Export Finance Australia has approved a US$100mn debt facility for the Emerging Africa & Asia Infrastructure Fund (EAAIF), supporting the fund’s expansion into South and Southeast Asia and aiming to boost investment in sustainable infrastructure.
EAAIF is a blended finance vehicle backed by several European governments and managed by global investment manager Ninety One. The deal will reinforce EAAIF’s expansion into Asia and plans to mobilise financing for sectors such as solar energy, digital communications infrastructure and sustainable transport solutions, the fund says in a July 29 statement.
The move comes amid a push by Export Finance Australia (EFA) to support quality infrastructure in the Pacific and Indo-Pacific, with the government having passed legislation in 2019 allowing greater use of untied financing in the region.
John Hopkins, EFA’s managing director and CEO, says the deal will crowd in private capital and help close the region’s infrastructure financing gap.
“Our investment in EAAIF enables us to support a diverse pipeline of renewable energy and infrastructure projects while partnering with a proven fund manager and a globally recognised development finance platform,” he adds.
Ninety One says the partnership with Australia’s export credit agency will enable access to “high-growth markets” through a blended finance vehicle.
“By collaborating domestically, we are able to deliver resilient, climate-smart infrastructure to some of the fastest-growing yet underserved markets – bridging the financing gap and creating opportunities for people, communities and ambitious businesses across the region,” the firm adds.
Financing was made possible after the fund expanded its geographic mandate to include South and Southeast Asia last year, “aligning with Australia’s trade and investment priorities”, EFA adds.
EAAIF was launched in 2001 after receiving equity capital worth US$396mn from the UK, Switzerland, Netherlands and Sweden, and has since raised over US$2bn of debt facilities from private and public lenders.
The fund works to deploy public and private capital to infrastructure in Africa, the Middle East and the Asia Pacific, offering various debt products on commercial terms to infrastructure developers.
Owned by the Private Infrastructure Development Group (PIDG), the fund has financed over 130 projects and currently has a committed loan portfolio of US$1.6bn.
