Africa Finance Corporation (AFC), the continent’s leading infrastructure financier, has secured a landmark AED 937.5 million (US$255 million) Sustainability-Linked Term Loan Facility, reinforcing its position at the vanguard of green financing and cross-border capital mobilisation.
The deal marks AFC’s debut in the UAE Dirham market and underscores its growing emphasis on performance-based sustainability metrics as a lever for unlocking capital to fuel African entrepreneurship and industrialisation.
Structured with embedded Sustainability Performance Targets (SPTs), the facility ties AFC’s cost of capital to its success in delivering measurable environmental outcomes. By meeting these benchmarks, the Corporation stands to reduce its borrowing costs creating a performance incentive aligned with its mandate to catalyse green and inclusive infrastructure across the continent.
The syndicate was reportedly anchored by a formidable lineup of UAE-based financial heavyweights, including Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank PJSC, Emirates NBD Capital Limited, First Abu Dhabi Bank PJSC, Mashreqbank PSC, and the National Bank of Ras Al Khaimah (P.S.C.) all acting as Initial Mandated Lead Arrangers and Bookrunners.
Mashreqbank PSC served as Global Coordinator and Documentation Agent, while First Abu Dhabi Bank PJSC and Emirates NBD Bank (P.J.S.C.) took on the roles of Sustainability Coordinator and Facility Agent, respectively.
“This facility represents a key milestone in AFC’s journey,” said Banji Fehintola, Executive Board Member and Head, Financial Services at AFC. “We are not only diversifying our funding sources, but also reinforcing our mission to drive industrial growth and entrepreneurship through climate-smart infrastructure.”
The transaction follows a flurry of innovative capital market activity by AFC. After raising a record-breaking US$1.16 billion syndicated loan in 2024, the Corporation issued a US$500 million hybrid capital instrument and a US$400 million Murabaha facility in early 2025. Its pioneering use of climate finance tools such as Green Bonds, Green Shares and strategic equity in renewable energy ventures has set a precedent for institutional innovation on the continent.
AFC’s strategic stake in Lekela Power, now part of Infinity, exemplifies this approach. The platform boasts over 1 GW of clean power generation capacity enough to serve 1.2 million homes and offset nearly 8 million tonnes of CO₂ annually.
Established in 2007, AFC has grown into a trusted institutional anchor for infrastructure and industrial transformation in Africa. With 45 member countries and more than US$15 billion invested across 36 nations, the Corporation blends financial and technical advisory with equity participation to execute complex, large-scale infrastructure projects in power, transport, telecoms, heavy industry and natural resources.
The latest facility not only affirms AFC’s growing appeal among Middle Eastern financiers but also signals rising investor confidence in Africa’s capacity to lead its own green industrial revolution one anchored not just in technology, but in tangible infrastructure that unlocks economic opportunity at scale.
As Africa eyes a new wave of industrial entrepreneurship, AFC’s sustainable financing model offers a blueprint for aligning climate ambition with long-term, market-driven development. In a region where infrastructure gaps still dampen enterprise, this facility stands as a reminder: the capital exists so long as the vision is bold and the execution bankable.
