Event Recap: DFIP-Cohort-4

Atlantic Link West Africa Submarine Fiber Cable Project

Victory Isiguzo presented the Atlantic Link West Africa Submarine Fibre Cable Project, a digital infrastructure initiative designed to address what the World Bank estimates to be approximately 40% internet penetration across Africa. The project proposed branching an existing transoceanic cable — currently connecting Europe and Brazil, with landing points in Mauritania and Cape Verde — to serve five West African countries currently underserved by digital connectivity. The project would involve approximately 7,000 kilometres of new submarine cable with four fibre pairs, estimated at a total cost of $1.5 billion. The project aligned with the African Union's digital agenda and ECOWAS connectivity frameworks.

Jury Feedback

Shaheed Ali acknowledged the quality of the presentation and the team's identification of key project finance elements. He urged the presenters to go deeper on market analysis — particularly the distinction between the wholesale cable market, the landing station market, and the consumer market — and to ensure revenue-based diversity. He drew on his institution's own experience financing an undersea cable, noting that a detailed understanding of the market layers is essential to a credible financial model.

Taiwo Olatunji flagged a structural concern: the grouping of equity investors and project sponsors under one category. He advised that for transactions of this nature, there should be one or two clear project sponsors driving the initiative, with other equity investors in supporting roles. He also noted that the Atlantic Link is an existing infrastructure asset and that engagement with the existing company operating it would likely be necessary.

Video Highlights

The Lome-Lagos Corridor Highway (LLCH) Project

This project explored the development of a regional rail operator to strengthen trade and connectivity along the East African Corridor. The proposal aimed to improve the efficiency of cargo transport across Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, and potentially the Democratic Republic of Congo by upgrading rolling stock, operations, and management of the standard gauge and meter-gauge railways.

Pitch Highlights
The presenter emphasized the inefficiencies of road-based logistics, where high transport costs erode competitiveness of East African exports. By consolidating operations under a professional regional operator, the project aimed to lower costs, reduce road congestion, and boost regional trade. The business model leaned on long-term freight contracts with mining, agriculture, and manufacturing companies.

Pitch Highlights
The presenter positioned Baynes as a cornerstone of regional cooperation. The project was framed not just as an energy supply venture, but also as an enabler of industrial growth, rural electrification, and climate-friendly development. The financing concept included a joint development authority, with costs and benefits shared between Angola and Namibia. Revenue was expected from long-term power purchase agreements (PPAs) with both national utilities.

Video Highlights

Lesotho-Botswana Water Transfer (L-BWT) Project 

Muhammad Saad Umar presented a transboundary water infrastructure project addressing a severe and growing water deficit across three Southern African nations. The project proposed a 124-metre concrete arch dam on the Makhaleng River in Lesotho, combined with a 700-kilometre pipeline delivering water to Botswana (150 million cubic metres per year), Lesotho (97 million cubic metres), and South Africa (63 million cubic metres). In the long run, the project would integrate a 35–45 MW hydropower component to reduce Lesotho's significant electricity import dependency. The project is a designated priority under the NEPAD Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA) and already has an existing Memorandum of Agreement from 2013 between the three sovereign states. Total project CapEx was estimated at $2.5 billion, with a preparation funding gap of $3.2 million.

Jury Feedback

Shaheed Ali commended the presentation and the quality of the financial ratios. However, he asked the team to clarify the project's primary identity — water or power — noting that the hydropower component, while significant, appeared to sit somewhat awkwardly alongside the water transfer focus. More critically, he asked the team to interrogate the project's 100% dependence on government off-take: under a take-or-pay structure, all risk effectively sits with the sovereign parties, and the team needed to assess whether the governments of Botswana, Lesotho, and South Africa could genuinely afford the implied financial obligations.

Muhammad Saad Umar responded by clarifying that the project is primarily a water project, with hydropower intended as a long-run enhancement rather than a core commercial stream. He acknowledged the government dependency and noted that PPP arrangements with utility management operators would be pursued before final deal structures are signed.

Video Highlights

Luapula Hydropower Project

Chibuzor Happiness Obi presented the Luapula Hydropower Project, a 789 MW cross-border hydropower development on the Luapula River, spanning the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia. The project was designed to address severe energy deficits constraining economic growth in both countries, including over 12 hours of daily load shedding in Zambia and an electrification rate of just 19% in the DRC. The project would deliver clean energy to mining operations, regional utilities, and the South African Power Pool. The capital structure comprised $504 million in equity and $1.176 billion in senior debt, at a total CapEx of $1.68 billion. Off-take would be secured through 20-25 year PPAs with ZESCO and SNEL (80% capacity) and the Copperbelt Energy Corporation (20%), with surplus capacity sold on the SAPP spot market.

The project's financial model projected a 12.54% project IRR, a 37.09% return on equity, and a DSCR of 2.98 — well above the 1.5x typically required by DFI lenders. The $3 million seed equity request would fund hydrological and climate assessments, feasibility and preliminary engineering, environmental and social impact assessments, legal structuring, and financial advisory.

Jury Feedback

Shaheed Ali praised the depth of the presentation and noted that the key elements of project finance structuring were identifiable. He raised two substantive concerns. First, climate risk: traditional hydrological forecasting based on historical weather data is no longer reliable in the current climate change environment, and the team must demonstrate how they would address this when presenting to commercial lenders and DFIs. Second, he reiterated the government off-take concentration risk — with approximately 80% of revenue dependent on sovereign entities, the team needs to demonstrate that the governments of Zambia and the DRC can absorb these obligations, and that dollar availability and transferability have been specifically modelled.

Video Highlights