Africa Finance Corporation (AFC), the continent’s leading infrastructure solutions provider, has raised a bicurrency Samurai Tam Loan Facility valued at $524 million to further its mission of driving sustainable development through critical infrastructure investments across Africa.
This was revealed in a company statement seen by Technext. The transaction is AFC’s largest Samurai loan to date and strengthens the company’s expansion in Japan’s capital markets as investors’ confidence in its credit fundamentals increases, according to a statement.
The three-year syndicated facility, valued at $505 million and 3 billion yen, was oversubscribed due to strong demand from Japanese lenders.
“Japan continues to be an important and strategic market for AFC. The strong support from Japanese financial institutions in our latest Samurai Loan confirms the depth of their confidence in AFC and the trust we have built with our investors over the past few years.”
The success of this transaction strengthens our capital base and expands our reach to investors around the world as we continue to mobilize capital to address Africa’s infrastructure deficit,” said Banji Fehintra, AFC Director and Head of Financial Services.
The company says its strong traction in Japan has been supported by a series of milestones. This includes the debut Samurai loan in 2019, the 2023 guarantee of the Arab Republic of Egypt’s 75 billion yen Samurai bond, and the assignment of an A+ (stable) long-term issuer credit rating by the Japan Credit Rating Agency (JCR) earlier this year.
However, the 2022 Samurai quota worth $419 million ($412 million, 1 billion yen) matured in October 2025 and was fully repaid by AFC.
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African Finance Corporation’s investments in African countries
Since its founding in 2007, African Finance Corporation (AFC) has significantly expanded its influence and investment reach across Africa by strategically deploying capital into high-impact infrastructure projects.
Its strategy includes entering new markets by funding catalytic, revenue-generating projects that support regional integration and industrialization. Sovereign membership has steadily expanded to 47 African countries, with an increasingly widening geographical spread across the continent.
In recent years, the continued accession of new member states such as Benin, Botswana, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Somalia has given the Corporation diplomatic immunity and facilitated its on-the-ground involvement in these major economies.
In Ghana, AFC acted as lead developer and investor in the $900 million Kpone Independent Power Project (Kpone IPP) from 2014 to 2015, establishing a major 350MW gas turbine and substation to augment the country’s power infrastructure.
In Côte d’Ivoire, AFC has been investing in both transport and power since the early 2010s, particularly through financing the Henri Konan Bedi Bridge in Abidjan and subsequently supporting the construction of the 44MW Singlovo hydropower plant.
In its home country of Nigeria, AFC provided a significant $170 million loan (circa 2013) for the acquisition and operation of the 1,338 MW Kainji hydropower plant, alongside other cornerstone investments in the oil and gas and telecommunications sectors. It also pledged over N500 million to the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Private Sector Coalition in response to the coronavirus.
Its reach extends to smaller economies such as Benin and Togo, where, through cooperation with ARISE IIP, it provides major funding for the development of special economic zones and ports, with the aim of promoting industrial exports.
Looking east, AFC has focused on sustainable power projects. In Djibouti, AFC became lead developer of the 60MW Djibouti wind project in the 2020s, aiming to support the country’s goal of achieving 100% renewable energy generation.
In Rwanda, the company invested in the 80MW Hakan Quantum peat power plant to diversify the country’s energy mix. To strengthen regional connectivity, the company funded Ethiopian Airlines’ expansion into Ethiopia and invested in upgrading Kenya’s electricity transmission and distribution network through the KPLC infrastructure expansion.
Expansion into Southern Africa has seen investments across the natural resources and transport sectors. In Botswana, AFC provided a $44 million senior debt investment to Lucara Botswana Ltd. for the expansion of the Karowe Diamond Mine, a major resource project. In South Africa, we have invested in critical transport infrastructure, such as the Bakwena Toll Road, to improve logistics efficiency.
AFC also plays a role in the strategic resources sector of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), providing a $40 million investment for the construction of the Etoile copper and cobalt mine.
Our cumulative investments and expenditures have increased significantly. Since its founding, AFC has invested more than $17 billion in infrastructure projects in 36 African countries.
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