AFC Capital Partners (ACP), the asset management subsidiary of Africa Finance Corporation (AFC), has launched the Infrastructure Climate-Resilient Fund Nigeria (ICRF Nigeria), a dedicated platform designed to mobilise domestic institutional capital for investment in climate-resilient infrastructure projects across Nigeria and Africa.
Registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as a closed-end fund, ICRF Nigeria will channel capital from pension fund administrators (PFAs), insurers, asset managers and other Nigerian institutional investors into a diversified portfolio of commercially viable, high-impact infrastructure projects.
ICRF Nigeria is part of ACP’s US$750 million Infrastructure Climate-Resilient Fund (ICRF), an investment vehicle established to strengthen the resilience of Africa’s infrastructure by integrating climate considerations across the asset lifecycle, from planning and design to construction and operation.
The fund seeks to address a major challenge facing the continent: ensuring that the infrastructure supporting Africa’s economic growth can withstand increasingly severe and unpredictable climate impacts.
ICRF has attracted commitments from leading global and African institutional investors, including a US$253 million first-loss commitment from the Green Climate Fund (GCF), its largest equity investment in Africa to date.
Other participating institutions include the European Investment Bank (EIB), Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA), Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP), the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) and several African pension funds.
ACP expects ICRF to mobilise up to US$3.7 billion in total financing and build a diversified portfolio of between 10 and 12 infrastructure projects across Africa.
Samaila Zubairu, AFC’s President and CEO, commented: “Africa is not short of capital. The continent holds more than US$4 trillion in domestic resources, including significant pools of long-term capital in pensions, insurance and sovereign wealth funds. Yet too much of this wealth remains invested in low-risk, short-term instruments rather than being channeled into productive sectors such as infrastructure, industry and innovation.
“The opportunity before us is to create investment vehicles that connect Africa’s long-term savings with its long-term development needs. ICRF Nigeria is an important step in that direction, enabling Nigerian institutional capital to participate in the infrastructure that will drive more resilient and sustainable growth across Nigeria and the continent.”
Ayaan Adam, CEO of ACP, said: “ICRF Nigeria gives Nigerian institutional investors a dedicated route into high-quality, climate-resilient infrastructure investments across Nigeria and Africa. By combining institutional capital with AFC’s infrastructure expertise and the catalytic power of blended finance, we can address both the financing needs of critical infrastructure and the growing risks posed by climate change.
“Importantly, this creates an avenue for Nigeria’s long-term savings to contribute to infrastructure development while giving investors access to a diversified portfolio of opportunities across the continent.”
ICRF combines concessional and commercial capital to overcome barriers that have historically limited investment in climate adaptation across Africa.
Through blended finance and targeted de-risking mechanisms, the fund integrates climate resilience into infrastructure projects from the outset, helping to unlock private capital for projects that could otherwise be difficult to finance.
Its target sectors include renewable energy, transport and logistics, digital infrastructure and industrial development, all of which are considered critical to Africa’s economic transformation.
The fund’s investment approach assesses both physical and transition climate risks, including exposure to extreme weather, emissions pathways and climate governance. Each investment undergoes climate risk screening and assessment to embed resilience throughout the infrastructure lifecycle.
The Green Climate Fund plays a catalytic role by providing first-loss capital and technical assistance for climate risk assessment and monitoring. This support is intended to reduce investment risks and attract additional institutional capital to climate-resilient infrastructure across Africa.
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