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Signature of the JDA between IHE and Africa Finance Corporation (AFC)
Published on 13 Dec 2020

Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) is associated with the development of the Singrobo power plant ...

The Pan-African institution will participate, alongside the Dutch Development Bank, in the development and financing of this hydropower plant with a capacity of 44 megawatts.

Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) announced on July 14 that it had signed an agreement with the Ivorian private company Ivoire Hydro Energy (IHE) for the co-development and financing of the Singrobo hydropower plant. At a cost of 70 billion CFA francs (about 120 million dollars), this power station must be built on the Bandama river, in the center of Côte d'Ivoire, 85 kilometers from the capital Yamoussokro, and have a 44 megawatt capacity. Its construction is scheduled to start in 2016 and be completed in 2019.

As a first step, AFC and the Netherlands Development Bank (FMO) - also associated with the project - will jointly invest $ 3 million in capital in the Singrobo power plant development project. AFC will then have to invest an additional $ 3 million "to meet the financial conditions of the project," the institution led by Anglo-Nigerian Andrew Ali said without further details. AFC and FMO will then have the option to increase their stake in Ivoire Hydro Energy.

Frames

This company, based in Abidjan, was founded in early 2012 by former executives of the Ivorian Electricity Company (concessionaire for electricity management in Côte d'Ivoire). Its CEO and main shareholder, Ekolan Alain Etty, was deputy managing director between 1999 and 2005 of this subsidiary of the French company Eranove. IHE, whose capital rose from 10 million CFA francs to 230 million CFA francs last May, signed the agreement for the construction of the Singrobo power plant in December 2013. This is its first large-scale project. The Singrobo power plant will benefit from a 35-year take-of-pay agreement with CI-Energies, the public company responsible for managing the electricity sector in Côte d'Ivoire.

AFC

Founded in 2007 and long focused on English-speaking African countries, AFC has increased its operations in French-speaking West Africa in recent years, particularly in Côte d'Ivoire - which should soon join this pan-African financial institution. Among the projects funded by AFC in this country are the Henri Konan Bedie Bridge and the Port Autonomous d'Abidjan (PAA) expansion project. Last May, the Lagos-based institution successfully issued a $ 750 million Eurobond on international markets.