Deal of the Year, Middle East and Africa
WINNER: ADNOC Oil Pipelines (BlackRock Real Assets/KKR)
BlackRock and KKR became the first major infrastructure funds to invest in the Middle East when they formed a partnership with the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company. The firms agreed to invest $4 billion in 18 oil and gas pipelines owned by ADNOC. The pipelines total 750 km in length, with 13 million barrels per day of capacity. The assets represent key midstream infrastructure for Abu Dhabi’s energy ecosystem, allowing for the vast majority of the country’s crude production to be transported from ADNOC’s onshore and offshore upstream assets to Abu Dhabi’s key take-away outlets and terminals.
THIRD PLACE (TIE): Nachtigal Hydropower Project
THIRD PLACE (TIE): Taweelah desalination and Noor Energy 1
Fund Manager of the Year, Middle East and Africa
WINNER: Meridiam
Meridiam added €339 million to its Africa-dedicated fund, having raised an initial €207 million when launching the vehicle in 2015. It signed agreements for solar projects in Senegal and a PPP in Gabon for a hydropower facility that will save more than 150,000 tonnes of carbon emissions a year. Construction is scheduled to start in the second quarter of 2020, with commissioning scheduled for the end of 2023.
SECOND PLACE: Actis
THIRD PLACE: African Infrastructure Investment Managers
Renewables Deal of the Year, Middle East and Africa
WINNER: West Bakr wind farm (Lekela Power)
Egypt’s West Bakr wind farm, a joint venture between Mainstream Renewable Power and Actis, secured $252 million in financing by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation and the Overseas Private Investment Corporation. The 250MW facility will be Egypt’s second privately owned wind farm and deliver electricity at an unsubsidised rate. Located by the Gulf of Suez, it is expected to be operational in 2021 and will increase the country’s wind energy capacity by 14 percent, a key component of the government’s target of 20 percent renewable energy by 2022.
SECOND PLACE: Biotherm Energy
THIRD PLACE: Nachtigal Hydropower Project
