Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) grew its assets by 16.3 per cent in 2021 to $8.56 billion
President, AFC, Samaila Zubairu, who spoke in Lagos at the weekend at the end of its board meeting, which coincided with its 15th anniversary, said AFC’s performance in its latest full-year earnings, was driven by high-impact investments and its strong credit profile.
According to him, despite the pandemic and commodity-driven headwinds impacting AFC’s operating environment, the corporation saw its yearly profits increase by 26.6 per cent to $209.7 million in 2021, passing the $200 million mark for the first time in its 15-year history, from $165.5 million in 2020.
He added that the dramatic increase arose from AFC’s investments in high-impact assets in targeted sectors across Africa.
He said the corporation leveraged its investment-grade credit rating and reputation to mobilise finance from international markets to help reduce Africa’s infrastructure deficit.
He pointed out that the review period had been a year of solid progress in AFC’s core objectives of building value to Africa’s economies through instrumental infrastructure driving growth and job creation.
“We have proven over our 15-year history that you can successfully build a track record in infrastructure investment in Africa-and there has never been a better time to do so,” Zubairu said.
AFC’s reach on the continent is larger than it has ever been, with investments expanding to 35 countries and cumulative disbursements rising by 14 per cent to $9.9 billion as against $8.7 billion in 2020, he added.
Zubairu listed some of the projects handled during 2021 to include a $150 million for the development of cashew and cotton integrated industrial parks in Benin and Togo; a $200 million corporate facility to BUA Industries Limited for the construction of a sugar refinery and ethanol plant in Nigeria and a $175 million investment in the Baomahun Gold Project in Sierra Leone.
Zubairu said AFC broke into the global debt markets by issuing $1.8 billion in new loans and bonds in 2021, including a $250 million tier-2 capital loan from the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation and $750 million seven-year Eurobond-Notes due 2028 that were priced at 175 basis points (bps) over US Treasuries to yield 2.991 per cent.
