CAIRO, 7 March 2023: Egypt has joined the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC), the continent’s leading infrastructure solutions provider, as the first North African sovereign shareholder, AFC announced on Tuesday.
“We welcome Egypt as a highly valued member of our core shareholders, helping us to maximise the impact of investments in systemic solutions within Egypt and across the continent. We look forward to expanding our collaboration to elevate Egypt’s economy through delivering resilient infrastructure, in line with our mandate of catalysing economic growth, value accretion, and industrial development for all African countries,” AFC president and CEO Samaila Zubairu said, according to Ahram Online.
Egypt’s Minister of Finance Mohamed Maait said that “this equity investment is a testament to our confidence in AFC’s role as a trusted partner in delivering transformational impact in Egypt and overall in Africa. We look forward to boosting our partnership with the corporation as we work together to develop the key infrastructure projects in the pipeline.”
In September 2021, AFC announced Egypt as its 32nd member state with a plan to invest over $1 billion in the country.
AFC has already invested over $100 million in infrastructure projects in Egypt, including the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation and Carbon Holdings, a petrochemicals conglomerate.
The corporation has already identified an immediate project pipeline worth over $1 billion in critical infrastructure across key sectors in Egypt, including renewable energy, natural gas, heavy industries, technology, telecoms, banking and finance. That is in addition to $265 million of existing investments by AFC in Egypt.
Egypt’s equity commitment and its imminent representation on the AFC Board of Directors enhances the corporation’s pan-African spread of shareholders and diversified board and management, which now includes governments, development finance institutions and institutional investors, according to the corporation.
In 2022, AFC onboarded Sierra Leone, Democratic Republic of Congo, Cote d’Ivoire, South Africa’s Public Investment Corporation, and the pension funds of Mauritius and Seychelles as shareholders. Other sovereign shareholders include Ghana, Gabon, Togo and Guinea.
AFC also said that as the largest North African economy, Egypt’s investment leads the way for other countries and investors from the region to join AFC’s shareholders and use its platform to boost regional trade and co-investment opportunities.
With a membership of 39 countries now and total investments of $11.5 billion over 16 years, AFC has a commitment to support sustained robust growth and development of the African continent.
AFC focuses mainly on developing and financing sustainable investments in the core sectors of power, natural resources, heavy industry, transport and telecommunications, with a strategy of adding value to exports and creating jobs through the development of industrial ecosystems.
It is committed to making Africa pivotal in the global race to net zero by reducing global shipping through localised production—including in minerals critical to battery production—while preserving Africa’s carbon sinks through optimal utilization of transition fuels and simultaneously developing its formidable renewable energy resources.
Tue, Mar. 7, 2023
