Global law firm Norton Rose Fulbright has advised GuarantCo, which has been acting in collaboration with the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA), on the establishment of a new Nigerian entity, InfraCredit.

GuarantCo has provided a USD 50 million Callable Capital Facility to InfraCredit as part of its capital structure.

GuarantCo encourages infrastructure development in low income countries through the provision of credit guarantees that enable infrastructure projects to raise debt finance.

The purpose of InfraCredit is for the promotion and development of infrastructure in Nigeria through the issuance of highly rated local currency credit guarantees. GuarantCo is providing the Naira equivalent of USD50m of “second loss” contingent capital, in addition to their knowledge and best practice in the field.

The Norton Rose Fulbright team was led by partner Chris Brown, with assistance from associate Anne Desdoigts.

Chris Brown commented:

“We are delighted to have advised GuarantCo in helping to establish a Nigeria credit enhancement facility which will use the strength of its covenant to facilitate the use of local currency debt to finance local projects. Hopefully this will lead to more initiatives like this to tap into local currency debt markets to finance the infrastructure that is so badly needed.”