Ninety One plans R18bn infrastructure investment

South African asset manager Ninety One plans to deploy more than $1 billion (R18 billion) in critical infrastructure projects in Africa and Asia by 2028, after raising debt from global financial institutions.

Ninety One-managed Emerging Africa & Asia Infrastructure Fund, or EAAIF, raised $325 million (R5.87 billion) in debt in its latest round that close in March, by backed Allianz Global Investors, and top African banks including Standard Bank Group and Absa Group, according to the firm’s co-head of emerging market alternative credit Martijn Proos. That followed a $295 million (R5.33 billion) debt raise that brings the recent total commitments to $620 million, he said.

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“We have well over a billion dollars worth of pipeline over the next two to three years,” Proos said in an interview. “Africa will be a very dominant factor in our growth and a key focus.”

Ninety One is joining financiers such as Africa Finance and RMB Ventures in tapping a growing demand for building roads, ports and power plants in Asia and Africa — home to some of the fastest expanding economies in the world. Lack of infrastructure facilities stymies the ability of countries to grow faster and add jobs for millions of people.

Last year, EAAIF committed close to $350 million (R3.62 billion) in about 13 projects, two in Asia and 11 in Africa, said Proos. The plan is to invest in sectors such as renewable energy, digital infrastructure in the next three years, he said.

Johannesburg-listed Absa put $75 million (R1.35 billion) into the latest round and said it backed the fund as part of a bigger push to support infrastructure growth on the continent, amid growing political tension as the US and others cut funding.

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“Whether funds are directed from the US or not, as an African institution we have to play a big part in supporting the growth of infrastructure on the continent,” said Absa’s head of South Africa corporate lending, Chetan Jeeva. Poor infrastructure affect the greater economy of any country, he said.

Ninety One share price

The Japanese multinational bank Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. and Sweden’s Swedfund International AB also took part in the debt raise.

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