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The Angolan government and HSBC have reached financial close on the €200mn water infrastructure ProÁgua project, which is set to modernise water supply systems and provide millions across the country with access to clean drinking water 

The loan agreements were signed between the Ministry of Finance of Angola, representing the sovereign borrower, and the bank, with export credit agency (ECA) cover provided by Bpifrance Assurance Export and the Swiss Export Risk Insurance (Serv). 

The project is being executed by a consortium of Swiss company Mitrelli and French multinational Suez International.

Its financing consists of two tranches: a commercial loan facility for financing the downpayment in the amount of €30mn (equating to 15% of the total project amount), and an ECA-backed buyer’s credit financing the remaining 85% of the project, totalling €170mn. 

The financing structured reflects a “robust, de-risked model for infrastructure investment in emerging markets”, Mitrelli and Suez said in a dual statement. 

HSBC acted as sole coordinating arranger, mandated lead arranger and facility agent. The bank played a “central role in originating, structuring, and executing the financing while facilitating efficient disbursement mechanisms and long-term repayment structures”, according to the statement. 

Meanwhile, Bpifrance Assurance Export issued “comprehensive export credit insurance, enabling favourable terms of the financing and risk mitigation”, together with Serv, which provided reinsurance, according to the stakeholders. 

Their export credit insurance “enabled Angola to access long-tenor financing at competitive rates, while also supporting French and Swiss exports”, they said. 

This transaction also represents the first time Bpifrance has issued its export credit insurance based on direct commitments from a Swiss engineering, procurement and construction contractor outside of France. 

The ProÁgua project will expand and modernise water access across the provinces of Luanda and Icolo e Bengo. According to the Angolan government, it will deliver clean water to over nine million people, addressing urgent needs in a region where only 34% of the rural population currently has access to safe drinking water. 

The infrastructure project will include the rehabilitation of four major water treatment plants, construction of two decentralised compact units, installation of six desalination units and 15 boreholes, and the deployment of smart metering and digital utility management systems. 

It will be executed with Angola’s public water utility as the local implementation partner.  

A second phase of the project is already under discussion among the parties, aiming to extend access to safe drinking water to more people across the country. 

This latest financing follows other ECA-backed water projects in east Africa in recent years, including a US Exim-supported solar and water project in Angola, a UKEF-sponsored infrastructure upgrade in the same country, and a joint ECA loan for a wide-scale Côte d’Ivoire water availability initiative.