African Development Bank supports indigenous power investors

folarin okunola

May 14, 2015 1:33 PM

The company seeks to acquire and develop transmission and distribution assets all over sub-Saharan Africa, including complimentary greenfield projects.

President of the African Development Bank, Donald Kaberuka.

The board of directors of the African Development Bank (AfDB) have approved a $50 million investment in CEC Africa Investments Limited, a multinational power company headquartered in Nigeria and Zambia.

The company seeks to acquire and develop transmission and distribution assets all over sub-Saharan Africa, including complimentary greenfield projects.

CECA aims to reduce electricity losses by investing across the energy value chain (generation, transmission and distribution) while improving the overall economics in the power sector.

The company has already invested in two power operating companies in Nigeria: Abuja Electricity Distribution Company and North South Power, a company which holds a 30-year concession on the 600 MW Shiroro Hydro Power Plant, both of which CECA acquired during the recent Nigerian Power Sector Privatization Program.

To add to that, CECA already has a number pf greenfield power projects under active development in the south and west region of the continent, as well as a reserve pipeline that spans east and central Africa.

CECA, through these investments, hopes to become the continents leading power and utility company, thereby speeding up additional private sector participation in Africa’s energy markets.

The company is also targeting a $500 million market capitalization in the next 3-5 years. So far, CECA has been capitalized in excess of $100 million by parent company CEC Plc, a publicly traded private utility company with a 50-year background in both Zambia and the DRC.

Through its investment, the African Development Bank is acting as anchor investor and strategic partner, helping to shape CECA’s policies and strategies, while catalyzing additional private sector funding into Africa’s power sector.

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