OPIC Finances Wind Farm in Senegal, Solar Developer in Nigeria

LAGOS, Capital Markets in Africa: The Overseas Private Investment Corp. lent $250 million to fund a wind project in Senegal.

The Taiba N’Diaye wind farm is in western Senegal is expected to have a capacity of 158 megawatts once complete, the U.S. government’s development finance institution said in an e-mailed statement.

OPIC has partnered with Lekela Power, a joint venture between Dublin-based Mainstream Renewable Power Ltd. and private equity investor Actis LLP, to build the project. It is also providing $70 million in reinsurance to the project.

The announcement was made on the sidelines of the U.S. Africa Business Forum held in Cape Town this week. OPIC also said it’s funding solar developer Lumos Global with $35 million in debt financing.

Lumos primarily operates in Nigeria and is working with telecom MTN Group Ltd. It sells off-grid solar panels where consumers pay for power through transactions completed on their mobile phones.

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