Rawbank, the largest bank in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), has made an equity investment in the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC), two years after the DRC Government made a similar investment in the multilateral institution.
- The investment is Rawbank’s first equity investment in a multilateral financial institution.
- 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 AFC has a diverse equity investor base that includes Benin, Botswana, Ivory Coast, Egypt, Seychelles, pension funds, insurance firms, and the Turk Exim Bank.
“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,” Mustafa Rawji, CEO of Rawbank, said.
Rawbank is a subsidiary of the Rawji Group, a conglomerate interewsts in real estate, manufacturing, import and distribution, and engineering. In June, the lender signed a $100mn trade finance facility agreement with Afreximbank. The facility is meant to increase trade flows into and out of the DRC.
The AFC was created in 2007 by African states to finance infrastructure projects across the continent. Its approach combines specialist industry expertise with a focus on financial and technical advisory, project structuring, project development, and risk capital.
“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 of AFC.
The two institutions did not disclose the size of the equity investment.
