Zambia has become the first Southern African member country of Africa Finance Corporation (AFC), a leading development finance institution for infrastructure in Africa. The accession of Zambia to AFC membership marks a significant milestone in the Corporation’s mission to address Africa’s infrastructure needs and build the foundation for robust economic development across the continent.
To date the Corporation has invested USD4.5 billion in projects across 28 African countries and in a wide range of sectors including power, telecommunications, transport and logistics, natural resources, and heavy industries.
Zambia’s membership accession supports AFC’s membership expansion strategy and the continued alignment of its country membership with its operational footprint. Zambia, which signed its letter of adherence on October 11, 2017 becomes the 16th member country of AFC. AFC’s other members are: Nigeria, Guinea Bissau, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Gambia, Liberia, Guinea, Chad, Cape Verde, Gabon, Côte d’Ivoire, Rwanda, Uganda, Djibouti and Kenya.
AFC already has a large presence in Zambia. To date, the Corporation has invested over USD150million in various projects in the power and downstream oil sectors. The Corporation has also provided trade finance to the Ministry of Finance for the importation of co-mingled oil products for refining into refined petroleum products.
Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) is a pan-African multilateral development finance institution established in 2007 to bridge Africa’s infrastructure investment gap through the provision of debt and equity finance, project development, technical and financial advisory services.
AFC finances infrastructure projects in Africa, focusing in particular on power, transportation, telecommunications, heavy industry and natural resources (oil, gas and mining).
AFC is majority-owned by private investors, the bulk of which are African financial institutions, which own 47.6% of the corporation. A further 42.5% is owned by the Central Bank of Nigeria. AFC’s fourteen members, in order of accession, are Nigeria, Guinea Bissau, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Gambia, Liberia, Guinea, Chad, Cape Verde, Gabon, Côte d’Ivoire, Rwanda, Uganda, Djibouti and Kenya.
