<article>The <a href="https://www.dealstreetasia.com/?s=International+Finance+Corporation" target="_blank" rel="noopener">International Finance Corporation</a> (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, has proposed to offer up to $64.2 million in loans to <a href="https://www.dealstreetasia.com/?s=Ghazanfar+Group" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ghazanfar Group</a>, Afghanistan-based conglomerate, to support the development of its 58.56MW gas-based power plant, according to its disclosure.</article>

The <a href="https://www.dealstreetasia.com/?s=International+Finance+Corporation" target="_blank" rel="noopener">International Finance Corporation</a> (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, has proposed to offer up to $64.2 million in loans to <a href="https://www.dealstreetasia.com/?s=Ghazanfar+Group" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ghazanfar Group</a>, Afghanistan-based conglomerate, to support the development of its 58.56MW gas-based power plant, according to its disclosure.
Ghazanfar Group, engaged in a number of sectors such as oil &amp; gas, banking, media and trading having regional presence in Central Asia and the Middle East, bagged the Afghanistan government contract to execute the greenfield private power project, expected to cost around $91.8 million.
The project will be built near Mazar-e-Sharif in Afghanistan. The project is expected to boost domestic power supply by 30 per cent and supply electricity to about 1 million people, according to the filing.
The proposed IFC loan will comprise an A Loan of up to $21.4 million (that comes directly from IFC) and the rest of up to $42.8 million through mobilisation from other lenders.
Apart from the 70 per cent loan financing to be received from IFC, the Ghazanfar Group is considering to cover the remaining 30 per cent of the cost through equity funding.
After developing the project, the entire output of the power plant will be sold on a take-or-pay basis to the Afghanistan government-owned Da Afghanistan Breshna Sherkat (DABS or Offtaker) under a 20-year power purchase agreement.
“The project is also helping create a commercial market for sale and purchase of indigenous natural gas in Afghanistan, which has been non-existent to date,” as mentioned.
The sponsors of the project include entities from within the Ghazanfar Group, such as Ghazanfar Naft Gas Ltd, Ghazanfar Oil Refinery Ltd and Big International Transit and Forwarding Ltd.
Three Ghazanfar family members, Ismail Ghazanfar, Ibrahim Ghazanfar and Yousaf Ghazanfar, will also take part as individual sponsors for the power project.
Almost two-third of the Afghanistan population is not accessible to the grid-connected electricity. The country has one of the lowest per capita electricity consumption in the world
IFC has been supporting the private sector development in Afghanistan. In previous occasions, IFC proposed to make equity investments in financial institutions like First MicroFinance Bank, in which IFC proposed to invest up to $0.75 million for a 25 per cent stake; and up to $10 million investment in Afghanistan International Bank for a 15 per cent stake.
IFC also looked into providing a loan support of up to $65 million to Telecom Development Company Afghanistan.
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IFC may extend up to $64m debt to Afghanistan’s Ghazanfar Group

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IFC may extend up to $64m debt to Afghanistan’s Ghazanfar Group

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