The Emerging Africa and Asia Infrastructure Fund (EAAIF), a blended finance debt vehicle managed by Ninety One, plans to announce up to two deals in Asia’s renewables sector soon, a senior official told Infralogic.

EAAIF, which manages a pan-African USD 1.4bn loans portfolio, expects Asia to account for up to 30% of the portfolio in the near future, said Martijn Proos, co-head of Emerging Market Alternative Credit at London-based Ninety One.

Last month, the fund – formerly known as The Emerging Africa Infrastructure Fund (EAIF) – announced it expanded its investment mandate to include South and Southeast Asia.

As part of the widened mandate, EAAIF is seeking to raise USD 300m-USD 400m over the next six to 12 months, he said. Most of the capital is expected to be committed from private institutional investors.

Renewables will dominate its Asian deployments, particularly independent power producers (IPPs) and commercial and industrial solar, he said. Renewables platforms backed by private equity operators that require financing will be of interest.

Other sectors in focus are digital infrastructure and logistics and transportation, including bus concessions and toll road expansions.

Within South and Southeast Asia, the fund will target Vietnam, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, and the Philippines.

EAAIF provides infrastructure debt financing including senior secured corporate loans, mezzanine financing, project loans, bond issues, and loan syndications. It targets greenfield projects or brownfield sites with expansion goals.

Tickets range from USD 10m to USD 65m, with average cheque sizes at USD 30m-USD 40m, he said. Tenors can be 15-20 years.

Established in 2001, the fund has raised USD 1.7bn in debt so far across eight rounds, said Proos. Its anchor shareholders are the UK, Dutch, Swedish and Swiss governments and it raises debt from private investors including Allianz Global Investors, African Development bank, Standard Bank, Standard Chartered, and development banks AfDB, FMO and KFW.

EAAIF is part of the Private Infrastructure Development Group (PIDG), which is funded by the UK, Switzerland, Australia, Norway, Sweden, Netherlands, Germany, and the World Bank Group.