BARCLAYS Bank Zambia Plc has financed Maamba Collieries Limited’s (MCL) 300 megawatts coal fired power plant at a cost of US$828 million.

The financing would enable MCL to complete the construction of two by 150MW plants and the construction of the new transmission line to connect to the national power grid.

Barclays Bank Zambia managing director Saviour Chibiya said the construction of the 300MW coal fired plant would help alleviate the national electricity deficit describing it as a significant step towards diversifying power generation in the country.

“Barclays Bank Zambia Plc is proud to be a part of this important transaction which is a true landmark for Zambia.

“Our role as Financial Advisor, Book Runner, Mandated Lead Arranger, Global and Hedge Coordinator is demonstration of the Bank’s commitment to support the growth of the Energy sector in line with the National Development plan of the country,” he said in a statement.

Barclays Bank Plc was appointed Global Coordinator and Lead Mandated Lead Arranger, to act on behalf of the sponsors Nava Bharat (Singapore) Pte Ltd and ZCCM Investment Holdings Plc to raise the funds.

The project finance debt was raised via two portions , the first being US$ 365 million with ECA backed tranche supported by Sinosure which is the first project finance in Sub Sahara Africa.

The second part involved a US$150 million from Development Financial Institutions (DFI).

This project could pave the way for more Sinosure backed infrastructure transactions beyond the 300MW of new power capacity.

This project would contribute approximately 17 per cent to Zambia’s installed electricity generation capacity and in the process unlock economic growth potential in the region where current electrification rates were in the region of 20 per cent.

Mr Chibiya said it was expected that project financing in Africa would take a cue from this transaction of how deals could be structured covering multiple geographies, in the infrastructure space, which was the need of the hour in Africa.