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Africa Finance Corporation, a Pan-African multilateral development finance institution, has announced that it would invest $25 million in Carbon Holdings Limited, an Egyptian petrochemicals company, according to a statement released on Thursday.

The Lagos-based lender said its financing will support the company's investment strategy, which is geared towards the establishment of a robust raw materials base, ultimately leading to the development of Egypt's manufacturing sector.

In addition to AFC, the International Finance Corporation and Gulf Capital are also providing capital to support the expansion of Carbon Holdings' operations. The deal was arranged by Investbridge Capital, a Dubai-based provider of alternative asset management and corporate advisory services.

“AFC prioritises investing in projects and businesses that can make a tangible impact on the people, their communities and the economy, and we believe that key to the next chapter in Africa's growth story is investing in companies such as Carbon Holdings which deliver industrial products across a broad reaching value chain,” said Andrew Alli, AFC’s CEO. “The government of Egypt is pursuing policies to diversify the economy and is supporting the private sector to develop new industries, including manufacturing, to create high value-add jobs for Egyptians. AFC is proud to be able to support Carbon Holdings to expand its operations and drive local employment.”

Carbon Holdings is a privately-owned firm that develops and acquires midstream and downstream petrochemical plants. The company is the principal shareholder and sponsor of several petrochemical projects and an industrial zone in the Northwest Gulf of Suez, Egypt. The company is currently developing the $7.3 billion Tahrir Petrochemicals Complex in Ain Sokhna, Egypt.

“I am delighted that through this investment we can now welcome AFC into our prestigious investor group,” said Basil El-Baz, Chairman and CEO, Carbon Holdings.  “The addition of such a pre-eminent African institution is extremely important to Carbon Holdings and will further emphasize our strategic commitment to the industrial development of not only Egypt, but to our future industrial plans in Africa."

Founded in 2007 with paid-in equity capital of $1.26 billion, the AFC has a mission to address Africa’s infrastructure development needs while seeking a competitive return on capital for its shareholders. AFC’s shareholders include various African financial institutions (47.6 percent), the Central Bank of Nigeria (42.5 percent), and several industrial and corporate shareholders (9.8 percent).