Global law firm Ashurst has acted as international legal counsel to the African Development Bank on a partially credit guaranteed €170m Sustainability-Linked Loan Facility to Mota-Engil Africa, the African holding of Mota-Engil Group, a leading worldwide engineering, procurement and construction company. This innovative transaction marks one of the African Development Bank's first direct partial credit guarantees supporting a non-sovereign borrower in Africa, unlocking new pathways for private capital to support infrastructure across the continent. The facility will finance a pan-African portfolio of eligible impactful infrastructure projects aligned with the company's Sustainability-Linked Financing Framework.
The delivery of this €120m partial credit guarantee is part of the African Development Bank's strategy to promote inclusive growth, job creation and climate resilience, while catalysing international private financing for African infrastructure development. The projects will include transport infrastructure, environmental services, water and sanitation systems and energy-efficient civil works in over a dozen African countries. Consistent with Mota-Engil Africa's sustainability strategy, the facility is underpinned by measurable Key Performance Indicators including targets to improve health and safety performance, increase women's representation in management, and enhance local employment creation and skills development.
Solomon Quaynor, Vice President for Private Sector, Infrastructure and Industrialization at the African Development Bank, said: "This signing represents a significant step forward in our efforts to use guarantees to leverage and unlock affordable and appropriate commercial financing for Africa's development, in line with the vision of President Tah captured in the African Development Bank's four cardinal points. In partnership with Deutsche Bank, we are financing Mota-Engil Africa to deliver sustainable infrastructure to drive inclusive growth, job creation, and resilience."
Tom Longmuir, Partner, said: "We are pleased to have acted for the African Development Bank on structuring and executing this major partial credit guarantee for a corporate, financing a portfolio of pan-African infrastructure assets. This transaction supports the African Development Bank's objectives of mobilizing private capital for impact finance and creating additionality, and highlights Ashurst's expertise in multilateral credit support in emerging markets."
The Ashurst team acting for the African Development Bank was led by partner Tom Longmuir and senior associate Samia Khennous, and comprised senior associate Cedric Gamambaye Dionmou, associates Orphée Janaud, Zoe Delelis and Lilian Decot. Counsel Gaëlle Cognet advised on sustainability and climate-related matters, and partner Emmanuelle Cabrol advised on arbitration-related aspects.
