AfDB Invests $20m fund to develop infrastructure in West Africa
The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank, AfDB,
has approved a $20 million equity investment in ARM-Harith
Infrastructure Fund, ARMHIF.
ARMHIF is a new infrastructure private equity fund based in
Nigeria with a targeted fund size of $250 million.
Analysts said the lack of efficient infrastructure is a
major obstacle to doing business in West Africa, and that better infrastructure
in the region would create an enabling environment for economic growth by
competitiveness of local production, promoting foreign direct investments and
facilitating trade.
The fund was created because the level of investment
required for infrastructure development was far in excess of public and donor
resources.
It will invest, through equity, in assets across a range
infrastructure sectors including energy, transport, ICT, water and utilities across
West Africa.
ARMHIF is sponsored by Asset and Resource Management Company
Ltd, ARM, a leading Nigerian non-bank financial services company established in
1994 and currently managing over $2.7 billion of assets.
ARM has formed a partnership with Harith General Partners
(Harith), an experienced infrastructure investment manager on the continent to
manage the Fund.
Harith already manages the $630 million Pan African
Infrastructure Development Fund, PAIDF.
AfDB said its support to ARMHIF would catalyse further
resources necessary to develop infrastructure projects.
``The Bank’s support to ARMHIF will contribute toward the
delivery of modern and reliable infrastructure that will reduce the cost of
doing business and enhance the region’s competitiveness,” said Mouhamadou
Niang, Acting Director of the AfDB’s private sector department.
Also commenting on the Fund, Opuiyo Oforiokuma, Managing
Director, ARM Infrastructure, said: ``We are very pleased to have an institution
of the calibre of the AfDB as an anchor investor in our new fund.
``AfDB has been instrumental in attracting the interest of
other investors, including Nigerian Pension Funds, a sector that has a
significant role to play in providing long term capital for funding
infrastructure development in Nigeria and beyond.
``We see tremendous infrastructure investment opportunities
throughout West Africa. Having the equity capital to deploy is an important
part of the equation,’’ Oforiokuma said.
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