he African Trade & Investment Development Insurance (ATIDI), a leading pan African multilateral Insurer, announced the issuance of a portfolio counter guarantee cover valued at USD41 million to InfraCredit, a AAA-rated specialized infrastructure credit guarantee institution in Nigeria that provides local currency guarantees aimed at enhancing credit quality of debt instruments issued to finance creditworthy infrastructure assets in Nigeria. This move underscores ATIDI’s commitment to bolstering infrastructure financing initiatives in Africa’s largest economy.
Commenting on ATIDI’s commitment to supporting risk mitigating associated with infrastructure financing ATIDI CEO Manuel Moses said the move was vital incatalyzing investment and fostering development in a vital sector.
“The portfolio counter guarantee provides a vital layer of protection, instilling confidence among investors and stakeholders while enabling InfraCredit to expand its reach and impact in facilitating access to affordable financing for critical infrastructure projects nationwide. This collaborative effort underscores the shared vision of ATIDI and InfraCredit in driving sustainable growth, enhancing resilience, and advancing Nigeria’s infrastructure development agenda,” Mr. Manuel said.
ATIDI’s portfolio counter guarantee cover reinforces its role as a key player in mitigating risk and catalyzing investment in critical infrastructure projects across the country. This collaborative effort between ATIDI and InfraCredit signifies not only a significant milestone in promoting sustainable economic development and fostering resilience within Nigeria’s infrastructure sector, but will also directly support development of Nigeria’ s capital and debt markets, by enabling issuance of local currency guarantees and catalyzing investment interest from pension funds, insurance firms and other long-term investors.
Nigeria, an African economic powerhouse and home to a vibrant private sector, stands poised for significant strides in infrastructure development and economic growth. The partnership between ATIDI and InfraCredit will strengthen the country’s infrastructure financing landscape. By leveraging ATIDI’s insurance expertise and InfraCredit’s proven track record in infrastructure credit enhancement, the partnership aims to unlock capital and facilitate access to affordable financing for critical infrastructure projects across the country.
“We are proud of the growth of our partnership with ATIDI, through this second risk sharing transaction, a first of its kind local currency portfolio counter-guarantee transaction, which will enhance InfraCredit’s capacity to issue more guarantees that will reduce the cost of capital and crowd in larger scale domestic credit, particularly from local pension funds and insurance investors to finance infrastructure development in Nigeria. Our partnership with ATIDI is a strong demonstration of the vital role multilaterals can play to help borrowing countries’ debt levels remain sustainable, by leveraging their balance sheets as risk sharing partners working alongside local institutions, to mobilise domestic resources from the private sector to finance infrastructure development in local currency whilst deepening domestic debt capital markets for sustainable development,”CEO, InfraCredit CEO Chinua Azubike said.
Nigeria joined ATIDI in 2019. The country’s membership in ATIDI, further amplifies not only the benefits of ATIDI’s insurance support, boosting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and cross-border trade but also enhancing the country’s economic growth and stability. Since inception, ATIDI’s portfolio represents a total gross exposure of over USD 1.3Bn, unlocking investment and trade volume amounting to over USD 16Bn in the sectors of Energy and Gas, Finance & Insurance, Construction, Agriculture, Information and Communication and Mining and Quarrying.
