Africa50, Orabank finance Malicounda power station construction

Infrastructure investment platform Africa50 has teamed up with Oragroup to provide a bridging loan of XOF50 billion (about $90 million) to finance the construction of the Malicounda power station in Senegal. 

Malicounda is a 120MW combined cycle thermal power plant under construction in Malicounda, 85km from Dakar, designed to produce at least 956GWh of power a year. It is scheduled to be completed at the end of 2021.

Funds for the project were realised from Orabank Senegal, Orabank Benin, Orabank Burkina and other partner banks of the Orabank Group within The West African Monetary and Economic Union.

Africa50, which holds major financial stake in the project, is joined by the African Development Bank, which serves as the lead senior debt arranger. There are also plans by Africa50 and its partners to raise long-term senior debt for the project. 

The project — which plans to make use of more environmentally friendly technologies than older plants — would help Senegal’s transition towards a cleaner, more accessible and cheaper electricity, as well as providing job opportunities.

The electricity generated will be sold under a 20-year PPA and fed into the network through an existing distribution substation.