(Ecofin Agency) – This financing from two majority shareholders of Arise IIP should allow it to pursue its projects aimed at promoting intra- and extra-African trade, job creation and economic growth in Africa.
The industrial ecosystem developer Arise Integrated Industrial Platforms (Arise IIP) has just obtained $443 million in funding from two of its majority shareholders, the Fund for African Export Development (FEDA), the arm of impact investment from the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), and the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC), one of the continent’s leading infrastructure solutions providers. The announcement was made in a press release made public on Wednesday October 2, 2024 by Arise IIP.
This funding includes $300 million from FEDA and $143 million from AFC. This allows the two shareholders to increase their stake in the capital of Arise IIP. So, “Arise IIP’s total capital now exceeds US$1 billion, with majority ownership from AFC, followed by Afreximbank FEDA and Equitane as key shareholders”. Note that Equitane succeeds the ATIF fund (Africa Transformation and Industrialization Fund) in the shareholding of Arise IIP.
“The capital increase will give Arise IIP the financial strength necessary to drive the industrialization of Africa, promote intra- and extra-African trade, job creation and general economic growth of our continent”said Benedict Okey Oramah, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Afreximbank.
This investment is expected to boost Arise IIP’s expansion and operational efficiency across its portfolio of 12 countries including Malawi, Cameroon, Sierra Leone, Benin, Togo, Ivory Coast, Rwanda, Gabon, Congo, Chad, DRC and Nigeria. Furthermore, these funds should allow it to continue its project of developing industrial parks and special economic zones in several countries.
This financing is another tranche of a $1 billion global investment line that Afreximbank has committed to providing to Arise IIP for its expansion in Africa. The first tranche, amounting to $400 million, was made available to the industrialist in June 2023. In total, the pan-African bank has invested around $2 billion in its 12-year relationship to support the Arise IIP investments across Africa, the statement said.
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