(Bloomberg) -- Lenders including Nedbank Group Ltd. and Absa Group Ltd. of South Africa completed the refinancing of more than $400 million of loans for Uganda's Bujagali hydropower project.
A package agreed between the financiers and Bujagali Energy Ltd. will extend the tenor of the bulk of the senior and subordinated loans originally granted in 2007, the Washington-based International Finance Corp. said in a statement on its website. Uganda's electricity regulator said in March that repayment of the loan would run until 2032 after the refinancing agreement.
“This extension in tenor will reduce BEL's annual debt-servicing payments and make it possible for the company to reduce the cost of electricity produced by the hydropower plant over the next five years,” the IFC said.
Bujagali Energy, whose shareholders include New York-based Sithe Global Power LLC and the Aga Khan for Economic Development, operates the 250-megawatt hydropower plant situated on the Nile River. It was completed in 2012 and funded by loans from lenders including the African Development Bank, the Netherlands Development Finance Co., France's Proparco, Germany's DEG, Absa and Nedbank.
To contact the reporter on this story: Fred Ojambo in Kampala at fojambo@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Paul Richardson at pmrichardson@bloomberg.net, Helen Nyambura
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