Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development AKFED

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AKFED is one of the constitutional entity of the Ismaili community whose mandate is to invest in socio economic projects activities and companies globally. The primary objective is a developmental commitment, and not Profit. Any Profit is reinvested. This is in accordance with the Ismaili constitution and Farmans of Imam - AgaKhan

http://www.ismaili.net/html/modules.php ... 8400#68400

https://1drv.ms/i/s!AnsqfmWHeYTZgxIN6rM2diFE0aY7

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Seacom to double capacity on surging reportedly for $603 million.

AKFED has applied for regulatory permission to buy 100% of Seacom, the subsea cable that links the east coast of Africa to India and Egypt.

The Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development (Akfed) has applied to the Competition Commission of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) for approval to buy the cable and the company that owns it for the equivalent of US$603 million.

Akfed is already a shareholder in Seacom and it said it wants to fully enter the very high speed market which has experienced strong growth in Africa with the coronavirus crisis.

Comesa says it is conducting an investigation into the Akfed acquisition offer. It will determine whether the transaction is likely to prevent or lessen competition significantly and harm the public interest.

More at
https://www.capacitymedia.com/articles/ ... e-for-603m

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A list of the AKFED companies


Afghanistan Telecom Development Company Afghanistan Ltd (Roshan)Kabul GSM mobile telecommunications

Tourism Promotion Services (Afghanistan) Ltd
Kabul Tourism promoter, hotel owner and manager

Burkina Faso
Faso Coton s.a
Ouagadougou
Cotton ginning and agricultural extension services

Fasoplast s.a. Ouagadougou Production of polypropylene bags and plastic moulded products

Sosuco s.a. Banfora
Sugar production/Sugar cane plantation

Canada IPS Industrial Promotion Services Ltd Toronto
Venture Capital company

T&T Honda
Calgary & Edmonton
Automobile dealer

Côte d'Ivoire
Industrial Promotion Services (West Africa) s.a.

Abidjan Development institution
Azito Energie s.a.
Abidjan Power generation

Cajou des Savanes s.a. Bouaké Processing of cashew nuts

Chimtec s.a Abidjan
Marketing company (chemicals)

Groupe Fibako-Ivoirembal s.a. Bouaké
Production of sisal and synthetic cordage, polypropylene cloth and bags

Filtisac s.a. Abidjan Production of jute and polypropylene bags, and other plastic packaging

Ivoire Coton s.a. Abidjan Cotton ginneries and agricultural extension services

India
Development Credit Bank Ltd Mumbai Banking

Kenya
Industrial Promotion Services (Kenya) Ltd Nairobi Development institution

African Leather Industries Ltd Thika Value addition to produce finished leather products

Allfruit EPZ Ltd Nairobi Yellow Passion fruit and Mango concentrate processing

Allpack Industries Ltd Nairobi Manufacture of high quality corrugated carton packaging and polypropylene bags

Alltez EPZ Ltd Nairobi Manufacture of garments

Botanical Extracts EPZ Ltd Athi River Production of Artemisinin

Farmer’s Choice Ltd Nairobi Meat processing

Frigoken Ltd Nairobi Vegetable processing for export

Kamyn Industries Ltd MombasaManufacture of hosiery

Leather Industries of Kenya Ltd Thika Processing of raw hides to finished leather

Premier Food Industries Ltd Nairobi Food processor of sauces, jams, canned vegetables and juices (concentrate and ready to drink)

Tsavo Power Company Ltd Mombasa Power generation

Wire Products Ltd Nairobi Manufacture of steel and allied products

Tourism Promotion Services Ltd Nairobi Tourism Promotion

Tourism Promotion Services (Management) Ltd Nairobi Manager of tourism facilities

Diamond Trust Bank Kenya Ltd Nairobi Banking

The Jubilee Insurance Company Ltd Nairobi Life and general insurance

Property Development and Management Ltd Nairobi Property owner/manager

Nation Media Group Ltd Nairobi Print media and broadcasting

Kyrgyz Republic
Kyrgyz Investment and Credit Bank Ltd

Bishkek Investment and credit banking

Mauritius
SEACom Ltd
Port Louis
Submarine & terrestrial fibre optic cable operator (on the Eastern Seaboard o Africa)

Jubilee Insurance (Mauritius) Ltd Port Louis Life and general insurance

Mozambique

Hotel Polana Ltd Maputo Tourism promoter, hotel owner

Moztex s.a. Maputo Garment manufacturer

Pakistan Industrial Promotion Services (Pakistan) Ltd Karachi Development institution

Tourism Promotion Services (Pakistan) Ltd Karachi Tourism promoter, hotel owner and manager

HBL (Habib Bank Ltd)
Karachi Banking

Jubilee General Insurance Company Ltd Karachi General insurance

Jubilee Life Insurance Company Ltd Karachi Life insurance

Rwanda
Tourism Promotion Services (Rwanda) Ltd
Kigali Tourism Promoter, hotel owner

Senegal
Cofisac s.a. Dakar Production of polypropylene bags

Fumoa s.a. Dakar
Production of metal drums and plastic moulded products

Switzerland Industrial Promotion Services s.a.
Geneva
Management services

Serena Tourism Promotion Services s.a. Geneva Tourism management services

Tajikistan
Indigo Tajikistan Cjsc
Dushanbe GSM mobile telecommunications

PamirEnergy Ojsc Khorog Power generation and distribution

Tourism Promotion Services (Tajikistan) Ojsc Dushanbe Tourism promoter, hotel owner and manager

Tanzania
Moshi Leather Industries Ltd Moshi Processing of raw hides to finished leather

TLL Printing and Packaging Ltd Dar es Salaam Commercial printing and packaging, corrugated cartons, multi-wall sacks and paper mill

Tourism Promotion Services (Tanzania) Ltd Dar es Salaam Tourism promoter, hotel lodge owner and manager

Tourism Promotion Services (Zanzibar) Ltd Zanzibar Tourism promoter, hotel owner and manager

Diamond Trust Bank Tanzania Ltd Dar es Salaam Banking

The Jubilee Insurance Company of Tanzania Ltd Dar es Salaam General insurance

Mwananchi Communications Ltd Dar es Salaam Print media and radio

Uganda
Bujagali Energy Ltd Jinja Hydro power generation (grid tied)

Kampala Pharmaceuticals Industries Ltd Kampala Manufacture of pharmaceutical products

Leather Industries of Uganda Ltd Kampala Processing of raw skins and hides to finished leather

Uganda Fishnet Manufacturers Ltd Kampala Manufacture of fishnets

West Nile Rural Elecrification Co Kampala Rural electrification (off grid utility)

Diamond Jubilee Investment Trust Uganda Ltd Kampala Investment company

Diamond Trust Bank Uganda Ltd Kampala Banking

Diamond Trust Properties Uganda Ltd Kampala Property owner/manager

The Jubilee Insurance Company of Uganda Ltd Kampala Life and general insurance

Jubilee Investments Company Ltd Kampala Property owner/manager

The Monitor Publications Ltd Kampala Print media and radio

Tourism Promotion Services Kampala Tourism promoter, hotel owner and manager

(source AKFED - AKDN - 15 Aug 2020 - All the AKFED companies or their Boards and senior executive management teams should be but are not on the AKFED- AKDN websites

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Seacom is a $650 million project - Seacom began about 9 years ago and was launched in October 2015. Seacom is a submarine cable operator, which has a network of submarine and terrestrial high-speed fibre-optic cable serving East and West coasts of Africa.

The shareholders are
1. Aga Khan community entity - Aga Khan Foundation - AKFED 30%
2. Remgro 30%
3. Sanlam 15%
4. Convergence partners 15%
5. Brian Herlihy 10%

Loan from NedBank - $ 75 million when the project started.

CEO Byron Clatterbuck said: “We are looking for partners through acquisitions.’ . “We are backed by some big players, & the war chest is unlimited.”

He said that acquisition targets would be in markets where Seacom already has a presence. That is South Africa and Kenya today.

The head of Seacom’s enterprise segment, Grant Parker, said 90% of the clients are in South Africa.

The group, which has a staff compliment of 25 people in South Africa. The original funding/ shareholders were reported to be

1. Industrial Promotion Services 26.25%. (AKFED) USD 75 million
2. VenFin Limited (25%) USD 75 million
3. Herakles Telecom LLC - 23.75% USD 75 million
4. Convergence Partners (12.5%) USD 37.5 million
5. Shanduka Group (12.5%) USD 37.5 million

The remaining $350 million will be Loans, syndicated through NED Bank, and others (who may include some Ismaili community's other entities)

https://businesstech.co.za/news/it-serv ... -business/

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/ismailim ... ent=safari

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Speech By His Highness The Aga Khan


Bismillah-ir-Rahman-ir-Rahim

Your Excellency President Museveni of the Republic of Uganda
The Right Honourable Prime Minister
Honourable Ministers
Excellencies
Members of the Diplomatic Corps
Distinguished Guests

What an immense privilege it is to be present at this great beginning - the inauguration of what has instantly become one of Africa's finest hotels, the Kampala Serena. And what a joy it is to share in this moment with all of you - the people who made it possible.

Among us today are those who dreamed the dream of developing Ugandan tourism many years ago. Here also are those from the halls of government, from private business and from the institutions of civil society who developed the financial and legal arrangements which under-gird this project. Also present are many of the architects and artists, designers and engineers, construction workers and managers, hotel staff, volunteers, and so many others whose work has turned our hopes into tangible reality.

We are deeply indebted to you all.

Today’s ceremony marks the culmination of a long process. My own interest in Ugandan tourism goes back at least to 1968, when we first acquired development sites on what was called the old safari circuit. It was thirteen years ago that we identified the Nile Hotel as a potential development site. And it was three years ago that our tender offer for the Nile Hotel was accepted.

I remember how pleased we were at that time with the powerful example set by the Ugandan Government's Privatization Unit when it insisted on a transparent and professional tender process. Today, we again express our appreciation to the President and the Government of Uganda for providing the enabling environment which has allowed this project to flourish.

Once our agreement was reached, the next step was to achieve what our bid document promised. Under the direction of our Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development, and its Tourism Promotion Services group, that work was accomplished in record time - in 17 whirlwind months. During this period, we spent approximately one and a half million US dollars per month - rehabilitating, extending and transforming the old Nile Hotel. Another three months has now been spent in streamlining its operations. The result is a hotel complex which is, both in form and function, one of the outstanding tourism facilities in all of Africa - indeed, in all of the developing world.

So that is something of the historical context of the Kampala Serena project. But let me also say a word about its organizational context. For this new hotel is only one of 17 Serena properties which now brighten the African landscape - in Kenya, Tanzania, Zanzibar, Mozambique, and now Uganda.

This hospitality group began in the early 1970’s with just four units. We hope and plan that its growth will continue, in Uganda and in other places, including Rwanda. Our intention is that the model we have adopted elsewhere in the region will also be applied here in this country - so that this major new hotel in the capital city can be followed, as soon as the necessary allocations are granted, by a quality circuit of new resorts and safari lodges in the Ugandan countryside. When that happens, a new East African travel circuit will be completed - featuring world class, state-of-the-art facilities, comprising a unique array of inspiring attractions, and offering a holiday experience "second-to-none".

This growing African enterprise, in turn, is part of a larger Serena presence, comprising 25 facilities in eight countries in the developing world. The newest of these opened in Kabul, Afghanistan, exactly one year ago this week. And just two weeks ago, we dedicated the foundation for a new Serena Hotel in Dushanbe, in Tajikistan.

Let me continue, then, with a word about Serena’s strategic and philosophical background.

In all of these places, the Serena projects exemplify a larger strategy. In all of these places, our goal is not merely to build an attractive building or to fill its rooms with visitors, but also to make a strategic investment which many private investors might be reluctant to make, but which promises to produce a magnificent multiplier effect as its impact ripples through the local communities.

The multiplier effect is in part an economic one. It is measured in jobs - created in building, maintaining and operating the new facility. The impact is measured by the flow of visitors and their resources - and by the investments they are encouraged to make. It is measured by the returns it generates for local investors, as our projects achieve stability and their shares are placed on local stock exchanges. It is also measured in the motivating effect a successful new enterprise almost inevitably has on other local enterprises.

But these ripple effects need not be limited to the economic sector. Their impact can also be a social and a cultural one, as this project works to re-enforce the values of hospitality and courtesy, of excellence and efficiency, of community and confidence, of self reliance and self improvement. We are proud that our projects exemplify the highest standards of corporate governance and human resource development. We also believe that, through the creative design of the hotel and through the activities it supports, this effort will help to nourish cultural pride, strengthen artistic expression, and renew traditional values.

But even as it embraces rich traditions of the past, this project also looks to an exciting future. For the hospitality industry, one of the oldest in the world, is the symbol of a bold new world, in which global connection, global travel, and global coordination will be a way of life in virtually every community. The Kampala Serena Hotel, like many of its sister projects, will be a place where the local and the global regularly intersect - enriching the lives of all who participate in this process.

Let me conclude with a word about the development process in Africa - as I have seen it emerge now over nearly fifty years as Imam of the Ismaili Muslim community. I came to this position in 1957, a moment when the colonial era was about to end in Africa, and I have been a close observer and an active participant in the region ever since.

For two generations now, those who care about African development have been seeking an important key, searching for the best way to improve the quality of human life by advancing the pace of economic development. One of the most promising outcomes of that search was the creation of a new set of venture capital institutions - ready to invest in projects which traditional private investors were less likely to support.

It is worth recalling, candidly, the several good reasons why private investors were often reluctant supporters of African initiatives: political instability, currency fluctuations, a lack of qualified manpower, low rates of return - all of these factors contributed to the problem. But the biggest risk was often the fear that the projects would be too closely controlled by inexperienced governments - and perhaps even nationalized at some point along the way. Given all of these uncertainties, much of the investment which did occur came from sources which put more emphasis on human development goals - and less emphasis on economic profit. Among them, for many years now, has been the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development - or AKFED as it has come to be known.

These uncertainties have eased to some extent in more recent times, and in some cases the investment climate has improved. But at the same time, the requirements of the international investment community have also become more rigorous. Some of these agencies have given up their development agenda and act as fully commercial financial institutions - others are now increasingly concerned with new development conditionalities - including human rights, environmental protection, and the practices of good governance, as well as rates of financial return.

Countries like Uganda will have to take all these trends into account as they plan their economic futures. And so will institutions such as AKFED. We must be certain, for example, that our growing range of co-investors can meet their financial goals. But at the same time, we are determined to keep clearly in view our traditional commitment to developmental rather than purely financial goals. We believe this makes AKFED a particularly attractive and effective partner in projects which will work to improve the quality of life for the peoples of the developing world.

This is true because AKFED is ready to take justified investment risks - to a greater extent than many other investors. We are ready to be patient investors, with a far-ranging vision. We are long-term players, maintaining our presence even during periods of economic or political turbulence.

But even as we continue this approach, we must give increasingly rigorous thought to how each local project will affect national development. We must look, in short, for places where our leverage can be greatest. This is why the Kampala Serena Hotel project is so important to us. For - as we look at the countries of East Africa - and at Uganda, in particular - we believe that the travel and leisure sector stands out as one that offers enormous unrealized potential.

AKFED has identified other priorities as well, of course. Basic infrastructure needs are high on our list - as is evidenced in Uganda by both the large Bujagali power development project and the innovative Rural Electrification project in the West Nile region. Another priority is to foster indigenous financial institutions - not only in commercial banking, but also in fields such as micro credit, lease finance, micro insurance and other financial products. Flexibility must be a constant watchword in a world which is changing at an ever-accelerating pace.

Let me conclude by underscoring, once again, a central point - which I hope will be remembered as decision makers in developing countries plan for the future. AKFED will continue to be as supportive and creative as possible in responding to the evolving demands of developing economies. Yes, we must look with care at the dividends we can produce for the co-investors in our projects. But in the end, what will count most for AKFED is what it can contribute to the quality of human life in the cities, provinces, countries and regions in which we function. That will be our most important dividend.

Thank you.

Video Clip 2006 https://youtu.be/ByJkClVinG0

AKFED website https://www.akdn.org/our-agencies/aga-k ... evelopment

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Air Italy (previously Meridiana fly), was owned 51% by AKFED and 49% by Qatar Airways. And went into Liquidation in February 2020.

“Air Italy, announced it was to stop flying this month. In a statement issued on February 11, Air Italy said it was being placed into voluntary liquidation, following a meeting of its shareholders. For the following two weeks its scheduled flights will be operated by other, unnamed carriers, but from February 25 even those services will be cancelled.

Qatar Airways bought its minority stake in September 2017, in what at the time was called Meridiana, with losses.

The airline was relaunched as Air Italy the following year. Since then, the Doha-based carrier says it helped Air Italy expand its fleet, injected capital into the business and assisted with efforts to expand its route network and improve its in-flight service.

In a statement, Qatar Airways said it had been prepared to extend further support to Air Italy, saying it “has continually reaffirmed its commitment, as a minority shareholder, to continue investing in the company,” and adding that it was “ready once again to play its part in supporting the growth of the airline, but this would only have been possible with the commitment of all shareholders.”

It seems it was unable to persuade its fellow owner of the merits of its position. A separate statement issued by Alisarda, which is controlled by the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development, suggests it saw little sense in putting more money into such a troubled enterprise. It pointed to “repeated losses and persistent negative market and industry conditions” and said “the airline has seen a progressive worsening of results.”

After posting a loss of €40 million ($43.6 million) in 2017, Air Italy saw its losses jump to €160 million the following year and an anticipated €230 million in 2019, according to Alisarda. Over the same period, revenues were heading in the opposite direction, falling from €350 million in 2017 to an expected €330 million for 2019.
After a review by independent analysts, Alisarda said there was a “lack of tangible perspectives for any improvement going forward.”

https://www.forbes.com/sites/dominicdud ... -collapse/

https://www.businessinsider.com/air-ita ... tcy-2020-2

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Bujagali Hydro Electric Power - Uganda - AKFED/ IPS

Industrial Promotion Services (IPS) the industrial and infrastructure arm of the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development (“AKFED”) and Sithe Global (part of the Blackstone Group) are the original sponsors for the project.

Currently, the Company has two main shareholders i.e., Bujagali Holding Power Company Limited (“BHPCL”) and SN Power Invest Netherlands (“SN Power”). They represent affiliates of the IPS and SN Power (Norway)


News Reports -2020

The government of Uganda is quietly exploring plans to buy back Bujagali dam, a major hydroelectricity project, from a consortium of private investors and developers in a move that would constitute a major reversal in public policy.
“The high cost of electricity in Uganda has reached unsustainable levels that are severely eroding local industries’ competitiveness and domestic consumers’ disposable income,” says a confidential brief seen by this newspaper that seeks to justify the buy-back.

By 2019 government of Uganda “will only control 8.75 per cent of the country’s electricity generation capacity, thus it will not be able to effectively impact the overall electricity tariffs that are currently spiralling out of control,” adds the brief.
Harrison Mutikanga, the head of the government-owned Uganda Electricity Generation Company, confirmed that discussions were ongoing to explore the viability of the proposal. Sparks fly over Umeme’s failure to supply power to businesses
Located on the River Nile near Jinja, the dam is owned by Bujagali Energy Ltd (BEL), a special-purpose vehicle owned in turn by Industrial Promotion Services, which is part of the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development, and SG Bujagali Holdings, an affiliate of Sithe Global Power, LLC, part of Blackstone, the US-based private-equity fund.
The Uganda government holds a 4.63 per cent stake in BEL, which has a 30-year build-own-operate-transfer concession over the dam.
Initially delayed by environmental concerns and allegations of corruption, Bujagali was eventually built as a public-private partnership to ameliorate the electricity crisis that Uganda faced in the past decade, and which had forced the government to resort to expensive emergency thermal electricity generation.
Although much cheaper than thermal, the cost of power generated from Bujagali is, at $0.11 per kilowatt-hour, higher than many projects of similar size. Promoters of the reverse-privatisation proposal believe that the cost of finance and the return on investment contribute to the end-user tariffs.
Effective control
“Short of the country raising funds to develop hydro-electric power projects of its own (that will inevitably involve painstaking procurement, significant construction risk and a protracted gestation period), the only other option to increase government’s effective control over the overall average electricity tariffs is for government to acquire existing hydro-electric plants, that are viable for the long-term, owned by private investors,” says the project plan.
Promoters of the idea said that President Yoweri Museveni “understands the need for this measure and is supportive of its application.”
In early January, President Museveni appeared on the Capital Gang radio talk show in Kampala and expressed concern about the cost of electricity produced at the dam. “We still have issues with electricity prices because of the distortion caused by the Bujagali project,” he said. “The concession for Bujagali power was not negotiated well. We will sort it out.”
The proposals, seen by The EastAfrican and dated January 2015, are the outcome of discussions at the “highest levels of government,” according to a source familiar with the matter.
It is understood that President Museveni would like to see a generation tariff of around $0.05 per kilowatt-hour — less than half the Bujagali rate — according to several sources familiar with the industry.
Reducing the cost of finance as well as the profit margin under government hands would reduce the Bujagali tariff, according to the promoters of the proposal. Uganda has an average end-user tariff of around $0.17 per kilowatt-hour, which is higher than both Tanzania and Ethiopia.
The two public power dams, Kiira and Nalubaale, have an output of 380MW, less than half the total installed capacity. Proponents of the reverse-privatisation say foreign direct investment in power projects such as Bujagali comes with “hidden costs” of international finance that are passed on to end-users.
“This has fundamentally adverse consequences for Uganda as over 51 per cent of the country’s installed electricity generation capacity is privately owned,” they argue.
Commissioned in October 2012 and with just under three decades of almost guaranteed income ahead of it, Bujagali is an attractive target. Its profit after tax rose from about $32 million in 2011 to $66 million in 2013, according to audited figures provided by the government.
The briefing paper shows that the promoters of the reverse-privatisation plan believe it would cost about $750 million for the Uganda government to acquire the 95.37 per cent equity in Bujagali it does not own.
However, given rising public debt and a long list of mega infrastructure projects in the pipeline including new power dams, railway lines, an oil refinery and pipeline, it is not clear how much financial space the government would have to pay for the dam.
The EastAfrican has learnt that one option currently under exploration is to tap into the $1.6 billion in assets sitting with the National Social Security Fund (NSSF).
Richard Byarugaba, the NSSF managing director, said preliminary conversations had taken place and that while no firm decisions have been reached — and won’t be reached until a firm business case is made — the fund “is always looking to diversify its investment portfolio” and energy is “one of the areas we are always looking at.”
NSSF is a notable shareholder in Umeme, which runs the electricity distribution concession in Uganda.
The idea, however, is not universally supported. Frederick Kabagambe-Kaliisa, the Permanent Secretary in the Energy Ministry, said the priority in the sector should be building new power dams in the pipeline, not buying back existing projects.
Construction is underway on a 600MW power dam at Karuma and a 187MW dam at Isimba, both on the River Nile. Although funded by Chinese loans, the dams will be owned and operated by UEGCL, on behalf of the government, and are expected to reduce the average generation tariff.
Another option proposed by the promoters is an international infrastructure bond, similar to the one issued by Kenya last year, to raise probably more than a billion dollars.
However, in an interview with this newspaper before she left the Cabinet last week, finance minister Maria Kiwanuka said her priority was to raise finances for new energy and transport infrastructure projects in the pipeline, not existing projects.
There are currently no public plans for such a bond issue but the minister said spending any proceeds on this project would be “throwing new money at old problems.”
While officials in the Finance Ministry acknowledge the high cost of finance for Bujagali, many privately admit that it accelerated the completion of the long-delayed project while freeing up almost $900 million for investment in other sectors of the economy.
Apart from the financing challenges, the Bujagali proposal is likely to encounter resistance from other quarters as it represents a turn-around in public policy.
As part of its package of reforms agreed upon with the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, the Uganda government privatised public utilities with the understanding that this would increase efficiency.
As a result, the government-owned Uganda Electricity Board was unbundled into generation, transmission and distribution arms, and some assets concessioned out, including the distribution network and the operation of a legacy power plant at the Owen Falls Dam in Jinja.
The government is keen to attract more private-sector participation in major infrastructure projects and a Public-Private Partnership Bill is currently before parliament.
The reverse-privatisation proposal is likely to raise concern among foreign investors looking to co-build projects in the country, including in the energy sector.
Investors in the energy sector were shaken by a parliamentary resolution last year ordering the government to terminate the 20-year concession granted to Umeme to manage the power distribution network on the basis that it was poorly negotiated and largely in favour of the private company, despite punitive fines for such an early termination.
Neither Energy Minister Irene Muloni, nor officials from BEL were available for comment.
Butwith a 19 per cent return on investment (slightly lower than Umeme’s 20 per cent) the investors in the project are unlikely to welcome the reverse-privatisation bid and it would possibly force the government into a hostile takeover bid.
Under the terms of the deal, Bujagali will be transferred back to the government for one US dollar in 27 years if the reverse-privatisation does not get off the ground.
In January 2012, the Ugandan government abolished electricity subsidies paid to power generators to cushion consumers, after spending $624 million on rebates from 2005, with Ms Muloni noting that the money freed up would be spent on expanding generation capacity.

http://www.nape.or.ug/news-events/lates ... -investors


https://youtu.be/lrViXeoFJaU


News Report 2018 - FT

Refinancing was approved by IFC in 2018. “Washington, D.C., March 8, 2018—The Board of Directors of IFC and MIGA have approved a plan to refinance more than $400 million of loans to Bujagali Energy Limited and provide up to $423 million in guarantees in support of the Bujagali hydropower project, with the aim to help reduce electricity costs in Uganda, where only one in five people have access to electricity. “
“This extension in tenor will reduce Bujagali Energy Limited’s annual debt-servicing payments and make it possible for the company to reduce the cost of electricity produced by the hydropower plant over the next five years. The Government of Uganda has committed to fully pass on these cost savings to consumers, in support of their goals to spur economic growth and expand access to energy. “https://ifcextapps.ifc.org/ifcext/press ... 4A007D3E80

BBC News - 2018

The World Bank is poised to decide whether to refinance loans on a $900m hydroelectric power plant in Uganda despite criticism from the bank’s own watchdog that workers’ rights were violated on the project.

The 250MW Bujagali dam, which is part-owned by an affiliate of the Blackstone Group, the private equity investor, has been presented as a successful example of the World Bank’s push for public-private partnerships to fund infrastructure in the developing word. This is despite complaints from campaigners that the Ugandan governmenthas ridden roughshod over environmental safeguards.

One bank official who did not want to be identified, said it was “a poster child with some pretty nasty blemishes”.

A bank-affiliated ombudsman, which investigates complaints into projects undertaken by the International Finance Corporation, the World Bank’s private-sector arm, last year found that workers on the project who had been permanently injured “were not provided with appropriate compensation”.

It said “significant numbers of households whose land was acquired . . . likely did not receive compensation at full replacement cost”, while others had payments delayed.

As the project moved towards the next phase, the IFC should consult with affected communities and workers and “make specific time-bound commitments”, the ombudsman said.

The IFC, the lead investor in Bujagali, is meeting on Thursday to discuss the refinancing deal. The move has prompted campaigners to press the IFC to address some of the alleged problems.

“This is an unusual opportunity to get a second bite at the apple,” said Josh Klemm, policy director for International Rivers, an NGO that campaigns for river protection. He urged the IFC to put money aside to address outstanding compensation claims.

Critics have accused the bank of failing to enforce an agreement with the Ugandan government to preserve a stretch of the Nile as an “environmental offset” to compensate for damage caused by the hydroelectric plant.

Construction of the dam, completed in 2012, submerged the Bujagali waterfalls and flooded an environmentally sensitive area. To offset this, the Ugandan government agreed to preserve in perpetuity another section of the Nile around Kalagala.

But it has since given the go-ahead for the Chinese-built Isimba dam, which will shortly flood part of that area too, a decision that campaigners say makes a mockery of the original offset deal.

“There was a clear agreement by the government to protect this area,” said Mr Klemm. “The World Bank has been complicit in impacting Kalagala and not ensuring its own legal obligations are being met.”

The IFC should use the opportunity presented by the refinancing to press Uganda to lower the proposed height of the Isimba dam to limit damage to Kalagala, he said.

https://www.ft.com/content/9218ca3e-214 ... a1f72c2c11

[mahebubchatur]

[quote="mahebubchatur"]Bujagali Hydro Electric Power - Uganda - AKFED/ IPS

Industrial Promotion Services (IPS) the industrial and infrastructure arm of the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development (“AKFED”) and Sithe Global (part of the Blackstone Group) are the original sponsors for the project.

Currently, the Company has two main shareholders i.e., Bujagali Holding Power Company Limited (“BHPCL”) and SN Power Invest Netherlands (“SN Power”). They represent affiliates of the IPS and SN Power (Norway)

Bujagali foundation stone Ceremony - 2007


At the foundation stone ceremony Hazar Imam - #AgaKhan said

“The Bujugali project was not merely a desirable option as we began to examine it a few years ago. It was a fundamental necessity.

But just imagine for a moment the transformation that can take place when the cost of power is cut by more than half, as it will be in the early stages of this project, and then is later cut in half again. Think of the difference it will make when the supply of power is adequate to the needs, and massive load-shedding becomes a distant memory.”

Bujagali alone will not accomplish our goals, of course. The energy challenge - here and elsewhere - will require a multi-faceted response, including bold innovations in the way we both produce and consume energy.

I believe that the Bujagali project will propel a great chain of positive developments - an exciting upward spiral.”

Full speech 21August 2007

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