Morocco’s Bank of Africa has arranged a USD 300 million international syndicated loan to finance a 160-kilometer road in northern Guinea, a development that also marks the latter’s debut into both the international syndicated loan market and the Islamic finance market.
“The financing will build the Labe-Banti-Tougue-Bafing River axis, a route listed in Guinea’s transport infrastructure development plan. The works also cover the Banti-Koubia spur and a bridge over the Bafing River,” said the Bank of Africa.
Bank of Africa United Kingdom PLC, the group’s London-based subsidiary, led the operation as global coordinator and mandated lead arranger, assembling a group of international financial institutions.
The signing ceremony, that took place on Wednesday (July 23) in Conakry (capital of Guinea), saw the presence of high-profile personalities like Said Adren, executive director of Bank of Africa United Kingdom PLC, Zineb Tamtaoui, executive director of Bank of Africa Dubai, Guinea’s Minister of Economy, Finance and Budget, Mariama Cire Sylla, Infrastructure and Public Works Minister Facinet Sylla, and Moroccan Ambassador to Guinea Issam Taib.
The loan structure, as per the officials, pairs conventional financing with an Islamic Murabaha tranche, apart from carrying partial cover from the Islamic Corporation for the Insurance of Investment and Export Credit (ICIEC), a member of the Islamic Development Bank Group (IsDB). Murabaha is a cost-plus sale arrangement used in place of interest-bearing lending.
Taib extended his wishes to the Guinean government and expressed pride in seeing African institutions mobilize medium- and long-term capital of “vital importance” for the continent.
Khalid Nasr, executive managing director for Morocco and corporate and investment banking at Bank of Africa, described the transaction as confirmation of the group’s position among African players “structuring complex financings for large infrastructure projects.” He also tied the transaction to the bank’s capacity to combine conventional and Islamic finance for African economies with growing development needs.
Talking about the 160-kilometer road project, Guinea’s Ministry of Economy terms the initiative as a structuring one under the Simandou 2040 development program. The Compagnie Sahelienne des Entreprises (CSE) will carry out the works. It has already committed to contractual deadlines and international quality standards.
“The northern corridor has never had a fully paved modern road link since independence. The ministry expects the axis to connect production basins to national and regional markets, reduce transport costs, and ease the movement of people and goods,” said Mariama Cire Sylla.
Called the project “a structuring investment” for economic and social development, the official linked it to the strategic vision of President Mamadi Doumbouya.
For Cire Sylla, the agreement represents more than a financing deal, as she described it as “a Guinea resolutely turned toward the future,” while expressing hope that the partnership with Bank of Africa UK and ICIEC would be the first step in a broader cooperation.
Facinet Sylla, who cited a figure of 300 million euro in the government’s own account of the deal, said the mobilization shows Guinea is “attractive and competitive,” with every franc invested feeding growth, GDP, and public finances.