ACWA Power announced today that it has signed a partnership agreement with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, through the issuance of new equity shares valued at $100 million, equivalent to 357 million riyals.
AquaPower Chairman Mohammed bin Abdullah Abunyan confirmed in a press statement today that the company has added more than 15,000 megawatts of electricity generation capacity over the past decade, making it one of the largest owners and operators of seawater desalination plants in the world and in emerging markets.
He expressed his delight at attracting the International Finance Corporation (IFC) through its investment in ACWA Power, which represents an investment in the Middle East and North Africa region through the company’s portfolio of projects in several countries in the region.
For his part, AquaPower CEO Badi Padmanathan said, “The International Finance Corporation is an investment partner and one of the financiers of many investment assets in the company’s portfolio,” noting that the IFC and the company are working in line with their commitment to provide electricity and desalinated water at the lowest possible cost to support the social and economic development of the emerging economies in which the company has chosen to participate—including the Middle East, the Arab Levant, Africa, and Southeast Asia—in general, in addition to taking the initiative and playing a key role in expanding the fuel mix used in electricity generation to include renewable energy and focusing on increasing fuel efficiency, in particular.
For his part, Muayad Makhlouf, Director of the International Finance Corporation (IFC) for the Middle East and North Africa region, explained that the partnership will help increase power generation capacity, which in turn will contribute to meeting growing demand in emerging markets, particularly in the Middle East and North Africa region, noting that ACWA Power’s success in emerging markets should serve as a model to encourage more foreign direct investment from abroad—particularly from Gulf countries—into emerging markets both within and outside the region.
