Amaya Capital commits $300m in electricity generation

Amaya Capital, the African-focused principal investment firm, has announced an equity commitment of over $300 million in power generation platform.

The new investment follows the acquisition by growth markets investor, Actis of American Capital Energy & Infrastructure’s stake in Azura Power Holdings Limited (Azura).

The company said in a media statement that this transaction and the consequent expansion of Azura’s capital base, allows the business to scale up its pan-African power generation capacity to a target of over 3,000 MegaWatts (MW).

It explained that the Azura platform is anchored on the Azura-Edo IPP, a 1,500MW power station complex located in Edo State, Nigeria which is being developed in three phases with the first (459MW) phase currently under construction. Azura’s Nigerian investments also include a controlling stake in the 125MWp, grid scale, “Nova Solar” project which is currently under development in Katsina State.

According to the company, outside of Nigeria, the entry of Actis into the Azura platform has triggered significant deal flow in other sub-Saharan countries and the business expects to grow its portfolio rapidly over the coming twelve months.

“The two partners in the newly expanded Azura platform have a wealth of complementary experience. Amaya is a tightly focused principal investment firm that has focused on the West African gas to power market.

“It invests in a proactive manner using the capital, capabilities, and resources of its founders and associates. Actis, with c.$6 billion of assets under management, has also been active in the African market since the early 2000s but with a more geographically diverse footprint. It has invested close to $1 billion in energy projects across the region and the firm has frequently been recognised for its energy expertise – winning ‘African Infrastructure Fund Manager of the year’ for four consecutive years by Infrastructure Investor,” it disclosed

Commenting on the investment, Actis Energy Fund Head, Mikael Karlsson, said: the with rapidly growing populations and economies, increasing urbanisation and industrial and manufacturing growth, there is a compounding demand for the supply of electricity in Africa.