By Sam Otuonye
As part of ongoing financial interventions in Algeria since becoming a full member of the Bank in 2022, African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has approved a US$ 200-million global revolving dual tranche facility in favour of Shoreline Power Company Limited (Shoreline) and its co-borrowers, including Arkad SpA, an Italian EPC contractor majority-owned by the Shoreline Group of Nigeria.
The facility will support Arkad’s contractual share in a US$ 980-million contract for the Hassi Bir Rekaiz (HBR) Field Development project in Algeria.
Approved in June 2026, the facility will support Arkad’s 44 per cent contractual share in one of Algeria’s largest upstream infrastructure contracts, the landmark US$980 million engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contract for the HBR Field Development Phase 2a project, awarded by Groupement Hassi Bir Rekaiz (GHBR), a joint venture between Sonatrach (Algeria), PTTEP (Thailand) and CEPSA (Spain).
This announcement builds on the momentum of the fourth edition of the Intra-Africa Trade Fair (IATF) held in Algeria in September 2025, which generated US$50 billion in trade and investment deals and further cemented the Fair’s position as a catalyst for intra-African commerce.
Afreximbank acted as sole mandated lead arranger and lender for the transaction, providing the US$ 200 million comprising a US$110-million one-off contract finance facility to support Arkad’s issuance of performance and advance payment guarantees and working capital requirements for the HBR Phase 2a EPC contract and a US$90-million revolving global facility to finance and support Shoreline and its affiliates in the bidding, construction and development of pipeline and infrastructure projects within Nigeria and other permitted jurisdictions.
The development of a new central processing facility for HBR Field Phase 2a, which the facility supports, is expected to lead to an increase in Algeria’s oil and gas production capacity from approximately 13,000 bpd to 50,000–60,000 bpd, generating significant foreign exchange for Sonatrach and the Algerian economy.
In addition, the facility is expected to support Arkad and the Shoreline Group in establishing a credible track record as a pan-African EPC contractor capable of executing sovereign-level energy projects, catalysing skills transfer and reducing dependence on non-African construction firms, while the success of the consortium of Arkad (Nigerian-owned, Italian) and Petrojet (Egyptian, state-owned) will represent a significant intra-African movement of capital, expertise, and engineering resources, demonstrating Africa’s growing capacity to manage and deliver complex EPC projects.
Structured under Afreximbank’s EPC Initiative, which is designed to provide African engineering and construction firms with the financial and non-financial instruments needed to compete for and execute large-scale infrastructure contracts across the continent and beyond, the transaction is expected to generate approximately 6,000 jobs and to catalyse regional supply-chain development in Algeria.
The transaction is a tangible outcome of the Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF) deal-making process and EPC twinning services at IATF2025 in Algiers, where Afreximbank supported the partnership between Arkad and Petrojet and then backed their successful participation in securing the HBR contract.
Welcoming the facility, Mrs. Kanayo Awani, Executive Vice President, Intra-African Trade Finance and Export Development, Afreximbank, described it as a prime example of the kind of support Afreximbank provides to African-owned engineering groups to compete and deliver at the highest levels.
“This transaction providing Shoreline Power Company Limited and Arkad SpA with the financing to execute this landmark US$ 980-million EPC contract in Algeria exemplifies our EPC Initiative and our Intra-African Trade Champions framework in action – enabling an African-owned engineering group to compete and deliver at the highest levels of global project execution,” Awani said.
“By providing the US$ 200 million in structured financing, we are not only supporting Algeria’s national energy infrastructure development but also advancing intra-African trade in high-value engineering and construction services among Nigeria, Italy, and Egypt. This is precisely the kind of transaction that demonstrates Africa’s growing industrial capability and its capacity to shape its own development agenda. Afreximbank remains committed to being the financing partner of choice for African champions that are building transformative infrastructure across our continent.”
The transaction is the first time Afreximbank has supported a Sub-Saharan African contractor in undertaking a major infrastructure project in North Africa, marking an important step toward deeper intra-African integration, enhanced cross-regional cooperation, and the creation of truly pan-African engineering champions.
