A major power project in Burkina Faso is to proceed after securing a first US$60mn tranche of a US$300mn corporate loan facility from Africa Finance Corporation (AFC)

The funds will support the development of the 119MW thermal power plant by Aksa Enerji Üretim A.Ş., Türkiye’s largest publicly-listed power generation company.

The project is expected to make a huge dent in accss to electricity in Burkina Faso, a country of 24 million people where only one in five currently have access to power.

“Burkina Faso represents an important milestone in our long-term commitment to Africa,” said Cemil Kazanci, chairman of Aksa Enerji.

“Together with AFC, we are delivering critical energy infrastructure that will strengthen energy security, support economic development and improve the reliability of electricity supply for millions.”

The transaction marks AFC’s first investment in Burkina Faso, but builds on its US$150mn corporate loan facility to Aksa Enerji in 2025, which supported the company’s utility-scale gas-to-power projects in Senegal and Ghana.

This includes Senega’s new 255MW combined-cycle gas power plant designed to use domestic natural gas to deliver more reliable and lower-emission baseload power.

Collectively, these projects have established Aksa as a major partner in delivering large-scale energy infrastructure across Africa.

The Burkina Faso project is expected to transform the nation’s electricity system.

The West African state currently imports 60% of its power supply, leaving homes, businesses and industry vulnerable to supply disruptions and elevated energy costs, constraining industrialisation and economic growth.

Once operational in 2027, the power station will reduce dependence on imported electricity by more than 50% while significantly strengthening domestic generation capacity.

By delivering more reliable, lower-cost baseload power, the project is expected to improve energy security, attract private investment and create a stronger foundation for long-term economic growth, according to the AFC.

Expanding reliable electricity access is a central part of the Corporation’s mission in unlocking sustainable growth across the continent.

“Africa’s path to industrialisation and global competitiveness by 2050 depends on the infrastructure decisions we make today,” said Samaila Zubairu, AFC’s president and CEO.

“Reliable electricity is fundamental to economic transformation. Without dependable power, countries cannot industrialise, businesses cannot grow and communities cannot realise their full economic potential. Aksa shares our commitment to delivering the reliable energy infrastructure needed to power Africa’s industrial growth and long-term transformation.”

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A new figurehead has been appointed to drive forward the development of the proposed US$15bn Abidjan-Lagos highway megaproject

The board of directors of the Abidjan-Lagos Corridor Management Authority (ALCoMA) recently appointed Beninois finance expert Wilfried Lauriano do Rego as board chairman for a two-year term, at its inaugural meeting in Nigeria.

The 1,081 km Abidjan-Lagos Corridor represents one of Africa’s most ambitious infrastructure projects.

It entails the construction of a six-lane supranational highway linking the capitals and major economic centres of Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Togo, Benin and Nigeria, while integrating trade and transport facilitation, value chain development and logistics components.

Do Rego’s appointment is in accordance with an intergovernmental agreement, which provides for alphabetical rotation among member states starting with Benin.

Jacques Ayadji, also from Benin, automatically assumes the role of vice-chairperson.

The ALCoMA meeting also outlined actions needed to drive forward the corridor’s medium- and long-term transformation.

The project is expected to become a major driver of economic and industrial development in West Africa by 2030.

The ECOWAS Commission, the African Development Bank Group, ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (EBID), the West African Development Bank (BOAD) are currently working together with other partners to mobilise financing.

Various interim subcommittees were also formed during the recent Lagos meetings, including a finance committe, to support ALCoMA in mobilising funding for the highway.

The ALCoMA board also called on other development partners, including the European Union and the World Bank, to support the construction of the road scheme and ALCoMA’s operations.

It also welcomed the AfDB’s ongoing discussions to mobilise catalytic capital of US$500mn and other resources from across the region.

“These resources will be complemented by other bank group financial instruments, including viability gap financing; partial risk and credit guarantees for local-currency bonds; non-sovereign operations, and climate finance through the Global Center on Adaptation partnership (GCA),” an AfDB statement read.

GCA brings together governments, banks and private sector to accelerate climate adaptation projects and mobilise financing.

The AfDB has already provided US$25mn in technical assistance for the project’s preparatory phase.

With feasibility studies completed, theproject now enters its investment phase, paving the way for the construction of a six-lane transnational motorway.

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Barloworld Equipment delivers Southern Africa’s first Cat 707 WBT trucks to Northern Cape mining customer

Barloworld Equipment has successfully handed over two Cat 707 WBT (World Build Truck) units to a mining customer in South Africa's Northern Cape, marking the first sale and delivery of the Cat 707 WBT trucks in Southern Africa.

The milestone represents a significant step in expanding the availability of Caterpillar's latest off-highway truck technology across the region, while supporting mining customers with modern, high-performance fleet solutions.

The delivery forms part of a customer-focused fleet replacement strategy designed to align with PDMI Level 9 readiness requirements, ensuring the customer is equipped with machinery that meets evolving operational and safety standards.

Built on the proven Cat 707 platform, the Cat 707 WBT is designed to deliver dependable performance, high productivity and reliability in demanding mining environments. The trucks also feature VisionLink connectivity, enabling enhanced fleet visibility, real-time equipment monitoring and data-driven insights to help optimise operational efficiency and fleet performance.

The successful handover further reinforces Barloworld Equipment's long-standing partnership with the mining sector by providing solutions that support safer operations, improved productivity and future-ready fleet management.

Commenting on the achievement, the company said, "This milestone reflects our commitment to delivering innovative solutions that support our customers’ operational goals while helping them prepare for the future of mining. Congratulations to the Bloemfontein Region teams on making this landmark delivery a success. Here’s to powering productivity, advancing safety, and helping our customers build a better world."

The delivery marks an important milestone for both the customer and Barloworld Equipment, as the Cat 707 WBT enters the Southern African mining market for the first time, paving the way for wider adoption of the platform across the region.

China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) has signed an agreement worth around US$1.2bn for the expansion of Kenya’s Jomo Kenyatta International Airport

The project update was shared by the country’s Transport Minister Davis ​Chirchir, posting to his X social media account, and later reported by Reuters.

“The project scope includes ​the construction of a new terminal building and associated support ‌facilities, ⁠the modernisation and upgrading of existing infrastructure, the improvement of airside and landside operations," Chirchir said in his update.

The expansion of Kenya’s main gateway airport in Nairobi forms part of national efforts to revitalise infrastructure and open the door to more arrivals.

The project aims to almost triple annual passenger ⁠capacity at the airport from around 7.5 million people to 22 ​million people.

Progress was hit thwarted, however, after the cancellation of a previous agreement with India’s Adani Group following the indictment of its founder ​in the United States.

Last week, Chirchir also noted that the Kenyan government had appointed Africa's Trade and Development Bank and the Africa Finance ⁠Corporation ​to arrange financing for the project.

As East Africa’s largest economy, Kenya is keen to expand its transport infrastructure, including ports, roads and rail lines, to reassert its position in the region, and to boost logistics and supply chain efficiencies.

In air transport, Kenya hopes to maintain ​its role as ​a regional ⁠aviation hub in the face of growing competition from countries such as Ethiopia and Rwanda, which are also investing in ​new airport construction.

While CRBC has yet to formally confirm the award, the company holds strong links in Kenya already.

In February 2026, Kenyan President William Ruto visited the construction site of the Talanta Sports City Project in Nairobi, which is being undertaken by the company.

Talanta Sports City is a 60,000-seat professional football stadium fully compliant with FIFA standards and will serve as the core venue for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations co-hosted by Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.

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Africa’s first privately-financed sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) plant has secured funding from the Emerging Africa & Asia Infrastructure Fund (EAAIF) and various Middle Eastern investors

The deal expands EAAIF’s footprint into the Middle East North Africa (MENA) region, following its ongoing expansion into Asia.

The US$212mn clean fuels project, located in Egypt’s Sokhna Special Economic Zone, will be owned and operated by Green Sky Capital Limited together with its local subsidiary, SAF Fly Egypt.

EAAIF, a Private Infrastructure Development Group (PIDG) company managed by Ninety One, supported a senior secured loan of US$40mn for the development of the plant.

The transaction marks the first project-financed SAF plant in the MENA region.

The facility is designed to produce 200,000 tonnes per annum of biofuels, including SAF, Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO), bio-propane and bio-naphtha and will utilise commercially proven Hydroprocessed Esters and Fatty Acids (HEFA) technology to convert waste-based feedstock into high-grade sustainable fuel.

To ensure long-term bankability, the transaction will be anchored by Shell who will purchase the facility’s products on a take-or-pay basis and act as its primary feedstock provider.

Martijn Proos, co-head of emerging market alternative credit, Ninety One, the fund manager of EAAIF, said the transaction arrives at a critical juncture for the global energy market.

“Amid heightened geopolitical volatility and energy market uncertainty, this first-of-its-kind facility provides a practical solution to advancing both decarbonisation and energy security,”he said.

“By acting as the global mandated leadarranger, Ninety One and EAAIF are demonstrating how institutional capital can be mobilised to support the decarbonisation of hard-to-abate sectors like aviation, which is projected to account for 5% of global emissions by 2050 without intervention.”

The project is being developed with the support of regional sponsors, including Al Mana Holding, a Qatari diversified conglomerate, and Vision Invest, a Saudi Arabian infrastructure investor and developer.

Ninety One acted as the global mandated lead arranger and coordinating lender, facilitating the mobilisation of a total debt package of US$142.9mn with a US$40 million commitment from EAAIF and Ninety One’s Emerging Markets Transition Debt (EMTD) Fund.

Ninety One has also mobilised the participation of Qatar National Bank (QNB) via its Egyptian subsidiary, QNB S.A.E, with a commitment of up to US$31.4mn.

The debt financing was completed by The Arab Energy Fund, which acted as co-MLA and global structuring lender committed US$71.4mn to the project.

SAF is estimated to offer up to an 80% reduction in CO₂ emissions, compared to conventional jet fuel, supporting the aviation industry’s target of reaching net-zero by 2050.

The project's strategic location near the Suez Canal offers a direct export route to key demand centres in the EU and UK, which are currently implementing strict SAF mandates.

The transaction also demonstrates strong appetite among regional and international lenders for renewable fuels infrastructure, supporting both energy security and price stability amid heightened global volatility.

“Emerging markets have been transitioning toward renewables and cleaner energy sources for some time, driven by rising energy costs and the need to strengthen energy security,” said Alper Kilic, head of alternative credit, Ninety One.

“This investment highlights the critical role long-term capital plays in scaling next-generation energy infrastructure in emerging markets.”

He added that sustainable aviation fuel is “one of the most compelling – and challenging – decarbonisation pathways” requiring proven technology and strong commercial structures to deliver at scale.

“This project demonstrates how institutional investors can pursue attractive risk-adjusted returns while supporting the real-economy transition, and underscores the growing opportunity for transition debt strategies to finance high-impact assets in hard-to-abate sectors.”

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Innovative technology for ‘shrinking’ catalytic converters - designed and built in South Africa by Jendamark Automation for the global market - relies on the precision of SEW-EURODRIVE’s highly dynamic servo-geared units and software

Based in Gqeberha in the Eastern Cape, Jendamark Automation is a specialist in advanced automated assembly systems for powertrains, catalytic converters, hydrogen technologies and other automotive components. Yanesh Naidoo, executive innovations director at Jendamark Automation, says that 95% of the locally produced machines are exported and are in operation in Europe, India and the USA.

"The shrinking machine - or ‘shrinker’ - is a core component within our catalytic converter assembly cell," commented Naidoo.

“This cell is a highly automated production environment in which multiple machines, robots and laser measurement systems operate in coordination.”

The process begins with the core of a catalytic converter - a ceramic ‘brick’ or monolith, coated with precious metals such as platinum and palladium, that converts exhaust gases into less harmful emissions. This brick is wrapped in a thick spring-like insulation mat and inserted into an outer casing (or can) of stainless-steel. In this process, there are many variable factors to consider, he explains.

“Because the ceramic monolith is extruded and baked, its diameter can vary slightly - by two or three millimetres in a passenger vehicle converter and up to ten millimetres in a truck converter,” he said.

“This makes the size of every monolith slightly different.”

To secure the monolith inside the casing with the right spring load, the casing itself has to be adapted. This is the key function of the shrinking machine - to reshape the stainless steel casing to the exact diameter required for each brick and mat combination. Shrinking stainless steel to tolerances of 50 microns requires enormous force and control which the shrinker achieves by closing a set of heavy tapered segments around the can.

“For a passenger vehicle converter we use twelve segments, while for a commercial vehicle converter - which is larger - we use sixteen,” stated Naidoo. “We pull a massive steel ring back over those segments and as the ring moves the segments close in, collapsing the can evenly around the monolith.”

Driving that motion are two powerful SEW-EURODRIVE servo motor systems, each connected to precision roller screws that pull the ring from both sides. Synchronizing those drives is critical.

“If one side is pulled just a few millimetres more than the other, this will damage these very expensive roller screws,” he explains. “This is where SEW-EURODRIVE’s technology comes into its own; the drives and controllers keep the two motors synchronised to within very fine tolerances, even at the high speeds we need to hit our 30 second cycle times.”

The speed at which Jendamark Automation’s shrinker operates is one of its critical advantages, Naidoo emphasises, and this has been achieved through its innovative tool changer. He explains flexibility is particularly important in converter production for commercial-vehicles as variants change every few hours. Traditionally, each change required a lengthy manual tool change which would mean two to three hours of downtime.

“This is why we developed an automatic tool change system for the shrinker,” he says. “We have got two cartridges outside the machine, one of which is preloaded with the next set of 16 segments. When the operator hits ‘tool change’ the machine ejects the old set, inserts the new one and locks everything down - all automatically in about 45 seconds.”

That innovation, also powered by SEW-EURODRIVE servo drives, has transformed productivity.

“We have reduced tool changing times significantly, giving our customers more production time per shift, allowing them to produce around 80 additional parts,” he says. “With two or three tool changes a day, the gains are massive.”

The entire catalytic converter assembly cell can contain up to 30 SEW-EURODRIVE servo drives, powering and synchronising multiple machines – from laser measuring systems to robotic handlers. Behind the scenes, Jendamark’s proprietary Variant Manager software orchestrates these movements.

“Every part coming down the line is slightly different, so every 30 seconds a new set of parameters - such as diameters, spring loads and positions - is sent to the drives,” Naidoo continued. “There are no fixed positions so it is completely dynamic, adapting in real time.”

Parallel to this performance, he adds, is an equivalent focus on reliability as customers require minimal downtime to ensure that their processes and products remain viable. He notes that a USA customer, Cummins (through its acquisition of Faurecia’s USA factory), has been running Jendamark’s shrinker for almost six years - during which time it has produced over three million catalytic converters.

“Apart from greasing the screws, there has been no major maintenance and no drive failures at all,” he stated. “That is a testament to the robustness of our overall design and of the reliability of SEW-EURODRIVE equipment.”

The customer was so impressed that it decided to standardise globally on Jendamark’s machines.

“They had two other suppliers’ machines next to ours on the same line,” commented Naidoo. “Now they’re replacing those with Jendamark machines, because of reliability and consistency of quality.”

Phillip Steyn, Branch Manager at SEW-EURODRIVE in Gqeberha, says the project exemplifies how advanced motion control systems enable complex automation.

“Our MOVIAXIS multi-axis servo system, combined with our efficient servo motors and dynamic gearboxes, provides the accurate positioning and torque that this machine needs,” remarked Steyn. “The challenge was to deliver very high torque while maintaining precise synchronisation and feedback at rapid speeds.”

He notes that it is easier to be accurate when machinery is moving slowly but it becomes much more challenging in the context of high speed machines like this one. SEW-EURODRIVE’s control architecture ensures that every motion - from the synchronised pulling of the ring to the positioning of the auto-tool change mechanism - is tracked and verified before the next cycle begins.

“There is a great deal of feedback between the drive and the upper level controller,” Steyn explained. “The system scans the input data - the product types and can sizes - and adjusts torque and position in real time. It is the brain and the muscle working together.”

Naidoo highlights the value of SEW-EURODRIVE’ integrated unit - the motor, gearbox and drive - which is already matched for torque and speed.