IJGlobal Awards 2025 – African Transaction Winners
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The transaction section of the IJGlobal Awards 2025 for Europe and Africa were presented this evening in The Peninsula London, singling out exceptional developments from the previous calendar year.
This story focuses on the African winners in the Deals Category for greenfield finance and refinance transactions that made it to financial close across infrastructure and energy from 1 January to 31 December 2025.
To read about the winning transactions for Europe, click here…
Meanwhile, to read about all the winners from the Company Category for Europe click here and for Africa, click here…
As with all IJGlobal awards, the company awards are chosen by an independent panel of industry experts, while the transactions are chosen – based on submissions – by the relevant editorial members.
The African transaction winners are:
- Bond of the Year – Africa Finance Corporation $500m Hybrid Bond
- BESS Deal of the Year – Red Sands BESS IPP
- Digital Infra Deal of the Year – Raxio Group – IFC Financing for Pan-African Data Centre Expansion
- Energy Transition Deal of the Year – Niakhar Solar PV Plant & Energy Storage
- LNG Deal of the Year – Nigeria LNG Limited
- Mining Deal of the Year – Asante Gold, Ghana
- Wind Deal of the Year – Overberg Wind Farm
- Portfolio Financing Deal of the Year – Karpowership – Africa Portfolio Financing
- Solar Deal of the Year – GreenCo: Chisamba Solar PV Project, Zambia
Bond of the Year
Africa Finance Corporation – $500m Hybrid Bond
The AFC in January 2025 successfully priced its debut $500 million perpetual hybrid bond, marking a major milestone in its funding strategy and a landmark achievement for African development finance institutions (DFI).
Priced at a 7.5% coupon with no fixed maturity and a non-call period of 5.25 years, the transaction blends characteristics of debt and equity to enhance balance sheet strength and long-term capital flexibility.
The issuance marked the AFC’s first transaction in the hybrid capital market, broadening its investor reach and positioning it as one of the few African issuers capable of executing such a sophisticated, innovative transaction in a volatile global funding environment.
The order book peaked at $1.1 billion – 1.5x oversubscribed – and brought more than 65 global institutions to the table, including 28 new investors from Europe, the Middle East, Asia and North America.
Achieving this level of demand in a period of elevated global yields and risk aversion demonstrated strong international confidence in AFC’s governance, financial resilience and developmental mandate.
The submission states: “As the corporation scales its infrastructure pipeline, hybrid capital provides a permanent, loss-absorbing capital layer that supports ratings strength and unlocks greater leverage capacity over time.
“It also diversifies AFC’s investor base by attracting long-term real-money investors – pension funds, asset managers, sovereign wealth funds – who traditionally participate in hybrid instruments.”
The execution further overcame adverse market conditions, according to the submission: “With global credit spreads widening and investors exhibiting a strong preference for shorter-dated, high-grade paper, AFC’s ability to tighten pricing by 37.5 basis points from initial guidance demonstrated exceptional investor engagement, disciplined book-building and effective positioning of AFC’s institutional story.
“The final pricing – 7.625% yield at 99.485% of par – underscored AFC’s ability to secure competitive terms despite volatile capital-market conditions.”
BESS Deal of the Year
Red Sands BESS IPP
Globeleq – in partnership with African Rainbow Energy – reached financial close in June on the Red Sands BESS (battery energy storage system) in South Africa.
This was the largest standalone BESS project in Africa at 153MW / 612MWh (contracted capacity) to date to reach FC and enter construction.
This pioneering facility introduces cutting-edge storage technology from Sungrow and advanced engineering solutions from China Energy Engineering Corporation, setting a new benchmark for grid stability and renewable integration on the continent.
Located near Upington in the Northern Cape, Red Sands will ease transmission congestion, enable greater penetration of renewables, and strengthen South Africa’s energy resilience under a 15-year agreement with NTCSA.
The ZAR 5.4 billion (~$300 million) debt financing, secured with Absa and Standard Bank, underscores investor confidence in sustainable infrastructure.
Red Sands exemplifies Globeleq’s leadership in accelerating Africa’s clean energy transition, adding to its diverse portfolio of solar, wind, hybrid, and geothermal projects across the continent.
The build out of renewable energy projects in the Northern Cape province is a key priority of the South African government, due to the province’s high solar irradiance and optimal wind resources.
The project was awarded preferred bidder in 2024 under the South African government’s battery energy storage independent power producer programme.
The project will span some 5 hectares and involves substantial upgrades to Eskom’s and the NTCSA’s grid infrastructure.
Digital Infra Deal of the Year
Raxio Group – IFC Financing for Pan-African Data Centre Expansion
Raxio Group secured a landmark $100 million financing from the International Finance Corporation (IFC) to accelerate its pan-African expansion of Tier III carrier-neutral colocation data centres.
This transaction is IFC’s largest digital infra investment in Africa to date, enabling Raxio to scale beyond its existing 6 markets – Ethiopia, Angola, Mozambique, Côte d’Ivoire, Tanzania, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The financing combines senior debt facilities with concessional funding from the GROW Africa Facility and the IDA Private Sector Window, creating a pioneering blended finance structure.
This deal is a transformative milestone for Africa’s digital economy, addressing the continent’s sub 1% share of global data centre capacity and supporting local data hosting, cloud computing, and AI adoption.
It sets a benchmark for future infrastructure financing models and underpins Africa’s journey toward digital sovereignty.
The blended finance model mitigates risk and attracts private capital to underserved markets, while navigating multi-jurisdictional regulatory frameworks across 6 African countries, diverse ESG compliance requirements, and the complexities of coordinating multiple development finance institutions.
Beyond infra, the deal fosters economic inclusion by creating jobs in construction, operations, and technology sectors, while enabling governments and businesses to access secure, local data hosting.
This transaction is not just a financing milestone – it is a catalyst for Africa’s digital future, unlocking opportunities for innovation, connectivity, and sustainable growth.
Energy Transition Deal of the Year
Niakhar Solar PV Plant & Energy Storage
Energy Resources Senegal (ERS) reached financial close in September on its $64.3 million Teranga Niakhar project to deliver 30MW of solar power alongside a 15 / 45MWh BESS in Senegal.
This transaction fits with Senegal’s national agenda which puts energy development at the forefront.
According to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the western African country saw electricity access rise from 39% in 2001 to 74% in 2023 – one of the fastest increases on the continent.
According to the same report, a quarter of Senegal’s electricity supply now comes from renewable sources – including solar, hydro and wind – with the nation identifying the energy sector as key to building long-term resilience to combat climate change impacts.
This deal supports the nation’s goal to deploy project finance initiatives to harness its renewable energy potential to increase its installed energy capacity that is still largely driven by heavy fuel oil (HFO) thermal power (baseload). It also supports Senegal’s goals to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2030.
Niakhar, which is in Senegal’s Fatick region, looks to capitalise on this potential, supplying energy to Senegal’s national energy utility – which also holds a stake in ERS – under a 25-year PPA.
The project serves as a standout model for replication, particularly due to its all-African lender consortium, providing financing that was fully denominated in CFA francs – a milestone that highlights the growing capacity for African institutions to structure, finance, and execute complex infrastructure projects.
LNG Deal of the Year
Nigeria LNG Limited
The $1.35 billion hybrid finance transaction to expand Train 7 of Nigeria LNG Limited (NLNG) was chosen to win the LNG award, recognising a landmark deal.
NLNG was established in 1989 with the mission of minimising gas flaring in Nigeria’s O&G sector, while processing and monetising the country’s natural gas resources for export.
It is jointly owned by NNPC Limited (49%), Shell Gas (25.6%), TotalEnergies Gaz & Électricité Holdings (15%), and ENI International (10.4%).
The company operates a 6 train LNG processing plant on Bonny Island, Rivers State, with total nameplate processing capacity of 22 mtpa and 5 mtpa of NGLs.
NLNG is in the process of constructing its seventh LNG processing unit (Train 7) which will further expand NLNG’s nameplate processing capacity to around 30 mtpa.
The $1.35 billion facility was raised under the permitted additional indebtedness provisions under the existing Train 7 financing which was signed to support NLNG’s growth ambitions.
It enjoyed strong market feedback with a final book coming in at more than $1.9 billion – including $390 million IMLA interest – from 19 lenders.
Geographically, the lenders cut across Africa, regional multilateral FIs, Asian, Middle Eastern and European lenders.
Mining Deal of the Year
Asante Gold, Ghana
Asante Gold Corporation wins the mining award for its $525 million financing package in relation to the Bibiani and Chirano mines in Ghana.
Asante – the gold exploration, development and operating company – will use the financing package to bolster its expansion and recapitalise its short-term liabilities.
The financing will also be used for general working capital purposes at its high-quality portfolio of operating mines.
The package includes a $150 million senior debt facility, a $125 million mezzanine facility, a $50 million Gold Stream Agreement and equity subscriptions of around $180 million.
Concurrently, Asante restructured around $175 million of deferred consideration associated with the purchase of the Chirano mine.
All facilities and agreements include customary financial and debt servicing covenants and upfront and standby fees where applicable.
Wind Deal of the Year
Overberg Wind Farm
South Africa’s Overberg Wind Farm – both Phase 1 and Phase 2 – was selected to win the IJGlobal award in this category.
It is being recognised with this award for being the largest single commercial wind project in South Africa.
The first phase reached financial close last March and the second phase made it over the line at the start of June. It is expected to commence commercial operations in 2027.
Overberg Wind Farm is the Red Rocket project located near Swellendam in the Western Cape.
Originally developed across 2 phases, it is now a 400MW nameplate capacity facility with a single point of connection.
Phase 1 – developed in collaboration with Richards Bay Minerals, a subsidiary of Rio Tinto Group – has a nameplate capacity of 242MW.
Meanwhile, Phase 2 – developed with Discovery Green – has a nameplate capacity of 158MW.
Overberg Wind Farm will feature 54x Goldwind GWH182 / 6.2MW and 9 Goldwind GWH182 / 7.2MW wind turbines.
Portfolio Financing Deal of the Year
Karpowership – Africa Portfolio Financing
Karpowership Group – the African arm of Sea World Energy Holdings – was chosen to win the portfolio financing award for having closed this $400 million deal.
Mauritius Commercial Bank (MCB) acted as sole MLA and underwriter in relation to a $400 million, 5-year secured term facility that was structured as a portfolio financing.
It initially leveraged 5 PPAs signed with different national offtakers in West Africa. The remaining tenor of the PPAs ranges from 18 months to 60 months.
The facility was arranged across a single tranche with an embedded accordion mechanism allowing the borrower to raise additional indebtedness on the back of new PPAs signed during the term of the facility, as well as PPA extension and/or upsizing that the group will secure in the future.
The proceeds of the facility will go towards the liquidity management of the group for capex purposes, among others.
The facility marks a transformative milestone in the evolution of portfolio-based infrastructure financing and stands out as one of the most innovative power transactions completed in Africa in recent years.
It is significant not merely because of its scale, but because it delivers a financing model purpose-built around the distinctive, agile business strategy of Karpowership – one that requires rapid deployment for power plants backed by short-to-medium term PPAs across multiple jurisdictions.
This facility departs from traditional PF by leveraging projected cash flows from signed PPAs rather than tying funding to a single asset. Traditional PF structures required for the investments were not optimal to support Karpowership’s operational capital requirements.
Solar Deal of the Year
GreenCo: Chisamba Solar PV Project, Zambia
Zambia’s largest solar PV deal to close to date – achieved with significant support from GreenCo – was selected to win the IJ trophy in this category.
The 100MW Chisamba Solar PV plant reached financial close mid-May, adding urgent capacity to the Zambian power system during a time of crippling energy crisis.
It was developed by Kariba North Bank Extension (KNBE), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Zambia’s national utility ZESCO Limited.
GreenCo played a critical role in making the project bankable, by offtaking the full capacity under a 13-year PPA.
This enabled KNBE to raise $71.5 million of non-recourse commercial debt from Stanbic Bank Zambia, a member of the Standard Bank Group.
To ensure the power relieves domestic supply constraints, GreenCo committed an equivalent volume to First Quantum Minerals (FQM) under a tailored power supply agreement (PSA), with ZESCO providing wheeling services.
The project adds urgently needed clean generation to Zambia’s grid without sovereign guarantees or recourse to ZESCO, directly supporting the country’s energy transition and energy security objectives.
Zambia’s power system is heavily hydro-dependent and suffered sustained drought-driven load shedding in 2025, threatening fiscal stability.
Chisamba is a step-change towards approaching that challenge, and this transaction’s financial structure marks a departure from past practice.
Embracing GreenCo as a creditworthy private sector offtaker, and leveraging GreenCo’s broader relationship with ZESCO and Stanbic, enabled the project to secure 6-year fully-amortising limited recourse commercial debt.
Due to the ongoing financial constraints and payment history of ZESCO, this would not have been possible with ZESCO as the offtaker, but its role as owner and operator of the grid remains an essential component of the transaction and provides a revenue stream to ZESCO through energy banking and wheeling revenues.