By: Goodluck E.Adubazi, Abuja.
The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has approved a US$200 million global revolving dual-tranche facility for Shoreline Power Company Limited and its co-borrowers, including Arkad SpA, an Italian engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor majority-owned by Nigeria’s Shoreline Group.
The facility will support Arkad’s 44 per cent contractual share in the US$980 million Hassi Bir Rekaiz (HBR) Field Development Phase 2a project in Algeria.
Approved in June 2026, the financing will enable Arkad to execute its obligations under the landmark EPC contract awarded by Groupement Hassi Bir Rekaiz (GHBR), a joint venture between Algeria’s Sonatrach, Thailand’s PTTEP and Spain’s CEPSA.
Afreximbank acted as the sole mandated lead arranger and lender for the transaction, comprising a US$110 million one-off contract finance facility to support performance and advance payment guarantees as well as working capital requirements, and a US$90 million revolving global facility for Shoreline and its affiliates.
The second tranche will support the group’s bidding, construction and development of pipeline and infrastructure projects in Nigeria and other permitted jurisdictions.
The HBR Phase 2a project involves the development of a new central processing facility expected to increase Algeria’s oil and gas production capacity from approximately 13,000 barrels per day to between 50,000 and 60,000 barrels per day.
The project is also expected to generate significant foreign exchange earnings for Sonatrach and the Algerian economy, while creating approximately 6,000 jobs and stimulating regional supply-chain development.
The transaction, structured under Afreximbank’s EPC Initiative, is aimed at strengthening the capacity of African engineering and construction companies to compete for and execute large-scale infrastructure projects across the continent and beyond.
It also marks the first time Afreximbank has supported a Sub-Saharan African contractor in executing a major infrastructure project in North Africa.
Welcoming the facility, Afreximbank’s
Executive Vice President, Intra-African Trade Finance and Export Development, Mrs. Kanayo Awani, described the transaction as a demonstration of the bank’s commitment to supporting African engineering groups to compete at the highest level.
Awani said the financing would not only support Algeria’s energy infrastructure development but also promote intra-African trade in high-value engineering and construction services involving Nigeria, Italy and Egypt.
She said the project demonstrated Africa’s growing industrial capacity and its ability to execute complex infrastructure projects using African capital, expertise and engineering resources.
The transaction followed the fourth edition of the Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF2025), held in Algiers in September 2025, where Afreximbank facilitated the partnership between Arkad and Egypt’s Petrojet, a state-owned company.
The successful consortium of Arkad and Petrojet subsequently secured the HBR Phase 2a EPC contract, marking a significant movement of capital, technical expertise and engineering resources across African borders.
Afreximbank said the transaction further demonstrated the impact of the IATF deal-making process and its EPC twinning services in promoting pan-African business partnerships.
It added that the facility would help Shoreline and Arkad establish a stronger track record as pan-African EPC contractors capable of delivering sovereign-level energy projects, while promoting skills transfer and reducing Africa’s dependence on non-African construction companies.
