AFC and Harith merge assets to bring power to Africa

On a continent where more than 620 million people live without electricity, this robust partnership has been formed to lead the way in power generation, and the integrated management of power infrastructure assets to deliver the requisite base load generation capacity to drive and accelerate growth in African economies.

The joint venture's near term portfolio supplies reliable energy to over 30 million people in at least 10 African countries and has a combined gross operational and under-construction capacity of 1,575 MW.

The joint venture will merge the AFC's interests in Cenpower, owner of the Kpone Independent Power Project under construction in Ghana, and Cabeolica, a wind farm that provides 20% of Cape Verde's energy needs, with those of the Pan Africa Infrastructure Development Fund (PAIDF) which is managed by Harith. These include the Azura Edo IPP in Nigeria, the Lake Turkana Wind Power in Kenya, Kelvin Power Station in South Africa and the Rabai Thermal project in Kenya. Collectively this portfolio represents some of the largest projects in Africa's energy sector.

The new venture will be in a position to develop and finance projects through corporate finance transactions and project finance, significantly reducing the lead time to bringing power projects to fruition. It will also have the benefit of a team of dedicated advisers that bring a wealth of development and operational experience in the African power sector.

Andrew Alli, President and CEO of AFC, commented on the launch: “We are delighted to be announcing this partnership with Harith. Our new joint venture will make an invaluable contribution to improving generation capacity in countries across the length and breadth of Africa and by working together we can deliver tangible benefit for Africans, switching their lights on and stimulating positive economic growth on the continent.

“Power is one of AFC's priority sectors and we dedicate considerable time and resources to driving development here. Our total investments in energy amount to over $350 million and we were the first private sector institution to hit our target under President Obama's Power Africa initiative, with total direct investments of $269 million and $1.2 billion of mobilised third party investments,”

Tshepo Mahloele, CEO of Harith and Chairman of Aldwych, said: “The purpose of the proposed merger is to combine the assets of Aldwych and AFC so as to create an African power entity that will have substantial capital, sector specific experience, a critical mass of existing assets and a pipeline of credible power projects.

“This will enable the joint venture to expeditiously develop quality, cost reflective yet profitable power projects that will benefit Africans – both power users and investors alike. The timing could not have been better as the power sector in Africa presents very attractive investment opportunities and the growth in this sector is expected to continue exponentially. Needless to say, the positive developmental impact of electricity to our communities will be enormous and welcomed,” says Mahloele.

Mahloele also said: “Through our London based IPP company, Aldwych – which has a long history of international power industry experience – Harith has a proven track record of successfully spearheading, developing and managing signature assets within the energy sector in Sub Saharan Africa. We are proud to be taking this further through our new energy venture and see huge potential for both this vehicle, and our partnership with AFC, to grow and flourish in the future.”

As a result of this merger, some of the largest and best structured renewable and conventional electricity projects in Africa during the last decade will now be held within one consolidated joint venture, alongside the requisite development experience, pipeline, expertise and equity capital for similar future projects.