German insurer Allianz has joined the existing investors of an African infrastructure fund, managed by Investec Asset Management (IAM), to raise $385m (€312m).
In the latest fundraising round, the Emerging Africa Infrastructure Fund (EAIF) will receive €75m and $25m financing over 12 years from its first commercial institutional investor Allianz.
As a returning lender to EAIF, the African Development Bank (AfDB) is providing a total of $75m over ten years.
EAIF’s fundraising was also backed by existing lenders including Standard Chartered Bank, which is increasing and extending its existing lending to $50m.
Others are the German development bank KFW, which is contributing $50m and €75m, both over 12 years, and Dutch development finance institution FMO is lending $50m over 10 years.
The new funds will be used over the next five years to continue EAIF’s core strategy of mobilising private sector capital for investment in infrastructure projects, mainly in fragile states.
In May 2016, IAM was appointed to manage EAIF.
EAIF is part of the Private Infrastructure Development Group (PIDG), a donor-backed organisation that encourages private sector infrastructure investment in the world’s lowest-income countries.
Sebastian Schroff, the global head of private debt at Allianz Investment Management, said: “We believe in Africa’s growth potential and will invest across different asset classes across the continent.
“The partnership with EAIF and IAM is an important contribution to this initiative and illustrates how to create attractive risk and return profiles with the necessary downside protection for our policyholders.”
Nazmeera Moola, the head of EAIF at IAM, said: “Bringing the vision and support of a lender of Allianz’s calibre on board represents a milestone in terms of mobilising private capital into infrastructure projects across the continent.”
EAIF ended 2017 with ten new transactions signed, representing $200m in loan commitments and bringing EAIF’s committed loan portfolio to $750m.
