Infrastructure solutions provider, the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) has closed its inaugural $140-million Kimchi term loan facility.

The facility marks the AFC’s first Korea-focused investment and follows the corporation’s $233-million Samurai term loan facility, which closed in September.

Cumulatively, the AFC’s Asian investments – from China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and Taiwan – amounted to $1.2-billion.

“The closing of the Kimchi loan facility, and other Asian investments, exemplifies the AFC’s success in global investor engagements and is an important step as it builds a broad coalition of investors to diversify its funding sources, while allowing institutions from around the world to participate in Africa’s development.

“We are pleased to have achieved this historic milestone with the South Korean debt markets, which we know to have highly selective investment criteria. The success, close on the heels of the Samurai loan facility, in Japan, signifies the East’s growing appetite for African investments, which are particularly attractive considering today’s negative-yield environment.

“We look forward to continued engagement with South Korea, as well as the other Asian markets that understand the opportunity that is available through Africa’s unprecedented development,” said AFC CEO Samaila Zubairu.

The AFC was established in 2007 as an investment grade multilateral finance institution, with an equity capital base of $1-billion. The corporation aims to be the catalyst for private sector-led infrastructure investment across Africa.

With a current balance sheet of about $5-billion, the AFC is the second-highest investment grade-rated multilateral financial institution in Africa.

The corporation successfully raised $650-million this year, $500-million in 2017 and $750-million in 2015 through Eurobond issuances, out of its board-approved $3-billion global medium-term note programme.

To date, the AFC had invested more than $6.6-billion in projects within 30 countries across Africa.