Azura Power Holdings Ltd, a Nigerian company, with an ambition to provide electricity to millions of people across Africa has said that it had raised $876 million for its power plant in Edo state, and that construction was set to commence.
According to reuters, Azura, along with its founder and majority shareholder Amaya Capital, said lenders for the independent power plant (IPP) in Edo state included Siemens Bank, Standard Bank, CDC and the International Finance Corporation, an arm of the World Bank.
“The $876 million transaction is the first of a new wave of project-financed greenfield IPPs currently being developed in Nigeria,” said Azura in a statement.
“The financing of the Azura-Edo IPP involves US$190 million of equity and US$686 million of debt from a consortium of local and international financiers,” it added.
Azura-Edo, is the company’s first IPP project, and it is a 450MW open cycle gas turbine power station and the first phase of a 1,500+MW power plant facility near Benin City, in Edo State, Nigeria.
The company also confirmed that it is developing the project with some joint equity partners including, Aldwych International, African Infrastructure Investment Managers and ARM Investment Management, three pre-eminent Pan-African infrastructure firms with significant experience in the power industry.
