South Africa’s Public Investment Corporation (PIC) has given formal notification to make a $100 million equity investment in multilateral financial institution, the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC), according to according to a report on Moneyweb’s website. The investment will be the PIC’s first such contribution to the Nigeria-headquartered AFC and will be used for the continent’s infrastructure and industrial development efforts.
According to the AFC, the PIC’s investment will afford it “co-investment opportunities and access to AFC’s formidable project development and risk-mitigated projects on the continent across the power, transport and logistics, natural resources, telecommunications and heavy industrial sectors.” “The PIC is delighted to partner with the AFC in the development, industrialisation and growth of the African continent. We are confident of the future prospect of this investment and its potential positive societal benefits,” PIC CIO, Kabelo Rikhotso, says in a statement.
“Our clients’ investment mandates allow us to invest in the rest of the African continent. We believe that this partnership will assist us to deliver on that mandate and to diversify our growing portfolio,” Rikhotso adds. AFC President and CEO Samaila Zubairu says the PIC’s equity investment is a “significant vote of confidence in AFC and connects us to a very important source of capital in Africa.” “African pension funds have a key role to play in financing the instrumental infrastructure urgently needed on the continent and we look forward to a long-term partnership for a prosperous African future,” Zubairu adds.