To support sustainable infrastructure investment across Africa that enhances connectivity with Asia and/or mitigates the effects of climate change, and to mobilize additional private and institutional capital for African infrastructure through an equity investment in the Africa50 Infrastructure Acceleration Fund I LP (IAF or the "Fund”).
The Project is a commitment to the Fund, a pan-African infrastructure private equity fund managed by Africa50 Infrastructure Partners I Manager Ltd (the “Fund Manager”). The Fund invests in infrastructure opportunities across Africa with the objective of addressing infrastructure financing gaps across African markets while generating commercial risk-adjusted returns.
The Fund, in turn, is sponsored by Africa50, a sovereign-backed infrastructure investment platform established in July 2015 by 20 founding African economies alongside the African Development Bank (AfDB). Its investor base has since expanded to 38 total shareholders, comprising 33 African economies, the AfDB, South Africa’s Public Investment Corporation (PIC), and two central banks: the Central Bank of West African States, Bank Al-Maghrib (the central bank of Morocco), and most recently, African Reinsurance Corporation.
Applicable Policy and Categorization: AIIB’s Environmental and Social Policy (ESP), including the Environmental and Social Exclusion List (ESEL) and Environmental and Social Standards (ESSs), is applicable to the Project. ESS1 (Environmental and Social Assessment and Management) and ESS2 (Land Acquisition and Involuntary Resettlement) are triggered, ESS3 is not expected to be triggered as investments involving impacts on Indigenous Peoples are excluded from the AIIB-financed sub-projects. The Project is categorized as FI (Financial Intermediary). AIIB's investment has been made in the Project, which will, in turn, invest in across eligible sub-projects in Africa. Any higher risk activities including category A and B with high-risks will be subjected to the AIIB’s prior review including its assessment, meaningful consultation and information disclosure in compliance with AIIB's ESP requirements. AIIB has the right to excuse any sub-project that it deems unfit, particularly Category A sub-projects or B with high-risk sub-projects and activities with unacceptable environmental and social (ES) risks.
Environmental and Social instruments. Primary Instrument of the Project is the Environmental and Social Management System (ESMS). AIIB has delegated to the Fund Manager the responsibility for the selection, appraisal, approval, and monitoring of sub-projects financed using AIIB proceeds. This delegation is carried out in accordance with the Fund's ESMS and AIIB's ESP. The ESMS is drawn from the Fund's Responsible Investment Policy and Sustainability Principles. It is designed to be aligned with good international practice (e.g., IFC Performance Standards). The ESMS includes robust procedures for: (i) ES Screening and Categorization of sub-projects/activities; (ii) Environmental and Social Due Diligence (ESDD); (iii) Development and monitoring of ES Action Plans (ESAPs) and site-specific ES Management Plans (ESMPs) for sub-projects/activities; (iv) Requirements for stakeholder engagement and its external communication mechanisms (ECM) as the Fund-level Grievance Redress mechanism (GRM), as well as sub-project-level or sub-borrower level GRM; and (v) Risk-based monitoring and reporting. AIIB has found the Fund’s ESMS to be materially consistent with both AIIB’s and the Fund’s ESPs. Any specific policy matters (e.g., exclusion list alignment, disclosure, prior review arrangements), including E&S management capacity to implement required policies, have been addressed through its enhanced ESMS. An Environment and Social Action Plan (ESAP) has been agreed with the Bank to further refine the systems and procedures in the ESMS. The ESMS will be reviewed from time to time during the implementation and will be updated when the need arises, in accordance with AIIB’s guidance.
Environmental and Social Aspects. The sub-projects/activities financed by the Project span diverse sectors. Consequently, potential ES risks are varied and may include waste generation (hazardous and non-hazardous); wastewater and air emissions; noise and vibration during construction and operation; ecological impacts and biodiversity loss and impacts; occupational health and safety (OHS), labor and working conditions, land acquisition and involuntary resettlement, impacts on livelihoods, community health and safety, stakeholder engagement, gender-based violence (GBV), sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment (SEA/SEAH). Greenfield and construction-intensive investments may present more significant risks relating to land take, labor influx, traffic, community safety, resettlement and consultation than investments in established operating assets. The ES risks associated with the sub-projects/activities are generally expected to be site-specific, if any, being irreversible; assessed, managed, and minimized through the Fund's ESMS, with appropriate mitigation measures. In addition, a gender assessment has been conducted in which gaps, risks and opportunities have been assessed and scaled for the nature of the project. The ESMS describes the Fund’s gender-smart investment strategy that seeks to integrate gender considerations in all stages of the investment process. The Fund intends to contribute to addressing known disparities that exist between males and females.
Stakeholder Engagement, Consultation and Information Disclosure: At the corporate level, the Fund Manager engages regularly with stakeholders identified through sustainability reporting and, as a signatory to relevant international principles, provides transparency on its sustainability commitments. At the sub-project level, the ESMS requires sub-projects to conduct stakeholder engagement proportionate to the risks and impacts of the sub-project/activities, consistent with good international practices and standards. An overview of the ESMS or enhanced ESMS[1] together with the Fund’s sustainable policies, has been disclosed in an appropriate manner. Depending on the ES categorization of sub-projects, those financed with the AIIB-financed Fund’s proceeds are required to disclose relevant ES information in an appropriate and timely manner.
Project Grievance Redress Mechanism (GRM): A multi-layered GRM structure is in place. The Fund maintains an internal grievance mechanism / External Communication Mechanism ECM to enable stakeholders to file concerns regarding the FI's activities or investments. Additionally, the Fund’s ESMS requires sub-projects to establish and maintain accessible sub-project-level GRMs for their workers and affected communities to receive, document, and address concerns. Information on the ECM and sub-project-level GRMs, and the Project-affected People's Mechanism of AIIB, will be disclosed in a timely and appropriate manner in the Project’s areas.
Monitoring and Reporting Arrangement. The Fund will monitor the ES performance of all AIIB-financed investments in accordance with its ESMS. The Fund Manager supervises the Fund’s ES performance and that of supported sub-projects/activities through the review of regular reports and public disclosure and where necessary, conduct supervision missions and site visits to selected sub-projects or higher-risk activities. The Fund Manager will provide AIIB with semi-annual ES monitoring reports covering all sub-projects financed with the Fund’s proceeds based on an agreed format, which cover, as applicable, the implementation of the ESMS, the status of screening and categorization of underlying investments, material ES risks and incidents, implementation of ESAPs, grievance trends, and relevant gender indicators. AIIB may conduct field supervision missions, review selected investment-level ES documentation and undertake site visits to selected portfolio companies, as appropriate.
Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank
Kishlaya Misra
Senior Investment Officer
Yang Peng
Investment Analyst
Africa50 Infrastructure Partners I Manager Ltd
Opuiyo Oforiokuma
Senior Partner, Africa50 IAF
