Africa50, a pan-African investment platform, has announced its investment in the 461-megawatt Azura-Edo IPP in Nigeria.
According to a statement, this investment in the Nigerian power sector complements the earlier investment by Africa50 in the Senegalese Tobene Power Plant, which joined the Azura fleet last month.
It said Africa50 brought significant power generation experience, having invested in several key infrastructure projects across the continent representing over 1,000MW of capacity.
The Head of Infrastructure Investments at Africa50, Raza Hasnani, said, “We are excited to invest in a mission-critical asset within the Nigerian power market. We have a strong institutional commitment to mobilising capital for key African infrastructure assets, and look forward to creating value as a shareholder of the Azura-Edo IPP.”
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The Managing Director, Azura-Edo IPP, Edu Okeke, said, “We are delighted to have Africa50 as an investor in our Azura-Edo power plant. To have the governments of 28 sovereign African states invest in one’s business is a fantastic endorsement; and an incentive for us to keep doing better.”
Adrian Mucalov, Partner at Actis (the majority shareholder in Azura Power Holdings), said the firm had invested over $1bn across Africa in the electricity sector.
“We are deeply committed to the continent. We take our responsibility to the countries, cities and communities in which we operate extremely seriously; and we are excited to be investing in this world-class business that is already directly contributing to the economic growth of Nigeria,” Mucalov added.
According to the statement, Azura has a strong presence in West Africa where it is the founder and majority owner of Nigeria’s first privately financed IPP, a 461MW IPP, operating near Benin City in Edo State.