Angola, which has been a member of the AFC since 2022, "has deepened its strategic partnership with the institution through a historic capital investment commitment worth 184.8 million dollars," reads a statement sent to Lusa.
"This strategic investment further strengthens Angola's partnership with the AFC and underlines the country's confidence in the AFC's mission to accelerate sustainable development and regional integration through transformative infrastructure," says the institution.
Angola thus joins Cape Verde as the second Portuguese-speaking country to be a shareholder in this entity designed to finance infrastructure investments on the continent.
The statement also reads that Angola's entry as a sovereign shareholder "is based on almost 1 billion dollars in AFC investments in Angola's priority sectors — energy, railways, logistics and critical minerals — essential for the country's industrialization and economic diversification strategy."
The move, it continues, "reflects Angola's confidence in the institutional strength of AFC and its ambition to help shape Africa's development agenda from within."
Earlier this year, Angola's Sovereign Wealth Fund also made a 25 million dollars equity investment in AFC, reflecting "a cohesive national strategy to advance Angola's industrial and infrastructure development agenda through close collaboration with AFC."
"Angola's investment in AFC is a powerful affirmation of the sovereign's alignment with our mission to advance Africa's transformation through enabling infrastructure for industrialization," AFC Chairman and CEO Samaila Zubairu said in the statement.
The AFC chief believes that this "reflects a shared commitment to structuring pragmatic solutions that combine commercial discipline with development objectives; this investment not only reinforces our ability to mobilize capital at scale, but also deepens our legitimacy as an African institutional platform – built by and for Africans, and marks a decisive step in our ambition to expand shareholder representation across the continent".
AFC and Angola have a strong history of collaboration over the years, exemplified by initiatives such as the Lobito Corridor project, in which AFC acts as lead promoter, alongside other partners.
"This transformative multinational transport network linking Angola, Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo has the potential to open up new industrial and value chain opportunities in key sectors, including mining, agriculture, energy and tourism," highlights the financial institution.
The AFC was established in 2007 to foster investment in infrastructure and industry on the African continent, bringing together industry expertise with a focus on financial and technical advisory, project structuring, project development and venture capital to meet infrastructure development needs and drive sustainable economic growth in Africa.
The AFC has 45 member countries and has invested over 15 billion dollars in 36 African countries since its inception.
