Construction of 100km section of the Western Railway Line in Ghana (running from Takoradi port to Huni Valley) will move forward now that Deutsche Bank and Investec, Swedish Export Credit Corporation (SEK) and Export Credit Agency (EKN) as well as Export Credit Insurance Corporation of South Africa (ECIC) have agreed to finance the construction.
Known as the Takoradi-Kumasi railway line, The Western Railway line runs for a total of 339 kilometers from the port of Takoradi in western Ghana to Kumasi in southern Ghana.
Financing for the project is comprised of two loans in favor of the Ministry of Finance of Ghana. The first, backed by EKN, is an approximately US$ 618 Million loan that will cover the bulk of the cost.
Arranged and structured by Investec, the second loan of about US$ 89 Million will cover the down payment on the EKN backed financing. It is backed by ECIC and funded by a syndicate of Investec Bank Ltd, Rand Merchant Bank, a division of FirstRand Bank Limited, Nedbank Limited (London branch) and Sanlam life Insurance Limited (acting through its Sanlam Capital Markets division).
The Deutsche Bank acted as mandated lead arranger (MLA) for each loan.
The engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract for this project was awarded to Amandi Investment.
Bluebird Finance & Projects is acting as the lead financial adviser for the EPC.
