InfraCredit, a specialised infrastructure credit guarantee institution, backed by the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA), private infrastructure development
group companies- GuarantCo and InfraCo Africa, KfW Development Bank, Africa Finance Corporation and African Development Bank (AfDB) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding with U.S. Trade and Development Agency to bring high-quality U.S. infrastructure solutions to Nigeria.
Sectors of cooperation highlighted in the agreement include clean energy, information and communications technology, transportation, agribusiness and healthcare infrastructure.
Under the terms of the MoU, USTDA and InfraCredit will collaborate to identify beneficial infrastructure projects from the point of project preparation funding and subsequent credit enhancements.
Specifically, sectors of cooperation highlighted in the MoU include clean energy, information and communications technology, transportation, agribusiness and healthcare infrastructure.
The collaboration, InfraCredit said in a statement, will facilitate the development of bankable infrastructure projects highlighting U.S.- based solutions and bring them to market for InfraCredit’s investment-catalyzing guarantees.
Commenting on the agreement in a joint statement, Enoh T. Ebong, USTDA’s Acting
Director, noted that “the foundation of any strong partnership consists of trust, mutual respect and collective prosperity. These principles are central to our relationship with InfraCredit.”
The USTDA’s three decades of project preparation expertise is an excellent complement to InfraCredit’s financial guarantees, he said, adding that under the partnership, “we will leverage each other’s resources to overcome many of the constraints that inhibit the bankability of infrastructure investments in Nigeria.”
Under the terms of the MOU, USTDA and InfraCredit will work together to identify infrastructure projects that could benefit from project preparation funding and subsequent credit enhancements.
“This collaboration will facilitate the development of bankable infrastructure projects highlighting U.S.- based solutions and bring them to market for InfraCredit’s investment-catalyzing guarantees.
Also commenting on the deal, Chinua Azubike, Chief Executive Officer of InfraCredit said “USTDA’s project preparation and partnership-building activities have supported InfraCredit in executing well-structured, bankable infrastructure projects that can access long term domestic institutional investments in Nigeria’s debt capital market.
“We believe this relationship is catalytic in strengthening local capacities and promoting domestic resource mobilization for infrastructure finance in Nigeria,” he added.
Currently, USTDA and InfraCredit are collaborating with Nigeria’s Hotspot Network Limited on the deployment of up to 2,000 cellular base stations that would expand digital connectivity in rural Nigeria.
A USTDA-funded feasibility study on the project, the statement added, is currently underway for InfraCredit’s financial guarantee.
Since 1992, USTDA has funded nearly 80 project preparation activities in Nigeria.
