The Africa Finance Corporation (AFC), a leading provider of infrastructure solutions on the continent, has extended a €100 million facility to Mota-Engil Africa, the regional branch of the global construction firm Mota-Engil Group. The five-year term facility will finance the procurement of equipment, materials, and infrastructure for three new gold mining projects in Côte d’Ivoire and Mali.
The investment is set to strengthen Mota-Engil Africa’s footprint in West Africa’s expanding gold mining sector. Gold remains a crucial export for both countries, driving employment and generating valuable foreign exchange earnings. These new contracts are expected to provide a significant boost to the region’s mining sector, unlocking mineral potential that has largely gone untapped.
This development marks another chapter in the long-standing partnership between AFC and Mota-Engil Africa, which began in 2016. AFC has served as an advisor on a number of major infrastructure projects involving the company, including Rwanda’s new Bugesera International Airport, Nigeria’s $2 billion Kano-Maradi rail project, and Angola’s 1,289-kilometre Lobito rail corridor, where AFC acts as financial adviser to the Lobito Atlantic Railway consortium comprising Mota-Engil Africa, Trafigura, and Vecturis SA.
AFC President and CEO, Samaila Zubairu, described the deal as a testament to the strength of AFC’s relationship with Mota-Engil Africa and their shared ambition to drive sustainable economic progress across the continent.
“Gold remains a vital contributor to the economies of many African nations. Through this investment, we aim to support export revenues, employment, and industrial development in West Africa,” Zubairu said.
Mota-Engil Africa Chairman Manuel Mota celebrated the financing milestone, saying: “This successful closing represents confidence in our project pipeline and in our team’s ability to deliver. Our partnership with AFC continues to thrive as we pursue transformative projects across the region.”
This latest investment forms part of AFC’s wider strategy to broaden its contractor finance portfolio across Africa. The corporation aims to support key public and private sector initiatives while enabling both on- and off-balance sheet financing solutions. AFC also recently acted as the commercial financier for the 186 Metallic Bridges project in Angola, undertaken by Conduril Engenharia S.A.
Since its establishment in 2007, AFC has positioned itself as a vital investor in Africa’s infrastructure development. Blending financial and technical expertise, the organisation has focused on strategic sectors such as energy, transport, industrial development, and telecommunications. To date, AFC counts 45 member states and has invested over $15 billion in 36 countries.
