African contractors recently formalised business deals totalling over $370 million at the African ExportImport Bank (Afreximbank) Intra-African Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) workshop held in Lagos.
The deals included a $300-million global facility agreement to Hassan Allam of Egypt, a $45-million term sheet to Pavifort Construction of Sierra Leone and a $25-million term sheet to Afric Cement of Burkina Faso.
Organised to help address the significant gap in Africa’s infrastructure spending, currently standing at over $100 billion annually, which is traditionally awarded to non-African contractors, the workshop brought together key stakeholders to explore transformative solutions to empower African contractors to compete for and secure largescale projects within the continent.
Addressing the participants, Ayman El-Zoghby, Director, Trade and Corporate Finance Unit in Afreximbank’s Intra-African Trade Bank, said that the bank was actively working to address the infrastructure gap by empowering local contractors to take more prominent roles in large-scale projects.
He said Afreximbank had launched the Afreximbank-EPC Tenders Platform to connect contractors with project opportunities while offering them critical financial support throughout project lifecycles.
According to Mr. El-Zogby, Afreximbank is dedicated to enhancing local content through skills development, technology transfer and fostering of partnerships between African and international firms as an essential step for strengthening Africa’s contractor base and achieving long-term, self-sustained infrastructure growth. Mr. Moctar Mando, Chairman, COGEB Group International, said: “I am grateful to Afreximbank for their trust and support.
This signing marks a significant milestone for COGEB Group International in its diversification strategy, centred on complementary activities. “This financing is dedicated entirely to the construction of the AFRIC CEMENTS cement plant which will help strengthen my Group’s leadership within its ecosystem.”
Mr. Alimu Sanu Barrie, Chief Executive Officer Pavifort Al Associates said: “The EPC Workshop empowered us to appreciate the challenges indigenous African companies face and Afreximbank’s interventions in solving these challenges through financing, capacity building and networking.
We are extremely grateful to the bank for the signed Term-Sheet of $45 million. The funds will boost the infrastructural and economic development of Sierra Leone and greatly enhance the capacity of our company.”
