The Fund for Export Development in Africa (FEDA) has announced a US$85million investment into ARISE Integrated Industrial Platforms (ARISE IIP), the pan-African infrastructure developer and operator.
This deal demonstrates the confidence of FEDA in ARISE IIP’s development strategy.
The investment agreement was concluded on 16 November 2022 in London, between Marlène Ngoyi, CEO-FEDA, and Gagan Gupta, Founder and CEO-ARISE IIP.
With this investment, FEDA confirms its commitment to support Africa’s industrialisation and economic development, while ensuring environmental sustainability. The transaction will support ARISE IIP’s ambition to provide tailor-made industrial ecosystems across Africa and improve the manufacturing industry’s competitiveness.
The Fund for Export Development in Africa (FEDA) is a US$670million fund (First Close) with the ambition to raise a total of US$1.3billion over the coming months. FEDA is the development impact investment platform of African Export Import Bank (AFREXIMBANK), a long-standing partner of Arise IIP. With this investment, FEDA joins AFC, ARISE IIP’s controlling shareholder, to support the company’s development strategy.
ARISE IIP has recently accelerated its expansion across Africa with the signing of four new agreements this year alone to develop five special economic zones across 5 countries. These include:
- A framework agreement signed with the Government of Rwanda for the development of an industrial zone in the Bugesera district (September 8th 2022).
- A framework agreement signed with the Democratic Republic of the Congo for the development of the Kin-Malebo industrial zone (September 16th 2022).
- A framework agreement signed with the Republic of Congo for the development of the industrial zones of Pointe-Noire and Oyo (October 6th 2022).
- A funding agreement signed with the Republic of Chad for the development of seven economic zones across the country (November 5th 2022).
- A binding agreement signed with the State of Ogun of Nigeria for the development of the Remo Economic Industrial Cluster (November 7th 2022).
For the past few years ARISE IIP has experienced a remarkable expansion across Africa, with over a dozen integrated industrial zones currently accelerating the continent’s industrialisation.
Marlène Ngoyi, CEO-FEDA, commented: “Our investment in ARISE IIP demonstrates FEDA’s ability to invest in opportunities that will drive the structural transformation of trade on the continent. ARISE IIP is a key player that supports Africa’s local manufacturing and trade with the rest of the world. It echoes the FEDA’s DNA to provide equity capital with a focus on delivering development impact in diverse sectors of Africa which are critical to driving intra-African trade and value-added export development”.
Prof. Benedict Oramah, President and Chairman-Afreximbank said: “We are very pleased with this fundraising, which marks a critical step to support ARISE IIP’s rapid growth in Africa; and more broadly to advance Africa’s industrialisation”.
Samaila Zubairu, Chairman of ARISE IIP’s board, also welcomed the announcement: “We are thrilled with this key fundraising for ARISE IIP. Our trusted partner has a proven track record of delivering large-scale projects across Africa, and we are confident in their ability to generate added value for African countries’ economies”.
