- Firm Invests $300m in Azura Power Project
An African-focused principal investment firm, Amaya Capital, has announced the commitment of over $300m in its power generation platform.
It said the new investment followed the acquisition of American Capital Energy and Infrastructure’s stake in Azura Power Holdings Limited by a growth market investor, Actis.
According to a statement, this transaction, and the consequent expansion of Azura’s capital base, now allows the business to scale up its pan-African power generation capacity to a target of over 3,000 megawatts.
It noted that the World Bank estimated that as many as 600 million of Africa’s one billion people lacked access to electricity, saying the Azura platform was aimed at ameliorating the acute shortage of power on the continent with a primary focus on gas-to-power assets.
This, it stated, was in addition to the development of renewable projects within Nigeria.
The Azura platform is anchored on the Azura-Edo IPP, a 1,500MW power station complex located in Edo State, which is being developed in three phases with the first (459MW) phase currently under construction, according to the statement.
Azura’s Nigerian investments also included a controlling stake in the 125MW gridscale ‘Nova Solar’ project under development in Katsina State, the company said.
The statement said outside of Nigeria, the entry of Actis into the Azura platform had triggered significant deal flow in other sub-Saharan countries.
The Head, Actis Energy Fund, Mikael Karlsson, said, “With rapidly growing populations and economies, increasing urbanisation and industrial and manufacturing growth, there is a compounding demand for the supply of electricity in Africa.
“The opportunity for private investment is vast, as local governments are becoming more supportive, and international initiatives are underway, enabling the thousands of megawatts of generation capacity required in the region for sustainable economic development and job creation.”
Karlsson said the company was excited to collaborate with Amaya and described as impressive the reputation of its team as well as its vision of delivering power in Nigeria and across the continent.
The Co-founder of Azura, David Ladipo, and the Co-founder of Amaya Capital, Sundeep Bahanda, were quoted to have expressed delight to be part of Actis, which they noted as possessing a wealth of talents, experience, substantial capital and proven credentials in building power generation platforms in Africa.