Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) announced on Wednesday the closing of a $150 million senior loan with Kamoa Copper to support the expansion of the Kamoa-Kakula Copper Complex in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
AFC acted both as lender and arranger of the loan, the infrastructure lender said in a press statement.
Situated on the western edge of the Central African Copperbelt, Kamoa-Kakula Copper Complex started production in July 2021 and is currently undergoing its third phase of expansion which consists of a 33 percent increase in copper production capacity, to over 600,000 tonnes per annum (tpa), and the construction of Africa’s largest copper smelter with a capacity of 500,000 tpa of 99 percent pure copper anodes.
The expansion also includes restarting 178 megawatts (MW) of renewable hydroelectric generation capacity by refurbishing turbine #5 at the Inga II dam.
The AFC statement said Phase 3 is expected to be completed by the end of 2024, making Kamoa-Kakula Africa’s largest copper producer, as well as the third largest globally.
Kamoa-Kakula is operated as a joint venture between Ivanhoe Mines, Zijin Mining and the Government of the DRC.
(Editing by Anoop Menon) (anoop.menon@lseg.com)
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