Page 9 - AfrElec Week 46

AfrElec RENEWABLES AfrElec
Morocco’s SWF targets renewable energy
MOROCCO
ITHMAR Capital, Morocco’s sovereign wealth fund, is to prioritise renewable energy and crit- ical infrastructure across Africa as it doubles its investment portfolio to $6bn over the next five years
Ithmar head Obaid Amrane said in the Abu Dhabi Investment Summit that the fund aimed to diversify its investments and to find co-inves- tors for projects outside Morocco.
“We don’t have numbers so far, we are work- ing on those, and we will have them in early 2020,” he said of the potential size of the fund- ing from the government. “Diversification into infrastructure, into productive [sectors of the Moroccan] economy will at least double the size of the investments that we have already done.”
Ithmar is in talks with investors from the Middle East and elsewhere about investing in Morocco.
from renewables by 2030, and wants to have 2,000 MW of wind and 2,000 MW of solar capac- ity by 2020. It then plans to add 1,500 MW every year.
The country currently boasts the Noor-Ouar- zazate Solar Power Station, currently the world’s largest concentrated solar farm at 500 MW.
Ithmar is also working with other sovereign funds in Africa to build a pipeline of “bankable projects”. It is open to co-investments in other African markets.
“This is what we are willing to do and we have started discussions with sovereign wealth funds [outside Africa] that have excess funds to be invested,” Amrane said.
He said that talks on bringing together public and private sector investors from Europe and the Middle East were at an early stage.
Ithmar is also working with the Nigeria Sov- ereign Investment Authority on the Atlantic gas pipeline project that will bring Nigerian hydro- carbon resources to Morocco and its neighbours.
“We are working on some [potential deals]
that are dedicated to industry, also in agriculture
business and some energy and renewable energy
projects,”Amranesaid. Thefirstpre-feasibilitystudyisduetobecom-
The IMF forecasts the country’s economic growth at 2.7% for 2019, rising to 3.7% in 2020.
Morocco aims to generate half of its power
pleted soon, which will be followed by a detailed feasibility analysis of the project, he said, without giving the estimated cost of the scheme.™
INVESTMENT
AfDB signs $250m risk deal with ABSA bank
The African Development Bank (AfDB) has signed an unfunded $250mn Risk Participation Agreement (RPA) facility with ABSA bank.
The AfDB said that the 3-year RPA facility was signed on November 12 on the sidelines of the Africa Investment Form through its trade finance operations. Under this 3-year RPA facility, the Bank and ABSA will share default risk on a portfolio of eligible trade transactions originated by African Issuing Banks (IBs) and confirmed by ABSA.
Leveraging the Bank’s AAA rating, ABSA will underwrite trade transactions issued by African issuing banks across key sectors like agriculture, energy, and light-manufacturing with a special focus on small and medium- sized enterprises (SME’s) in fragile and low- income African countries.
The Bank’s commitment under the RPA is to assume up to 50% (and 75% in special cases) of every underlying transaction issued by the IBs, while ABSA will confirm such a transaction and bear not less than 50% of its underlying risk.
NEWS IN BRIEF
Working with strategic partners like ABSA, the Bank’s trade finance operations aim to facilitate inter and intra-Africa trade by reducing the trade financing gap on
the continent. Since 2013, the Bank’s RPA programme has supported over 16 issuing banks with about $650mn limits in Southern Africa alone, with special focus on SMEs and local corporates in manufacturing, agribusiness, import/export and energy sectors.
In the same period, the programme supported over $4bn in trade volumes across Africa, with $938mn of that being intra- Africa trade. Other trade finance instruments employed by the Bank include: (i) Trade Finance Line of Credit (TFLoC) – funded line provided to banks for the financing of exclusively trade-related transactions in Africa; and (ii) Soft Commodity Finance Facility (SCFF) – funded instrument meant to support the financing of exports of soft commodities across the continent.
“The RPA facility is one of the tools employed by the African Development
Bank to alleviate poverty and achieve
robust economic growth and sustainable development on the continent through: increased trade facilitation of import-export activities of African local corporates and SMEs; enhanced inter and intra-Africa trade;
and regional integration,” said Pierre Guislain, Bank Vice President for Infrastructure, Private Sector and Industrialisation.
Germany hosts compact with Africa
President Paul Kagame of Rwanda pointed to a new partnership with Volkswagen and Siemens, one that makes his nation Africa’s first to have an electric vehicle pilot program, as evidence of what can be achieved through the G20 Compact with Africa initiative launched in 2017.
His brief remarks came during a meeting in Germany, where Chancellor Angela Merkel – whose government has spearheaded the investment effort – welcomed leaders of 12 African nations now participating in the program. Also attending were representatives of G20 member nations, World Bank and the International Monetary Fund leaders, and other government and business leaders.
This conference, Merkel said, was about the three-pillar program and specific projects that are moving it forward, as well as opportunities to connect African governments with private investment partners. Organisers said they include Allianz in Morocco, Sysmex Europe in
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