• GE Africa was awarded PPP Champion of the year at this year’s African Infrastructure Investment Awards

• GE Africa has a record of many successful partnerships, and has memorandums of agreement with the governments of Angola, Ghana, Kenya and Nigeria.

• Africa has a unique opportunity to build on the progress made over the last decade to deepen growth and economic transformation

General Electric Company (GE) was awarded the coveted African infrastructure investment award for Public Private Partnership in recognition for GE’s work in Nigeria on Energy (power generation). This is a clear demonstration of the company’s commitment to sustained investment in the continent, and promotion of local employment and development.

Commenting on the winners, Hubert Danso, CEO and Vice Chairman of Africa investor, said; “This year’s winners were true leaders in their fields. They are a testament to the strength of the projects being undertaken on the continent, and it is heartening to see the caliber of the companies and committed leaders working tirelessly to improve Africa’s infrastructure investment climate.”

GE scooped the prestigious award in the Public Private Partnership (PPP) Champion of the Year category, which was open to anyone involved in improving the environment for PPPs in Africa. The company has a record of many successful partnerships across Africa and in particular has signed memorandums of agreement with the government of Nigeria.  GE signed an investment incentive MOU to provide infrastructure and services in the energy, healthcare and rail transportation sectors, and there are plans to invest US$1 billion in a manufacturing and service facility in Calabar.

In fulfilment of this commitment, GE entered joint development agreements with Nigerian companies such as Transcorp, Honeywell, Oats Global, Geometric and Ibom to support the Ministry of Power. According to President and Chief Executive Officer of General Electric (GE) Nigeria, Dr. Lazarus Angbazo, “We are executing on our commitment to support development of 10,000MW of incremental power generation capacity, and this is being done in partnership with several project sponsors through the joint development agreements we recently signed. This is of course in addition to what the government and other private sector developers are doing to grow the electricity market.”

This commitment was recently acknowledged by President Goodluck Jonathan at the Power Reforms Transaction Signing Summit where GE and its partners were recognized for their work on bringing incremental power to the grid.

President and CEO for GE Africa, Jay Ireland emphasized that GE is in Africa for the long run and will continue working with various stakeholders in government and the private sector. He said, “GE is committed to continue partnering with Africa by broadening the innovation play, localizing our technological solutions and also investing in skills development. The award therefore is a clear testament that GE’s partnership based strategy for Africa is adding value to our stakeholders.”

Some of GE’s key projects across Africa are MOU signings with the governments of Ghana and Kenya’s vision 2030 to develop infrastructure projects including sustainable energy solutions, rail transportation, quality healthcare, training and capacity building.

Receiving the award on behalf of GE Africa was Nils Tcheyan Director Government Affairs and Policy – GE Africa who said “Africa has a unique opportunity to build on the progress made over the last decade to deepen growth and economic transformation. GE’s capability and global expertise in healthcare, rail transportation, power generation, oil & gas industries and Sales & Project Finance allows us to play a significant role as a partner in the development of Africa,” .

The highly sought-after Africa investor (Ai) Infrastructure Investment Awards, now in their 6th year, formally recognize achievements across the main infrastructure sectors in Africa, and reward the institutions and personalities driving transactions and improving the continent’s infrastructure investment climate.