Rawbank Invests in AFC to Boost Infrastructure Development in DRC and Central Africa

Africa Finance Corporation (AFC), the continent’s leading infrastructure solutions provider, has announced that it has received a new equity investment from Rawbank, one of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) leading banking and financial institutions. This equity injection is aligned with AFC’s strategy to mobilize African capital and diversify its capital base and underpins the Corporation’s mission to deliver pragmatic solutions to Africa’s significant infrastructure and industrialization requirements.

For almost two decades, AFC has been committed to driving Africa’s economic transformation and sustainable development, and these milestone equity investments not only strengthen the Corporation’s capital base but broaden its reach and impact across the continent. Rawbank’s equity investment follows the DRC Government’s capital injection into AFC in 2022, reflecting the Corporation’s growing footprint in Central Africa.

AFC has mobilised over US$200 million in investments in DRC across its key sectors of natural resources, power, transport, and heavy industries, holding an investment pipeline of over US$850 million in the near- to-medium term. The Corporation’s most recent transformational investments in-country include the joint development of a 200MW Solar farm alongside Sky Power Global; leading the development of the Lobito Corridor connecting the DRC and Zambia with global markets through Angola; and the joint development of a mass transit in Kinshasa to improve mobility across the DRC with Trans Connexion Congo (TCC).

Rawbank’s investment in AFC is a crucial step for our bank and for the Democratic Republic of Congo as a whole. It is an important step for us as our first equity investment in a multilateral financial institution, and we are confident that it will strengthen our bank’s financial capabilities, enabling us to finance large-scale projects that can transform the DRC’s economic landscape. We are proud to be associated with an institution that shares our vision of growth and sustainability.

Mustafa Rawji, CEO, Rawbank

With our shared passion to elevate Africa’s instrumental role as an engine of global growth, I am pleased to welcome Rawbank as our newest equity shareholder. It is critical for African institutions to play a catalytic role as agents of transformation on the continent and these equity investments support AFC’s commitment to catalysing economic growth, value accretion, and industrial development in Africa.

Samaila Zubairu, President & CEO, AFC

AFC has a diverse equity investor base that includes African Sovereigns, Pension Funds and Insurance firms amongst others, who all play a critical role in mobilizing the capital urgently needed for the continent’s development. Last year, AFC’s member states Côte d’Ivoire, Benin and Botswana all became shareholders alongside equity investments from African institutional investors including Caisse Nationale de Prévoyance Sociale (CNPS), Cameroon’s public pension fund and SBM Capital Market Securities Ltd., a leading investment-grade financial institution in Mauritius. Other shareholders include Egypt, Sierra Leone and Seychelles while the Republic of Turkey, through the Turk Exim Bank, became AFC’s first non-regional shareholder in 2023.