Economy
Nigeria Key Beneficiary of Chinese Loans to Africa—Report
By Dipo Olowookere
A research and analysis done by global law firm, Baker McKenzie and IJGlobal, has disclosed that the value of loans from Chinese lenders to energy and infrastructure projects in Africa almost trebled between 2016 and 2017, from $3 billion to $8.8 billion, with policy lenders China Development Bank and China Exim particularly active in helping bridge Africa’s infrastructure gap.
It was revealed that almost half of the total $19 billion of Chinese outbound loans poured into infrastructure projects in sub-Saharan Africa since 2014 were made in 2017.
Notably, Chinese lenders accounted for more than 40 percent of all infrastructure finance in sub-Saharan Africa in 2017 and its policy banks made more the four fifths of a lending by Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) in the region.
According to the analysis, Chinese commercial and policy bank lending for infrastructure projects in sub-Saharan Africa totalled $3.6 billion in 2014, $3.4 billion in 2015 and $3 billion in 2016, before spiking almost 300 percent to $8.8bn in 2017, driven by a series of large power projects across Africa.
This research came as leaders from the BRICS bloc – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa met last week in Johannesburg for their annual summit.
According to a statement made available to Business Post, data was drawn exclusively from fully financed projects and excludes recent announcements of government funding commitments.
Speaking from the BRICS Energy event, which preceded the BRICS Summit, Kieran Whyte, Head of Energy, Mining and Infrastructure at Baker McKenzie in Johannesburg, said the rising impact of Chinese policy lending in Africa is increasingly visible.
“Chinese president Xi Jinping’s recent tour of African countries ahead of the Summit is proof of the increasing interdependence of the maturing but still fast growing Chinese economy and developing economies in Africa,” says Whyte.
“This is much more sophisticated outbound lending than the cliché about China investing in African minerals and rail to get commodities to China to feed manufacturing – the data clearly shows Chinese lending predominantly shifting towards African power projects,” he says.
“All countries need power generation, transmission and distribution assets which are reliable and meet demand; without this, wider development is a distant dream,” said Jon Whiteaker, editor of IJGlobal. “It is little surprise then that the power sector has grown to be by far the biggest recipient of Chinese policy lending in Africa. The US government may have recently jump-started its Power Africa programme, but it has increasingly been Chinese lenders which African and Middle Eastern countries have turned to get power projects financed.”
Globally, infrastructure deals featuring significant Chinese financing have risen more than threefold since 2012, driven among other things by China’s Belt & Road Initiative (BRI), going from 31 deals in 2012 to 105 deals in 2017. The BRI is a world scale Chinese development strategy that combines the creation of a 21st Century Maritime Silk Road and a Silk Road Economic Belt.
Whyte explains that this shift towards power is because China is comfortable operating in the energy sector and is aware power acts as a catalyst for the growth of other sectors in Africa, providing foundations for long term economic development.
“It’s also true that in terms of infrastructure development, many of China’s construction companies are world leaders in the power sector and Chinese goods and equipment are used in the construction process, which further benefits China’s economy,” he says.
Whyte adds that as one of South Africa’s largest trading partners, China plays an important role in infrastructure investment in that country. At the BRICS Summit Energy event this week, China pledged to invest USD 14.7bn in South Africa and to grant loans to state owned enterprises Eskom and Transnet.
Against the background of a geopolitical shift in trade relations, China has noted that it is looking to work with African countries in a participative and inclusive way.
Another recent report by Baker McKenzie and Silk Road Associates; Belt & Road: Opportunities & Risks – the prospects and perils of building China’s New Silk Road details how key opportunities in Africa with regards to the Belt & Road Initiative will be transactions related to major projects in the power and infrastructure sector and related financing.
Notable projects
Recent examples of large power deals in Africa where at least 50% of the finance was provided by Chinese lenders include Mambila Hydropower Plant (Nigeria) valued at $5.8 billion; Lamu Coal-Fired Power Plant (Kenya), a $2 billion PPP; Medupi Coal-Fired Power Plant (South Africa), worth $1.5 billion, and Kafue Gorge Lower Hydro Power Plant (Zambia) in 2015, worth $1.5 billion.
While European DFIs increasingly focus only on lending to renewable energy projects in Africa, coal is still an essential part of energy baseload and vital in a region where grid capacity is almost non-existent and almost two-thirds still live without ready access to power.
Countries
The African countries seeing most Chinese lending are Kenya and Nigeria, which alone have swallowed up almost 40 percent of the $19 billion of lending to projects in sub-Saharan Africa since 2014.
However, Chinese banks have been active lenders to infrastructure projects in 19 different countries in the past four years. Chinese policy lending is also set to widen, with Senegal recently becoming the first West African country to sign up to supporting the BRI.
Infrastructure projects in Ethiopia have received $1.8 billion since 2014, Kenyan projects $4.8 billion, Mozambique infra deals $1.6 billion and Nigerian projects $5 billion from Chinese lenders. South African infrastructure projects have received $2.2 billion from Chinese lenders since 2014, Zambia has received $1.5 billion and Zimbabwe has seen $1.3 billion in loans from Chinese policy lenders since 2014.
Sectors
The power sector in sub-Saharan Africa has received $17.5 billion in loans from Chinese lenders since 2014 ($8.8 billion of this amount was in 2017). The oil and gas sector has received $3.2 billion ($1.7 billion in 2017) and the transport sector in sub-Saharan Africa received $5.5 billion from Chinese lenders since 2014 (with $500 million received in 2017).
Whyte notes that for investors in Africa, “A big attraction of China’s Belt & Road Initiative for both African governments and project sponsors is that it assists the speed of project implementation. Project stakeholders advise that the whole process is a lot quicker than other options. Chinese policy lenders assist in providing liquidity and contribute to the speed of implementation of projects in Africa, which is necessary for Africa to participate in the roll-out of the fourth industrial revolution and the global energy transition,” he adds.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Oil prices settled about 1 per cent lower on Thursday even as the Iran war escalated, with the Middle East oil producer asking Yemen’s Houthi movement to be prepared to close the Red Sea oil export route.
Brent crude futures fell by 72 cents or about 0.9 per cent to trade at $84.23 a barrel, while the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures depreciated by 65 cents or 0.8 per cent to close at $78.95 a barrel.
Iran has instructed Yemen’s Houthi movement to stand ready to close the Bab el-Mandeb strait, the vital gateway to the Red Sea, if the US follows through on threats to strike Iranian power infrastructure.
Market analysts warned that with the Strait of Hormuz already closed, the latest threat raises the serious risk of both of the Middle East’s primary oil export routes being disrupted at the same time.
About 7.4 million barrels of petroleum transited Bab el-Mandeb per day in June, about 7 per cent of global oil output, according to Kpler data, up from 4.2 million barrels per day last year.
This week, US President Donald Trump repeated oft-stated threats to strike Iranian power plants and bridges.
According to senior Iranian sources, the Islamic Republic’s leadership has discussed the idea with Iran’s Houthi allies, with the rebel forces now awaiting definitive orders to begin targeting maritime traffic.
In a sign of escalating tensions in the region, the Houthis fired missiles at Saudi Arabia after accusing the kingdom of bombing an airport under their control on Monday, breaking a four-year truce in the conflict between the kingdom and the group.
This comes as Saudi Arabia is currently evaluating a massive infrastructure expansion to permanently upgrade the capacity of its western pipeline and terminal networks.
Any additional disruptions could force international shipping firms to redirect vessels around Africa, inflating transit costs and worsening the global energy crisis.
On Wednesday, the US struck Iran’s coastal defences and missile sites after reimposing a naval blockade of its ports, while the two countries exchanged intensified fire on Thursday, which kept pressure on prices upward.
However, weighing on prices was Iran’s release of a US citizen, which could point toward a path to avert the resumption of all-out war.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has launched a new digital platform to track every foreign exchange transaction involving Bureaux De Change (BDC) operators, marking a major step in its efforts to improve transparency and strengthen oversight of the country’s retail forex market.
In an operational guidance issued on July 15 to authorised dealer banks and licensed BDCs, the apex bank introduced the FX BDC Purchase Tracker (FXBT), a centralised electronic portal designed to monitor foreign exchange purchases by BDCs from the point of request through approval, settlement and eventual sale.
The CBN said the portal will require BDCs to upload real-time or same-day data on all FX purchases made through the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market (NFEM), giving the regulator transaction-level visibility across the retail FX market.
According to the bank, the platform is designed to prevent abuse by making it easier to detect operators attempting to exceed the weekly purchase limit of $150,000, obtain allocations from multiple banks or divert foreign exchange outside approved channels.
The launch of the tracker builds on the CBN’s February policy that restored direct access for licensed BDCs to purchase foreign exchange from authorised dealer banks through the NFEM. While that policy improved access to official FX, the new platform provides the digital infrastructure to monitor how the funds are used.
Under the new framework, authorised dealer banks must conduct comprehensive Know-Your-Customer (KYC) and customer due diligence checks before selling foreign exchange to any BDC.
The new guideline also says banks must verify beneficial ownership information, retain incorporation documents and carry out enhanced due diligence for higher-risk operators. Any BDC that fails these checks will not be allowed to access official foreign exchange.
The guidance also requires banks to acknowledge BDC purchase requests submitted through the FXBT portal within two business hours and immediately notify operators whether their requests have been approved or rejected.
To discourage speculation, the CBN directed that any forex purchased through the NFEM but left unused must be sold back into the market within 24 hours after the expiration of the utilisation period. BDCs are also required to disclose any previously unused balances when submitting fresh requests.
In addition, all foreign exchange transactions between banks, BDCs and customers must be settled through registered accounts with licensed financial institutions. Third-party transactions are prohibited, and any transfer outside a BDC’s registered settlement account will be treated as a regulatory violation.
The apex bank also said all authorised dealer banks and licensed BDCs are expected to comply with the new regulatory guidance and operational procedures with immediate effect.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The chief executive of HBM Nigeria Plc (formerly Lafarge Africa), Mr Lolu Alade-Akinyemi, said the cement producer is expected to add 4.5 million tonnes to its production capacity by January 2027.
HBM Nigeria Plc is positioning itself for stronger long-term competitiveness, market leadership and job creation as it accelerates expansion projects.
The transition to HBM Nigeria marks a new phase of growth, driven by operational excellence, sustainability, innovation, and infrastructure development, while maintaining its long-standing commitment to Nigeria’s construction sector.
Mr Alade-Akinyemi, speaking recently in Lagos, said the ongoing expansion of the company’s Ashaka and Sagamu plants would significantly boost local production, create employment opportunities, and support businesses across its value chain.
“We recently announced the expansion of the Sagamu plant in Ogun State and the Ashaka plant in Gombe State. Hopefully, in January 2027, we will commission both plants, adding 4.5 million tonnes to our capacity. Traditionally, building a new plant takes about three years, but this is one of the benefits of belonging to the Huaxin Group,” he said.
According to him, the projects will generate employment, create opportunities for young people and women, strengthen local suppliers and contractors, and contribute further to Nigeria’s economic growth.
“There are many vacancies we are trying to fill in Sagamu and Ashaka. Beyond direct employment, we are creating opportunities for small businesses, developing suppliers and supporting local contractors. This is an exciting period because it will deliver significant benefits to Nigeria,” he said.
Mr Alade-Akinyemi noted that while the company’s corporate identity had changed following its acquisition by Huaxin Building Materials Group, its core values and commitment to customers, host communities, employees and shareholders remain unchanged.
He said HBM Nigeria traces its roots to 1959 as West African Portland Cement Company (WAPCO), with its first cement plant commencing operations in Ewekoro, Ogun State, in 1961.
Since then, he said, the company has grown into one of Nigeria’s leading building solutions providers with integrated plants in Ewekoro, Sagamu, Ashaka and Mfamosing.
He added that the company, which became publicly listed in 1979, has continued to expand through acquisitions and transformation while maintaining high product quality, innovation and responsible operations.
Highlighting the strengths of its parent company, Alade-Akinyemi described Huaxin Building Materials as a globally recognised building materials manufacturer founded in 1907 and headquartered in Wuhan, China, with operations across 16 regions in China and 14 countries worldwide.
He said Huaxin’s engineering expertise and focus on research and development would strengthen HBM Nigeria’s operations and help close engineering skills gaps in the country.
“As HBM Nigeria, we are strategically positioned for long-term competitiveness and stronger market leadership while reinforcing our commitment to supporting Nigeria’s infrastructure development and economic progress after more than six decades of industry leadership,” he said.
He also said sustainability would remain central to the company’s operations, noting that it had introduced lower-carbon products and continued to invest in environmentally friendly production processes.
