Pan-African investment platform- Africa50, on Tuesday said it has invested in the Nigerian power sector, by injecting funds into the 461 megawatts Azura-Edo IPP in Nigeria.

The investment, it said in a statement, complements the earlier investment by Africa50 in the Senegalese Tobene Power Plant, which joined the Azura fleet last month, bringing total invested in several key infrastructure projects across the continent to over 1,000MW of capacity.

A statement by the investors quoted Raza Hasnani, Head of Infrastructure Investments at Africa50 as expressing excitement at investing “in a mission-critical asset within the Nigerian power market. We have a strong institutional commitment to mobilizing capital for key African infrastructure assets, and look forward to creating value as a shareholder of the Azura-Edo IPP.”

Edu Okeke, Managing Director of the Azura-Edo IPP expressed delight “to have Africa50 as an investor in our Azura-Edo power plant. To have the governments of 28 sovereign African states invest in one’s business is a fantastic endorsement; and an incentive for us to keep doing better.”

Adrian Mucalov, Partner at Actis (the majority shareholder in Azura Power Holdings), added “We have invested over US$1billion across Africa in the electricity sector- we are deeply committed to the continent. We take our responsibility to the countries, cities, and communities in which we operate extremely seriously; and we are excited to be investing in this world-class business that is already directly contributing to the economic growth of Nigeria.”