy to scale up impact finance and accelerate the ecological transition in developing countries,” affirmed Antonella Baldino, head of international co-operation and development finance at CDP.
“This milestone agreement today marks the start of a mutually beneficial relationship between AFC and CDP – the Italian DFI,” said Samaila Zubairu, president and CEO of AFC. “Access to funding from highly rated institutions, like CDP, helps us to further our commitment to investing in projects that simultaneously combat climate change and develop the critical infrastructure required for Africa’s economic growth, while delivering reliably competitive investor returns.”
AFC has invested over $10 billion in projects spanning 35 African countries over 15 years. The corporation draws capital from a diverse range of international investors and lenders as part of a strategy to maintain its investment grade credit rating of A3 at Moody’s. CDP joins AFC’s pool of funding partners comprising international development finance institutions such as the German Development Bank KfW, the India Exim Bank, and a syndication of Germany’s DEG, Netherland’s FMO and France’s Proparco, demonstrating global investor confidence in AFC’s strong credit profile and strategy to delivering de-risked, transformational projects for Africa.
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