UK-based investor and developer InfraCo Africa Ltd.said on Wednesday that it has sold a minority stake in a 25.5 MW wind power project in Cape Verde to the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC).More specifically the company sold off its remaining equity stake in the Cabeólica independent wind power producer, which was established to developer the 25.5 MW wind project.
InfraCo Africa said the sale would allow it to “recoup the early-stage development costs it had invested into Cabeólica and recycle these funds into developing future sub-Saharan infrastructure projects”. InfraCo Africa, under a joint partnership with the Cape Verde government and the national utility Electra Sarl, provided the initial funding for the project, which is located across four of Cape Verde’s islands.
AFC and FinnFund purchased an equity stake in the project in 2010, which along with loans from the African Development Bank and European Investment Bank helped bring the project to financial close. The project became fully operational in 2012 and supplies about 25% of the electricity consumption of Cape Verde.
“The sale of InfraCo Africa’s remaining stake in Cabeólica is the culmination of many years of hard work by our team and the government of Cape Verde,” Brian Count, Chairman of InfraCo Africa, said. “We are pleased to be working with AFC once again and hope to replicate the success of this project by re-investing the sales proceeds into developing more infrastructure projects in sub-Saharan Africa.”
Source: Company statement