The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has signed a USD 50 million term loan facility with Geometric Bank Limited for the Aba Integrated Power Project in Nigeria.
The facility provided by Afreximbank to Geometric Power Limited will finance the initial capital required to acquire rights to the Aba Ring Fenced Area. It will also support the completion of remaining works and the commissioning and commencement of operations of the Aba Integrated Power project in Southeastern Nigeria.
In this connection, Afreximbank successfully completed its Advisory and Capital Raise Mandate for the Aba Integrated Power Project (IPP). The Bank advised projects sponsors Geometric Power on restructuring and arranging gap capital in the USD 332m recapitalisation funds for the Aba IPP Power Project.
The Aba Integrated Power Project is a fully integrated generation and distribution utility located in Osisioma local government area in Aba city, Abia State in Nigeria. It is comprised of a gas-fired embedded power plant with General Electric Gas Turbines, with an initial capacity of 141MW, to be upgraded to its licensed 188MW capacity. The power plant will be owned and operated by the generation arm of the utility, Geometric Power Aba Limited.
The distribution arm will be operated by APL Electric Company Limited and has state of the art infrastructure to curb any loss, including overhead lines and substations. Geometric Power Aba Limited also has a 27km dedicated gas pipeline and related facilities to provide reliable power at all times to its franchise area. The project has exclusive rights to supply power within a 4000km2 area, covering 9 out of the State’s 17 local government areas.
Prof Benedict Oramah, President of Afreximbank said they are proud to be part of this milestone achievement by having resolved this recapitalisation and financing. “In line with the Bank’s 5th Strategic Plan and in particular the strategic pillars related to financing, industrialisation and export development, the commissioning of the Aba Integrated Power Project embodies Afreximbank’s objectives in many dimensions and could possibly be a tipping point towards the industrialisation of Nigeria through stable power supply.”
The Abia State Governor in his remarks stated that the Aba IPP project will transform the economy of Abia State and will be critical to the success of the Enyimba Economic City project in the state. It will ensure that the over 250,000 SMEs in the state who export their projects will have reliable electricity supply to enable them to standardise their products and reduce their cost of operations.