Structured Finance in Africa: Turning Mineral Wealth and Power Contracts into Bankable Cash

1 Overview

Africa ships cobalt for EV batteries, cocoa for the world’s chocolate fix and LNG that keeps European lights on. Yet sponsors still fight for working-capital lines while projects choke on currency swings and patchy payment records. Structured finance slices those risks into digestible pieces, so investors fund trucks, pipes and turbines instead of just talking about them.

2 Why Structured Finance Across the Continent?

• FX tightrope: Local cash receipts often arrive in naira, cedi or shilling while debt service sits in dollars or euros. Ring-fenced hedges and escrow waterfalls keep lenders calm.
• Payment-delay drag: State utilities pay for power when treasury frees cash. A securitised receivable note bridges the gap without crippling sponsor liquidity.
• Export bottlenecks: Copper cathode stranded by port congestion loses value daily. Inventory repo with take-out rights funds throughput even when ships queue for berth.
• Front-loaded capex: Drilling pads, concentrators and modular refineries demand cash before the first barrel or tonne. Pre-export structures unlock forward offtake value today.

3 Our Toolbox

Instrument	Main Collateral	Advance Rate	Usual Tenor
Pre-Export Finance (PXF)	Gold dore, copper cathode, LNG cargoes under offtake	65 – 80 % of contracted value	3-5 years amortising
Borrowing-Base Revolver	Crude on water, product tanks, grain silos	70 – 85 % of daily spot	12-18 months evergreen
Receivables-Backed Notes	IPP invoices to investment-grade utilities	75 – 90 % of face	2-7 years pass-through
Equipment Lease Securitisation	Yellow-metal leases in mining hubs	70 – 85 % of NPV	4-6 years

4 Deal Timeline

Day 1-10: Data room drops: reserve reports, offtake contracts, power-purchase agreements.
Day 11-35: Structure modelling, collateral audits and political-risk cover quotes.
Day 36-55: Term-sheet auction with banks, funds and DFIs. Sponsor picks the winning stack.
Day 56-80: Docs sign, security perfects, funds hit the project account. Drilling, crushing or wheeling begins.
Border-straddling supply chains push the long end of the window, straightforward mine-gate deals clear faster.

5 Case Snapshots

• Zambia copper concentrate: USD 120 m PXF at Term SOFR + 385 bps, five-year tenor, 78 % advance on offtake to an LME brand smelter.
• Ghana cocoa exporter: USD 65 m borrowing-base revolver, 82 % advance on bonded beans, six-month revolving line syndicated to two trade-finance funds.
• Kenya solar IPP: USD 40 m receivable note backed by ten-year PPA, 5.6 % fixed coupon placed with European impact investors.

6 Risk Shields

• Political-risk insurance from MIGA or private markets layered into the security pack.
• Multi-currency hedge overlay that auto-slopes with generation or shipment volumes.
• Independent inspection and weight-ticket reconciliation before every draw.
• Lockbox sweep of FX proceeds that feeds a debt-service reserve before reaching the sponsor.

7 Why Financely

Between 2020 and 2025 we closed USD 3.9 billion across twenty-one African jurisdictions, from upstream LNG in Mozambique to battery-metal hubs in the DRC. Nine mandates were rejected when title, environmental or KYC tests flunked. That discipline keeps our spread tight and our repeat-client ratio above 80 %. Expect plain talk, local-law savvy and a lender list that signs.

8 Get Started

Have a resource or infrastructure deal in Africa that needs capital aligned with its risk curve? Share the offtake, concession or PPA. We answer inside forty-eight hours with a go or a no and clear pricing.

Figures and timelines reflect Financely Group Africa desk transactions 2020-2025. Funding depends on due diligence, market spreads and investor appetite.