Tunis — The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank Group approved a US$ 25 million equity investment in the Rising Africa Infrastructure Fund (RAIF or the Fund), which will make investments in Public-Private Partnership (PPP) projects that would cover not only concession-type projects for commercial infrastructure but also Private Finance Initiative (PFI) projects for social infrastructure.

The 15-year closed-end Fund is mobilizing US$ 500 million and will make equity and quasi-equity investments in greenfield projects in the following sectors: transportation, energy, water and sanitation, information and communication technologies, health, education, and sports and leisure. The Fund will focus on North, West and Central Africa but this does not preclude it from investing in other African countries. The Fund's investments are expected to contribute towards the efforts of the Bank's Regional Member Countries (RMCs) to achieve the Millennium Development Goals.

The Fund's objectives are in line with the Bank's vision and focus on developing infrastructure in Africa by promoting private sector participation. Furthermore, in catalyzing private capital for infrastructure projects, the Fund will also help to transfer skills to the Bank's RMCs.

The Fund will be managed by a certified asset management firm, Natixis Environnement & Infrastructures (NEI), which is a subsidiary of Natixis, a French investment bank.