PIDG, Emerging Africa Infrastructure Fund, lends 25 million euros for a clean energy hydroelectric project in Côte d’Ivoire

The Emerging Africa Infrastructure Fund (EAIF), a private infrastructure development group (PIDG) (www.PIDG.org) company, lends 25 million euros over 18 years to Ivoire Hydro Energy (IHE) which will build a 44 MW hydroelectric power station on the Bandama River near the village of Singrobo in Côte d’Ivoire. Financial close is expected at the end of the third quarter of 2021. The 174 million euro project is expected to last around 36 months.

Paromita Chatterjee, Director of Investments at EAIFthe directors of, ninety-one, said;

“The new facility under construction in Singrobo is the country’s first hydroelectric development by an independent power producer. The project saw EAIF and PIDG achieve three main objectives; mobilizing private capital, enabling economic development and contributing to increasing the stock of renewable energy infrastructure in Africa.

A long-term power purchase contract will see all the energy produced by the Singrobo plant sold to the Ivorian Electricity Company, the operator of Côte d’Ivoire’s national grid. The new factory will be an important strategic economic asset for Côte d’Ivoire. In addition to increasing the country’s generation capacity, the plant improves the flexibility of the system, which means that it can be called upon to meet base demand as well as peak demand.

The African Development Bank (AfDB) has acted as the mandated principal arranger of debt financing and will be a full senior lender. In addition to the AfDB and EAIF, the other lenders are the German International Development Agency, DEG and the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC). 25% of the cost of the project is financed by the shareholders’ equity of the project, IHE Holding, Africa Finance Corporation and DIPFA, an international investment platform owned by Denham Capital for energy projects. Neo Themis SARL advises and acts for shareholders in the context of finalizing the development of the project and financing agreements.

Electrification rates in Côte d’Ivoire range from around 88% in urban areas to only 31% in rural areas of the country. The economy of Côte d’Ivoire has grown and diversified since the return of political stability in 2011. It has the largest and most diversified economy in the West African Economic and Monetary Union, representing approximately 30% of the monetary union total. GDP.

Technical informations

The project site is located on the Bandama river, 23 km downstream from the existing Taabo dam and upstream from the confluence of the Nzi river. It is 3.5 km from the village of Singrobo in the province of Taabo and some 148 km by road from the capital of Côte d’Ivoire, Abidjan.

Main infrastructure of the Singrobo factory

• A riprap dam on the right bank of approx. 27 m high and 1,025 m long
• On the left bank, a concrete dam about 27m high and 150m long
• In the center, a weir, a water intake structure and a bottom outlet
• A reservoir with a maximum area of ​​19.6 km² and a volume of about 105 hm³
• Two penstocks with a diameter of 5m
• A power station with two 22 MW Kaplan horizontal turbines supplied by GE / Alstom
• An escape channel 1.3 km long and 35 m wide
• 3 km of access roads
• Camping facilities comprising construction facilities and a permanent campsite for operation and maintenance
• A 4 km 90 kV transmission line and a substation to be connected to the hydroelectric power station to the existing Taabo-Agboville transmission line

Advisers

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of the Private Infrastructure Development Group (PIDG).

For more information contact:
EAIF Martin Roche
martinroche55@gmail.com
+44 (0) 771 574 9621

PIDG Cecilie Sorhus
Cecilie.Sorhus@pidg.org
+44 (0) 7917 302724

Ninety-one
Kotie Bassoon
kotie.basson@investecmail.com
+27 21 416 1812

On EAIF:
The Emerging Africa Infrastructure Fund (www.EAIF.com) provides a variety of debt products to infrastructure projects promoted primarily by private sector companies in Africa and parts of the Levant. The Fund helps create the infrastructure framework that is essential for sustainable economic stability, business confidence, job creation and poverty reduction. To date, it has supported more than 80 completed infrastructure projects in nine sectors in more than 20 African countries. EAIF is part of PIDG. EAIF was created and funded largely by the governments of the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Sweden. It raises its debt capital from public and private sources, including Allianz, the global insurance and financial services company; Standard chartered bank; the African Development Bank; the German development finance institution, KFW,and FMO, the Dutch development bank. EAIF is managed by Ninety One.

On PIDG:
The Private Infrastructure Development Group (PIDG) (www.PIDG.org) is a developer and investor of innovative infrastructure projects that mobilizes private investments in sustainable and inclusive infrastructure in Sub-Saharan Africa and South and Southeast Asia. PIDG investments promote socio-economic development as part of a just transition to net zero emissions, fight poverty and contribute to sustainable development goals (SDGs). PIDG delivers its ambition in accordance with its values ​​of opportunity, responsibility, safety, integrity and impact. Since 2002, PIDG supported 171 infrastructure projects until financial close, providing around 217 million people with access to new or improved infrastructure. PIDG is funded by the governments of the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Australia, Sweden, Germany and IFC. PIDG Technical assistance can provide technical assistance and capital grants to PIDG companies to meet a range of needs associated with the lifecycle of an infrastructure project. PIDG Technical assistance can also provide initial sustainability gap funding grants to support PIDG projects that require concessional financing to make a project with a high impact on development fundable.

About ninety-one:
Ninety-one (www.NinetyOne.com) is one of the largest third-party investors in private equity, credit, private equity and sovereign debt on the African continent. The Emerging Africa Infrastructure Fund (EAIF) is managed by and fully integrated with the African investment platform of Ninety One. Ninety One manages the entire process on behalf of EAIF. He markets the Fund, researches projects, evaluates loan applications including due diligence, manages transaction administration and oversees the loan portfolio. Since May 2016, date of the attribution of the management mandate, Ninety One and its EAIF team have completed more than 20 infrastructure deals with a capital value of USD 650m. The team also led EAIFlatest fundraising, raising US $ 385 million, including US $ 100 million from Allianz Global Investors and US $ 50 million from Standard Chartered, a long-standing lender to EAIF.

Ninety One is an independent, active global asset manager listed on the London and Johannesburg stock exchanges. Founded in South Africa in 1991, under the name Investec Asset Management, the company has been a pioneer in emerging markets in Africa. In 2020, almost three decades of organic growth later, the company separated from the Investec Group and became Ninety One. Today, Ninety One offers distinct and active equity, fixed income, multi-asset and alternative investment strategies to institutions, advisers and individual investors around the world.

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PIDG company, Emerging Africa Infrastructure Fund, lending 25 million euros to the clean energy hydropower project in Côte d’Ivoire

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