Cameroon gas project wins syndicated loan
Kribi Power Development Company has won a €138mn (US$176mn) syndicated loan with six international and development banks to construct a natural gas-fired power plant in Cameroon.
The banks involved in the deal are African Development Bank (AfDB), the Netherlands Development Finance Company, the French Promotion and Investment Company for Economic Cooperation, the Central African Development Bank and the IFC. The IFC will contribute a €60mn direct loan.
An additional bank syndicate led by Standard Chartered, and including Afriland First Bank, Banque Internationale du Cameroun, SCB Cameroun and Société Générale, will provide an additional €60mn, the IFC tells GTR.
The European Investment Bank has also joined the deal and is expected to finalise its commitment to the project shortly.
The International Development Association is backing the transaction with a partial risk guarantee to facilitate Cameroon’s first long-term, local currency loan for infrastructure.
The €263mn Kribi power project, consisting of a 216 megawatt natural gas-fired power plant and a 100 kilometre 225 kilovolt double circuit transmission line, will be implemented as a public-private partnership between the government of Cameroon and the AES Corporation, which own 44% and 56% of the company respectively.
Thierry Tanoh, IFC vice-president for Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and Western Europe, says: “IFC has a long-standing commitment to Cameroon’s power sector, first as an advisor to the government in the privatisation of the country’s integrated electric utility, and subsequently as a lead lender in two power transactions. As one of the few independent power projects in Africa, Kribi will serve as an example of public-private partnerships in the region.”
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