The 2020 Global Infrastructure Investor Awards were held during the first quarter of 2021 and featured categories such as Deal of the Year and Innovator of the Year. Awards were also granted to the best deals in specific sectors in regions such as Latin America, North America, and the Middle East and Africa.
Below is a look at the three major winners in the latter region.
Actis (Fund Manager of the Year)
A runner-up in the category in 2019, Actis won the award for Fund Manager of the Year at the Infrastructure Investor Awards 2020: Middle East and Africa. Actis is a leading investor in sustainable infrastructure with 18 offices worldwide, including one each in Egypt and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and more than $15 billion in assets under management.
It owns more than 100 portfolio companies and has invested in more than 50 countries. Actis won the aforementioned award in part due to closing nearly $3 billion on its fifth energy fund and committing in excess of $2 billion toward regional power projects with a combined capacity of 6GW.
The London, United Kingdom-based international investment firm, through the Actis 5 energy fund, is focusing on solar energy, combined cycle power, and wind power generation projects in the Middle East North Africa (MENA) region. While the majority of its investment activity in 2020 was directed to renewable projects in Africa, it has a long history of supporting projects in Egypt and the UAE.
Since launching its Cairo office more than 15 years ago, Actis has invested nearly $1 billion of equity in Egypt. It helped fund the 685MW Sidi Krir power plant in 2004 and, more recently, initiated the 250MW West Bakr wind power project. Actis formed a joint venture with Mainstream Renewable Power in 2014 to support Lekela Power in submitting a government tender for the project. Construction began in 2019 with operation expected to commence in September 2021. At that point, the wind project would provide 1,000GWhs of green energy per year.
Africa Infrastructure Investment Managers and AP Moller Capital finished second and third, respectively, for Fund Manager of the Year.
ADNOC Gas Pipeline Assets (Deal of the Year)
ADNOC Gas Pipeline Assets won the Deal of the Year for facilitating the largest infrastructure transaction of 2020. The six-partner consortium (Global Infrastructure Partners, OTPP, GIC, NH Investment & Securities, Snam, and Brookfield Asset Management) purchased a 49 percent stake in natural gas pipelines owned by the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company for $10 billion. The 20-year deal covers a 1,000km network in the UAE.
ADNOC Gas Pipeline now oversees pipelines in the country worth more than $20 billion that connect liquefied natural gas facilities to onshore refineries and offshore drilling fields. It operates one of the world’s biggest gas processing plants, through which it produces about 8 billion standard cubic feet per day.
“We are pleased to once again partner with some of the world’s leading global infrastructure and institutional investors in what marks the region’s largest energy infrastructure investment,” said His Excellency Dr. Sultan Al Jaber, UAE Minister of State and ADNOC Group CEO, following the deal. “This milestone transaction demonstrates the trust and confidence placed in ADNOC by the global investment community and unlocks significant value from our pipeline portfolio, following last year’s groundbreaking oil pipeline infrastructure investment partnership.”
ADNOC Gas Pipeline also won Energy Deal of the Year for the aforementioned transaction. It won Deal of the Year in 2019 for selling a 40 percent share of its pipelines to KKR and BlackRock for $4 billion. West African port platform and MetroFibre were runners-up in the 2020 Deal of the Year, while Azito and Fujairah F3 plant I finished second and third, respectively, in the 2020 Energy Deal of the Year.
Ghoubet Wind Farm (Renewables Deal of the Year)
The Ghoubet wind farm was the recipient of the Renewables Deal of the Year. Financing for the first-ever renewable energy project in Djibouti was facilitated by Africa Finance Corporation, FMO, and Climate Fund Managers. These partners formed Djibouti Wind to oversee the project, which encompasses 15 turbines and has a 25-year agreement with the African nation’s government. The project cost $250 million.
The Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park finished second in this category. Currently in the second phase of development, the PV solar plant will be the largest of its kind in the Middle East upon completion in 2030. Located on a 48-square-kilometer parcel of land east of Dubai, it will have an energy generation capacity of 1GW and provide sufficient electricity to power 30,000 homes.
ACWA Power and TSK, which are developing the project, own a 49 percent equity stake, while Dubai Electricity and Water Authority own the remaining 51 percent. The project is expected to cost $3.2 billion. The Guinea solar development project finished third in the Renewables Deal of the Year category.