JP Morgan, along with the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (Opic), has extended a US$100mn term loan facility to the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) to further support infrastructure development in Sub-Saharan Africa.

The facility sees JP Morgan provide US$25mn, with Opic providing US$75mn of the loan. A JP Morgan spokesperson confirms to GTR that the tenor for the bank’s tranche will be three years, and Opic’s tranche will be for 10 years.

Senior country officer for Sub-Saharan Africa for JP Morgan, Marc Hussey, confirms his bank is the first US financial institution to co-finance a loan to the AFC in partnership with Opic.

“We have created a strong template with this deal and we are hoping that, over time, we can replicate it,” Hussey tells GTR in an exclusive interview. “The loan will be used by the AFC to finance its project pipeline in this region of Africa.”

“We will leverage Opic’s and JP Morgan’s support to further the development of our infrastructure portfolio across Africa,” says AFC’s president and CEO, Andrew Alli, who adds that the AFC has signed credit facilities in excess of US$850mn, with both private and public partners, over the last 18 months.

“With an investment deficit of over US$40bn per annum over the next 10 years, a co-ordinated approach based on strong private and public sector partnerships is vital,” he says.

Established in 2007, the AFC has financed investments of approximately US$1.9bn across Africa over the last six years, focusing on core infrastructure sectors: power, natural resources, heavy industry, transport and telecommunications.

Commenting on her organisation’s participation, president and CEO of Opic, Elizabeth Littlefield, says: “Public resources alone cannot meet the demands in Africa’s power generation and infrastructure sectors.”

“We must engage the private sector. We’re enthusiastic about joining forces with JP Morgan and AFC to provide tailored financing to the development of these much-needed projects.”