A 200 million dollar EPC+F at 9%
leads to 326 million in total payments. A 10% rise in the price of the works weighs twice as much as one point of interest: the price of the asset matters as much as the loan terms.
// Infrastructure financing · West AfricaFinancing your infrastructure,
Financing your infrastructure,
from idea to commissioning.
Roads, hospitals, schools, drinking water, energy, public buildings: DAQUAE and the engineering firm WEST Ingénierie support public and private project owners at every stage, from the origin of the project to the studies, the structuring of its financing and its delivery.
130–170billion dollars of infrastructure needs per year in Africa (AfDB, 2018)
58%of financing committed in 2023 came from African government budgets (ICA)
80%of infrastructure projects fail at the feasibility or business plan stage
< 10%of projects reach financial close (McKinsey, 2020)
The situation
The money exists. What is missing is bankable projects.
In sub-Saharan Africa, capital is not always lacking: when a credible borrower comes forward, financiers respond. What is most often missing are mature, well-prepared and well-structured projects that financiers are willing to back.
A well-prepared project does not just find financiers, it obtains better terms. And choosing a financing structure means choosing a cost for twenty or thirty years: structures should be compared on their risk-adjusted total cost, never on the interest rate alone.
Two solar plants in Senegal
Prepared by the State and IFC before going to market, they were awarded in 2018 at 3.80 and 3.98 euro cents per kWh, about 60% below the country's previous lowest solar tariff.
Financing options
Two families of structures, one question: who borrows, and who repays?
No structure is better in principle. The right choice depends on what users can pay, the State's fiscal space, the financing actually available and the timetable.
Family 1 · The State, as project owner, borrows and pays
When the State pays now
National budget, loans and grants from donors (World Bank, AfDB, AFD, BOAD, IsDB…). The cheapest terms, but long procedures: a mature project is the condition for mobilising them in time.
When the State pays later
A bank lends to the purchasing State with the guarantee of an export credit agency, or the contractor grants payment terms and then assigns its receivables. Suited to imported equipment and works.
A turnkey asset, with its financing
The contractor designs and builds the asset at a guaranteed price and schedule, and brings financing arranged with its banks. Speed and a single point of contact; the State remains owner and borrower.
Family 2 · A private partner carries and finances the project
When the State pays in instalments
A project company designs, finances, builds and maintains the asset, paid an availability fee that is reduced if the service is not delivered. Used for hospitals, schools, government buildings and toll-free roads.
When the user pays
The concessionaire is paid through tolls, fees or tariffs and bears all or part of the traffic risk. Motorways, airports, water, electricity; often in a hybrid form with a public share.
Islamic finance, blended finance, earmarked resources
Islamic instruments (ijara, istisna'a, sukuk), grants and guarantees that lower the cost of a loan, earmarked taxes or fees: building blocks that complement and secure the main structure.
Ila Touba motorway
113 km financed 85% by a preferential buyer credit from China Exim Bank to the State, at 2% over 25 years. The toll does not make it a concession: the State repays whatever the revenue.
Dakar–Diamniadio toll motorway
A 30-year concession, the first PPP toll motorway project in West Africa. The concessionaire provided 41% of the financing of the concession section, the State and its donors the rest.
WEST + DAQUAE
End-to-end support
We follow your project the way a financier does: from the idea to a bankable file, then from financial close to the works and the life of the asset.
Project origin
Needs identification, strategic framing, prioritisation and inclusion in the project owner's investment programme.
Studies
Technical, economic, environmental and social pre-feasibility and feasibility: the studies that convince financiers.
F Structuring
Choice of structure, comparison of options on their real cost, financing plan and a file ready for banks, donors and investors.
F Financial close
Contracts, security and guarantees, negotiation with lenders, and support through to financial close and first disbursement.
Delivery
Design, manufacturing and rapid construction by DAQUAE; works supervision, control and disbursement monitoring by WEST Ingénierie.
Commissioning and lifetime
Commissioning, operator training, maintenance plan and, when the time comes, refinancing of the asset.
WEST Ingénierie
More than 25 years of assignments in Africa. Project maturation, feasibility studies, owner's engineering, works supervision and control.
- Identification and framing
- Pre-feasibility and feasibility studies
- Owner's engineering and supervision
DAQUAE
Engineering, procurement, construction and financing (EPC+F). Financing structured with our banking and institutional partners, followed by rapid delivery of the asset.
- Structuring and closing the financing
- Rapid construction and steel structures
- Water treatment equipment
Our books · Éditions KOS
Three books to prepare, win and finance major projects
Our method is published. These three books (in French) cover the whole life of an infrastructure project in Africa, from maturation to financing.
Coming in December 2026 on AmazonFinancer les grands projets d'infrastructures en Afrique subsaharienne
Bernard BOUVEROT and Souleymane KOUYATE. Financing major infrastructure projects in sub-Saharan Africa: who finances, how to make a project bankable, which structure to choose.
Available on AmazonGuide de maturation de grands projets d'infrastructures économiques et sociales
Souleymane KOUYATE. A guide to maturing major economic and social infrastructure projects, from the idea to a file ready for financing.
View on Amazon
Available on AmazonGagner les marchés publics en Afrique
Souleymane KOUYATE. An operational guide to writing winning technical and financial bids for public contracts in Africa.
View on Amazon