The Africa Finance Corporation (AFC), a finance organization in Africa, has won the “Middle East&Africa Deal of the Year.”
They got this award at the just concluded Project Finance International (PFI) 2023 awards in London.
The PFI awards are famous for recognizing and honoring great achievements in finance projects around the world.
AFC won since they successfully bought Lekela Power B.V. (Lekela), which is the biggest wind power platform in Africa.
This was alongside partners like Infinity WorldWide, Masdar, a renewable energy company from the United Arab Emirates, and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).
AFC also won the award because they came up with a smart way to finance the acquisition of Lekela.
They used different types of money tools, like equity and quasi equity, for the investment. Now, Infinity Power is the biggest renewable energy company in Africa.
Infinity Power has working projects in South Africa, Egypt, and Senegal, with a big plan for even more projects in the future.
They are making a huge impact by avoiding a lot of carbon dioxide emissions, producing a ton of clean energy, and powering many homes.
The United Nations even recognizes them as a leader in sustainability and climate efforts. In 2021, they were ranked first out of 672 global utilities for their environmental, social, and governance practices.
Read Also:Washington, D.C . Gears Up for 9th Powering Africa Summit: Uniting Energy Thought Leaders
AFC Commitment to Sustainable Energy Solutions and Global Recognition
Looking ahead, Infinity Power has big goals to triple how much energy they generate in the next four years. While giving his remarks on the award, Sameh Shenouda, AFC’s Chief Investment Officer, said,
“We are honored and grateful to receive this prestigious award on behalf of AFC and all our partners.
“It is a testament to our commitment to address Africa’s energy crisis in a sustainable and climate responsible manner.
“Our investment in Infinity and acquisition of Lekela Power is one of our many transformational projects that accelerates Africa’s instrumental role in the global energy transition.
“As a result, this contributes significantly to value addition, job creation, industrialisation and economic growth on the continent.”
AFC has been focused on fixing Africa’s energy problem since its inception in 2007. They have been careful about how they do it, making sure it helps Africa develop in a positive way.
So far, AFC has helped finance more than 3,000 megawatts of power generation. They own parts of power plants that make up 1,400 megawatts, and all of it comes from renewable energy sources like wind and solar power.
AFC’s successful purchase of Lekela is a big deal. It comes after they helped Djibouti open its first wind farm.
Djibouti wants to be the first African country to get all its electricity from renewable sources by 2035 and AFC is playing a big role in making that happen.