Africa

Republic of Zambia
Representation of the Republic of Zambia in connection with a comprehensive US$13 billion debt restructuring of Zambia's external debt, including its Eurobonds due in 2022, 2024 and 2027, but also in relation to all of Zambia's official and commercial debt. Zambia's case is the most complex sovereign debt restructuring to date in the G20 Common Framework. The successful restructuring of Zambia's external debt provides Zambia with significant debt relief and puts it on a path to financial sustainability.

Indorama Eleme Fertilizer
White & Case advised a group of lenders led by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) on providing a US$1.25 billion financing package to Indorama Eleme Fertilizer & Chemicals Limited in Nigeria. The Indorama facility is a world-class urea fertilizer production facility based near Port Harcourt, Nigeria.

The facility is sub-Saharan Africa's largest producer of granular urea, a key input for agricultural fertilizer production. Nigeria, a key market, has a current production capacity of only eight million metric tonnes. The US$1.25 billion financing will provide the required investment for Indorama to build a third nitrogenous urea fertilizer plant with expected annual capacity of 1.4 million metric tonnes of urea and a new shipping terminal at its Port Harcourt base. The lender group included the following DFIs: IFC; DFC; BII PLC; AfDB; FMO; and DEG.

Leading the way in the Nigerian banking sector
Representation of the joint bookrunners in the issuance of US$500 million additional Tier 1 notes and US$500 million senior notes by Access Bank, one of the largest banks in Nigeria. The transaction is the first-ever additional Tier 1 bond issuance from Nigeria and the first in Africa, ex-South Africa. It required an in-depth analysis of the Regulatory Capital Regulations ahead of the Basel III implementation in Nigeria by the regulator, the Central Bank of Nigeria. The issuance structure involved a drawdown under Access Bank's US$1.5 billion Global Medium Term Note Programme, which was updated in September 2021. Senior bonds were successfully issued by Access Bank on September 21, 2021 followed by the AT1 issuance. The AT1 bonds feature non-viability loss absorption at the discretion of the Central Bank of Nigeria. This was a genuinely innovative deal and an example of us combining our peerless EM capabilities with our highly regarded regulatory capital expertise.

Cairo Monorail Project
White & Case advised the National Authority for Tunnels (NAT), an entity affiliated with the Ministry of Transportation of Egypt, on the development and financing of the €1.886 billion Cairo Monorail project. The €1.886 billion UK Export Finance–guaranteed term facility agreement is secured by a sovereign guarantee issued by the Ministry of Finance of Egypt. Once complete, the project, which covers almost 100 kms, will be the longest monorail system in the world.

The US$4.5 billion monorail project is the first of its kind in Egypt and includes two lines: a 43 km-long rail set to extend from 6th of October City to Giza; and another rail connecting Cairo's New Administrative Capital to Nasr City at a length of 54 kms. These will be the first mass transit links between Greater Cairo, the new capital, and 6th of October City. Work includes building 34 stations, maintenance facilities, depots and an operations control center. The monorail will also intersect the Cairo metro’s Line 3 as well as Cairo's high-speed rail network.

The monorails will connect residents outside of Egypt's capital with the city, cutting down on traffic congestion and automobile pollution.

Konkola Copper Mines
Representation of Konkola Copper Mines PLC (KCM), considered one of the largest mining operations in Zambia, and its minority shareholder ZCCM Investment Holdings (i.e., the mining investment company of the Zambian government), in the negotiations for the withdrawal of KCM from provisional liquidation and ultimately the return of the majority shareholder, Vedanta Resources Holdings Limited, as controlling shareholder. Vedanta Resources and the Zambian government successfully reached an agreement that restores Vedanta Resources' ownership of KCM, ending a protracted ownership battle that stifled investment.

Project East2West
Representation of Africa50 in a partnership with Bayobab to develop Project East2West, a terrestrial fiber-optic cable network connecting the eastern shores of Africa to those on the continent's west. The partnership invested up to US$320 million connecting ten African countries over the years 2023, 2024 and 2025. The new network will offer substantial improvements in data traffic for internet service providers, mobile network.