GuarantCo provided an NGN 20.23 billion (USD 25 million) counter-guarantee with a sixteen year tenor to InfraCredit in support of Lagos Free Zone Company’s (LFZC) three guaranteed infrastructure bond issuances totalling NGN 53 billion (USD 65.5 million).

This transaction is part of a larger guarantee facility by InfraCredit to support the bond programme. Owned and developed by Tolaram (the Singaporean conglomerate with more than 45 years of presence in Nigeria and business interests in consumer goods, infrastructure and fintech), LFZC raised the funds to finance continued development of the Lagos Free Zone (the Zone) which is being developed as the largest integrated port based economic zone in Nigeria and shall serve as the industrial and maritime hub for Nigeria and West Africa.

All three issuances have been fully guaranteed by InfraCredit, the Nigerian based credit guarantor which GuarantCo and the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority helped set up in 2017 and in which InfraCo Africa, another PIDG company, is a shareholder.  To manage single obligor limits, InfraCredit initiated the counter-guarantee partnership with GuarantCo across all three series.

Enterprises operating in the Zone will benefit from various policy incentives underpinned by the Nigeria Export Processing Zones (NEPZ) Act, the legislative framework applicable for free zones in the country. Integrated with the Zone is the Lekki Deep Seaport, which started its commercial operations in April 2023. The proximity to the seaport, the industrial infrastructure within the free zone and the fiscal incentives under NEPZ Act, are expected to lower the barriers to entry for international businesses and create significant savings. LFZC has already attracted c. USD 2.5 billion dollars of investments to the Zone.