CAIRO, July 22 – The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has approved a US$200 million global revolving dual tranche facility for Shoreline Power Company Limited and its co-borrowers, including Arkad SpA, to support the execution of a major oil and gas infrastructure project in Algeria.
Approved in June 2026, the financing will enable Arkad to deliver its 44% contractual share of the US$980 million Hassi Bir Rekaiz (HBR) Field Development Phase 2a project, one of Algeria’s largest upstream energy developments.
The engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract was awarded by Groupement Hassi Bir Rekaiz (GHBR), a joint venture comprising Sonatrach of Algeria, PTTEP of Thailand and CEPSA of Spain.
The facility represents part of Afreximbank’s broader financial support for Algeria following the country’s accession as a full member of the Bank in 2022.
Structured under Afreximbank’s EPC Initiative, the financing package consists of a US$110 million contract finance facility to support Arkad’s performance guarantees, advance payment guarantees and working capital requirements for the HBR project, alongside a US$90 million revolving global facility to finance Shoreline Group’s pipeline and infrastructure projects in Nigeria and other approved jurisdictions.
Afreximbank acted as the sole mandated lead arranger and lender for the transaction.
The HBR Phase 2a development will include the construction of a new central processing facility that is expected to increase production from approximately 13,000 barrels per day to between 50,000 and 60,000 barrels per day, strengthening Algeria’s oil and gas production capacity and generating additional foreign exchange earnings for Sonatrach and the wider Algerian economy.
Beyond expanding energy production, the financing is expected to strengthen African engineering capacity by supporting the growth of Arkad and the Shoreline Group as pan-African EPC contractors capable of executing large-scale sovereign infrastructure projects.
The project is also expected to generate approximately 6,000 jobs, facilitate technology and skills transfer, promote regional supply chain development in Algeria and reduce dependence on non-African engineering firms.
The partnership between Arkad, a Nigerian-owned Italian EPC contractor, and Petrojet, Egypt’s state-owned engineering company, is also expected to strengthen cross-border collaboration by mobilising African expertise, capital and engineering capabilities for major infrastructure projects.
The transaction builds on partnerships established during the 2025 Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF) held in Algiers, where Afreximbank facilitated collaboration between Arkad and Petrojet before supporting their successful bid for the HBR contract. The 2025 edition of the trade fair generated approximately US$50 billion in trade and investment agreements.
Commenting on the transaction, Kanayo Awani, Executive Vice President for Intra-African Trade Finance and Export Development at Afreximbank, said the financing demonstrates the Bank’s commitment to strengthening African engineering companies.
According to Awani, “This transaction providing Shoreline Power Company Limited and Arkad SpA with the financing to execute this landmark US$980 million EPC contract in Algeria exemplifies our EPC Initiative and our Intra-African Trade Champions framework in action, enabling an African-owned engineering group to compete and deliver at the highest levels of global project execution.”
She added that, “By providing the US$200 million in structured financing, we are not only supporting Algeria’s national energy infrastructure development but also advancing intra-African trade in high-value engineering and construction services among Nigeria, Italy and Egypt.
This is precisely the kind of transaction that demonstrates Africa’s growing industrial capability and its capacity to shape its own development agenda. Afreximbank remains committed to being the financing partner of choice for African champions that are building transformative infrastructure across our continent.”
The financing also marks the first time Afreximbank has supported a Sub-Saharan African contractor executing a major infrastructure project in North Africa, highlighting the Bank’s efforts to deepen regional integration and expand intra-African trade through large-scale infrastructure investment.
