17 November 2022 – The Fund for Export Development in Africa (FEDA) has announced a $85 million investment into ARISE Integrated Industrial Platforms (ARISE IIP), the pan-African infrastructure developer and operator. This deal demonstrates the confidence of FEDA in ARISE IIP’s development strategy. The investment agreement was concluded on 16 November 2022 in London, between Marlène Ngoyi, CEO of FEDA and Gagan Gupta, Founder and CEO of ARISE IIP. With this investment, FEDA confirms its commitment to support Africa’s industrialization and economic development, while ensuring environmental sustainability. The transaction will support ARISE IIP’s ambition to provide tailor-made industrial ecosystems across Africa and Improve the competitiveness of the manufacturing industry. The Fund for Export Development in Africa (FEDA) is a $670 million fund (First Close) with the ambition to raise a total of $1.3 billion over the coming months. FEDA is the development impact investment platform of African Export Import Bank (AFREXIMBANK), a long-standing partner of Arise IIP. With this investment, FEDA joins AFC, ARISE IIP’s controlling shareholder, to support the company’s development strategy.
ARISE IIP has recently accelerated its expansion across Africa, with the signing of four new agreements this year alone to develop five special economic zones across 5 countries, as follows: a framework agreement signed with the Government of Rwanda for the development of an industrial zone in the Bugesera District (September 8th 2022); a framework agreement signed with the Democratic Republic of the Congo for the development of the Kin-Malebo industrial zone (September 16th 2022); a framework agreement signed with the Republic of Congo for the development of the industrial zones of Pointe-Noire and Oyo (October 6th 2022); a funding agreement signed with the Republic of Chad for the development of seven economic zones across the country (November 5th 2022); a binding agreement signed with the State of Ogun of Nigeria for the development of the Remo Economic Industrial Cluster (November 7th 2022).
For the past few years, ARISE IIP has experienced a remarkable expansion across Africa, with currently over a dozen integrated industrial zones accelerating the continent’s industrialisation. For reference, in Gabon, ARISE IIP manages the Gabon Special Economic Zone which focuses on the timber industry, and has created 16,000 jobs, attracted 120 investors, and enabled Gabon to move from being an exporter of logs to the world’s 2nd largest producer and exporter of veneer, as well as the first in Africa. In Benin, ARISE IIP operates the Glo-Djigbe Industrial Zone dedicated to the local transformation of agricultural product including cotton, cashews, pineapples, shea nuts and soybeans, among others. ARISE IIP also manages the Adetikope Industrial Platform in Togo which concentrates on the local transformation of agricultural product. In addition, ARISE IIP has undertaken the building of two economic zones in the Republic of Congo and one zone in Ivory Coast. Moreover, the pan-African infrastructure developer and operator is currently developing other assets in Nigeria, Chad and in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Gagan Gupta, Founder and CEO of ARISE IIP said “this significant fundraising marks a new stage of Arise’s development in Africa. It will lead to the creation of an African champion of infrastructure development. I would like to extend a warm thank you to our trusted partners in this project, the FEDA.” Marlène Ngoyi, CEO of FEDA also said “our investment in ARISE IIP demonstrates FEDA’s ability to invest in opportunities that will drive the structural transformation of trade on the continent. ARISE IIP is a key player that supports Africa’s local manufacturing and trade with the rest of the world. It echoes the FEDA’s DNA to provide equity capital with a focus on delivering development impact in diverse sectors in Africa which are critical to driving intra-African trade and value-added export development.” Prof. Benedict Oramah, President and Chairman of Afreximbank, said: “We are very pleased with this fundraising, which marks a critical step to support ARISE IIP’s rapid growth in Africa, and more broadly, to advance Africa’s industrialisation.” Samaila Zubairu, Chairman of ARISE IIP board also welcomed the announcement: “We are thrilled with this key fundraising for ARISE IIP. Our trusted partner has a proven track record of delivering large-scale projects across Africa and we are confident in their ability to generate added value for African countries’ economies.”
