UPDATE 1-West African Energy, African Finance Corp sign deal for power plant in Senegal

Reuters
·1 min read

(Adds detail and context)

DAKAR, Dec 7 (Reuters) - West African Energy and African Finance Corp on Wednesday signed a financing deal for a 300 MW gas-fired power plant in Senegal, the country's energy ministry said on Twitter.

West African Energy, the owner of the Cap de Biches project, and African Finance Corp, a multilateral lender that is 42%-owned by the Nigerian central bank, did not provide details of the financing. The project was previously reported to cost $349 million.

At the signing ceremony, Energy and Petroleum Minister Aissatou Gladima said local gas would be used as a base combustible for the plant, the ministry said.

Senegal is expected to start producing gas for domestic and regional markets from two projects next year, tapping into growing international support for developing gas resources in Africa. (Reporting by Bate Felix; Writing by Sofia Christensen; Editing by Leslie Adler and Cynthia Osterman)