African infrastructure development funder, the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC), on Tuesday announced that it had received a new equity investment from Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) bank and financial group Rawbank. The AFC’s shareholders include African governments, banks, pension funds and insurance companies.

The objective of the AFC is to mobilise African capital and use it to provide pragmatic solutions to the continent’s major infrastructure and industrialisation needs. (Its only shareholder from beyond Africa is the Turk Exim Bank, a Turkish State agency, which invested in the AFC last year.)

“With our shared passion to elevate Africa’s instrumental role as an engine of global growth, I am pleased to welcome Rawbank as our newest equity partner,” affirmed AFC president and CEO Samaila Zubairu. “It is critical for African institutions to play a catalytic role as agents of transformation on the continent and these equity investments support AFC’s commitment to catalysing economic growth, value accretion, and industrial development in Africa.”

Rawbank’s total assets came to $4.14-billion in 2022. It is a private-sector enterprise, majority-owned by the Rawji family. The Rawbank investment into the AFC follows an investment into the latter by the DRC government in 2022.

“Rawbank’s investment in [the] AFC is a crucial step for our bank and for the [DRC] as a whole,” highlighted Rawbank CEO Mustafa Rawji. “It is an important step for us as our first equity investment in a multilateral financial institution, and we are confident that it will strengthen our bank’s financial capabilities, enabling us to finance large-scale projects that can transform the DRC’s economic landscape. We are proud to be associated with an institution that shares our vision of growth and sustainability.”

The AFC has already mobilised investments in the DRC worth more than $200-million. These have gone into the natural resources, power, transport and heavy industrial sectors. Recent AFC projects in the DRC include being a partner in the development of a 200 MW solar farm, partnering in the development of a mass transit system for the country’s capital, Kinshasa, and leading the development of the Lobito Corridor, linking Zambia and the DRC with the Angolan coastal city of Lobito. Further, the AFC has a near- to medium-term DRC investment pipeline worth more than $850-million.