Public-Private Partnership Briefs: Kribi Power Plant, Cameroon

In 2009, the Government of Cameroon awarded the Kribi Power Development Corporation (KPDC), a special purpose vehicle set up and owned by AES Corp. and the government, a 20-year public-private partnership (PPP) to design, build, finance, and operate the 216 MW Kribi natural gas-fired power plant and associated transmission line. It is Cameroon’s second Independent Power Plant (after Dibamba HFO 88 MW, financed in 2010). Although Cameroon has a planned expansion of hydropower capacity of 6000 MW, crucial projects were not expected to come online until after 2017. In this context, Kribi provided a low-cost gas-fueled option to increase reliability. In 2012, IFC invested in KPDC with a financing package comprising direct and parallel loans, and the World Bank Group provided a partial risk guarantee to facilitate Cameroon’s first long-term, local currency loan for infrastructure. In 2014, upon the acquisition of AES’ shares by Globeleq, MIGA extended a guarantee to cover an equity investment by Actis Energy Generation Holdings N.V., made through its subsidiary, Globeleq Energy Holdings (Cameroon) in KPDC. This guarantee was made for eight years, against the risks of transfer restriction, war and civil disturbance, and breach of contract.