Geometric Power Limited has secured a new $50 million Term Loan facility from African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) for the Aba Integrated Power Project in Nigeria.
Gatekeepers News reports that the Aba Integrated Power Project is a fully integrated generation and distribution utility located in Osisioma, Aba, Abia State, in Nigeria and comprises a gas-fired embedded power plant with General Electric Gas Turbines, with an initial capacity of 141MW, to be upgraded to its licensed 188MW capacity.
The loan facility, which was signed on Thursday, November 15th, 2021 during the second Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF 2021) in Durban, will finance the initial capital required to acquire rights to the Aba Ring Fenced Area.
It will also support the completion of remaining works, and the commissioning and commencement of operations of the Aba Integrated Power Project in Southeastern Nigeria.
Prof Benedict Oramah, President of Afreximbank, said: “Afreximbank is proud to be part of this great milestone achievement by having resolved this recapitalization and financing.”
On his part, Prof Bart Nnaji, Chairman and CEO of Geometric, said: “It is a privilege to sign the Aba IPP Restructuring Transaction Agreement today (Thursday) in the presence of the President of Afreximbank, the Governor of Abia State, the host of Aba Integrated Power Project (Aba IPP), and other dignitaries present from Nigeria and many other countries.
“The Aba IPP will supply electricity to over 2 million people and more than 300,000 electricity customers including Small, Medium and Large Enterprises, thereby directly touching many lives in southern part of Nigeria, with a ripple effect on the value chain across the nation.
“Being one of the only 24hr reliable power supplier, Aba IPP will; revive moribund industries, power the Enyimba Economic City as well as markets such as the famous Ariaria International Market that harbours entrepreneurs mostly involved in the export value chain.
“We deeply appreciate the entire Afreximbank team who have worked tirelessly for nearly five (5) years to bring this transaction to maturity. We also thank the original lenders to the Aba IPP including Access Bank and former Diamond Bank, Stanbic IBTC Bank, and Asset Management Company of Nigeria for their vision. We are deeply grateful to Afreximbank and its management led by Prof. Benedict Oramah for supporting the vision of the Aba IPP project.”
The Abia State Governor in his remarks stated that the Aba IPP project will transform the economy of Abia State and will be critical to the success of the Enyimba Economic City project in the State. It will ensure that the over 250,000 SMEs in the State who export their projects will have reliable electricity supply to enable them to standardize their products and reduce their cost of operations.
