Afreximbank Approves $200m Facility for Algeria Gas Project

The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has approved a $200 million financing facility to support Nigerian-owned Shoreline Power Company and its affiliates in executing a major oil and gas infrastructure project in Algeria expected to raise production capacity by up to 47,000 barrels per day.

The facility will support Arkad SpA, an Italian engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) company majority-owned by Nigeria's Shoreline Group, in delivering its 44 per cent contractual share of the $980 million Hassi Bir Rekaiz (HBR) Field Development Phase 2a project.

The financing, approved in June 2026, comprises a $110 million contract finance facility and a $90 million revolving global facility. Afreximbank acted as the sole mandated lead arranger and lender for the transaction.

The $110 million facility will support Arkad's performance and advance payment guarantees as well as working capital requirements for the HBR project, while the $90 million revolving facility will finance Shoreline and its affiliates as they bid for and execute pipeline and infrastructure projects in Nigeria and other permitted jurisdictions.

The HBR Phase 2a project is being developed under a $980 million EPC contract awarded by Groupement Hassi Bir Rekaiz (GHBR), a joint venture involving Algeria's Sonatrach, Thailand's PTTEP and Spain's CEPSA.

The project includes the construction of a new central processing facility expected to increase production from the HBR field from about 13,000 barrels per day to between 50,000 and 60,000 barrels per day.

Deal deepens Intra-African energy cooperation

The significance of the financing extends beyond the HBR project. It marks the first time Afreximbank has financed a Sub-Saharan African contractor to undertake a major infrastructure project in North Africa, strengthening commercial links between African economies and supporting the emergence of locally owned engineering firms capable of delivering large-scale energy projects.

The deal also demonstrates how African development finance can help companies from the continent compete for major infrastructure contracts traditionally dominated by international firms. By financing an African-linked consortium involving Nigeria's Arkad and Egypt's Petrojet, the transaction is expected to facilitate the movement of African capital, technical expertise and engineering capacity across regional markets.

Afreximbank expects the project to generate about 6,000 jobs and stimulate supply-chain development in Algeria. The bank also anticipates that the project will help transfer skills and reduce reliance on non-African construction companies for major energy infrastructure.

The financing was structured under Afreximbank's EPC Initiative, which provides African engineering and construction companies with financial and non-financial support to compete for and execute large infrastructure contracts across Africa and other permitted markets.

The bank's Executive Vice President for Intra-African Trade Finance and Export Development, Kanayo Awani, described the transaction as an example of the institution's strategy to support African engineering companies in securing and delivering major infrastructure projects.

She emphasised that the financing would support Algeria's energy infrastructure while promoting trade in high-value engineering and construction services involving companies and expertise from Nigeria, Italy and Egypt.

The transaction builds on the fourth edition of the Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF), held in Algeria in September 2025, where Afreximbank facilitated a partnership between Arkad and Petrojet through its EPC twinning services.

The partnership subsequently supported the companies' participation in securing the HBR contract, linking the trade fair's deal-making activities with the financing of a major energy infrastructure project.

The deal represents the growing role of African financial institutions in enabling African companies to compete across regional markets and could help accelerate the development of pan-African engineering and construction champions capable of undertaking major energy and infrastructure projects.