Fitch Assigns RSBF ‘AAA(nga)’ National Rating with Stable Outlook.

Lagos | January 15, 2026: InfraCredit is pleased to announce that Fitch Ratings has assigned the Risk Sharing Backstop Facility (RSBF) a ‘AAA(nga)’ Long-Term Insurer Financial Strength National Rating, with a Stable Outlook.

The RSBF is a captive, special-purpose risk-sharing and counter-guarantee facility established by InfraCredit in partnership with FSD Africa Investments (FSDAi). It provides pari passu backstop support to InfraCredit’s guarantees for early-stage, higher-risk climate-aligned infrastructure projects. Through this structure, RSBF supports project bankability by sharing up to 80 percent of the guarantee exposure, with InfraCredit retaining at least 20 percent.

Incorporated in 2024, the RSBF is domiciled in Mauritius and capitalised with a £10 million subordinated green loan from FSDAi. It operates as a fully loss-absorbing, standalone vehicle designed to strengthen local-currency credit enhancement for sustainable infrastructure in Nigeria.

Fitch’s assessment reflects RSBF’s strong linkage to InfraCredit and alignment in governance, credit risk management and guarantee operations. The rating also recognises the facility’s purpose-built design, conservative investment policy and capital structure, which support its mandate to enable early-stage projects to access long-term financing.

The RSBF commenced operations in 2025, with its first approved transaction being a ₦2.55 billion commercial and industrial renewable energy project, where it provides shared guarantee support alongside InfraCredit.

Chinua Azubike, Chief Executive Officer, InfraCredit, said:

“The successful establishment, governance structuring, and independent credit rating of RSBF, combined with the execution of its first pilot transaction, demonstrate InfraCredit’s capability to design, operationalise, and replicate guarantor and counter-guarantee institutions beyond Nigeria’s borders. This milestone significantly bolsters InfraCredit’s strategic positioning and validates its readiness to scale into multi-regional and pan-African credit enhancement markets, a core pillar of the organisation’s growth strategy.”

Anne-Marie Chidzero, Chief Investment Officer, FSD Africa Investments said:

“The receipt of Fitch’s rating should undoubtedly strengthen investor confidence in the RSBF and ultimately make it easier for sustainable infrastructure projects in Nigeria to source the capital they need. By addressing the early-stage construction risk that has long limited pension and insurance fund participation, the RSBF aims to unlock short- and medium-term local institutional investment into critical and climate-aligned infrastructure projects. This will accelerate Nigeria’s economic and social development as well as help it deliver on its climate goals. As a first of its kind risk-sharing facility, we hope it will also act as a proof-of-concept encouraging others to replicate this model and we are proud to be partnering with InfraCredit on it”.

Looking ahead, RSBF is expected to scale beyond US$50 million in blended capital as additional investors participate in future capital rounds. As it grows, the facility will further strengthen InfraCredit’s capacity to mobilise domestic institutional investment for Nigeria’s expanding pipeline of climate-aligned infrastructure and support the replication of similar credit enhancement platforms across other markets.

For more information, please contact:
Infrastructure Credit Guarantee Company PLC
Media Enquiries: [email protected]/[email protected]
Guarantee Enquiries: [email protected]
Phone: +234 6312300

Note to the Editor

About InfraCredit

InfraCredit (www.infracredit.ng) was established in 2017 as a first-of-its-kind ‘AAA’(NG) rated specialised local currency infrastructure credit guarantee institution, created to support long-term local currency infrastructure financing in Nigeria. InfraCredit’s guarantees enhance the credit quality of local currency debt instruments issued to finance eligible infrastructure-related assets. Its guarantees serve as a catalyst to attract long-term domestic institutional capital from pension funds, insurance firms, and other investors, thereby deepening Nigeria’s debt capital markets. InfraCredit’s investors include the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority, UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (through PIDG and MOBILIST), KfW Development Bank, Africa Finance Corporation, and African Development Bank, alongside domestic pension funds and insurance firms. As at April 2025, InfraCredit was listed as a public company and admitted to trading on the NASD. It maintains the highest domestic financial strength ratings accorded to any financial institution by Agusto & Co., Global Credit Ratings, and international rating agency, Fitch Ratings.

About FSDA Investments

FSD Africa Investments (FSDAi) is the investing arm of FSD Africa, a UK International Development funded regional program, based in Kenya, that operates in over 30 countries to make finance work for Africa’s future. FSDAi invests in novel financial instruments, facilities and intermediaries to support policy objectives and accelerate the role of finance in Africa’s green economic growth. FSDAi, a private company with shareholders including FSD Africa and the UK’s FCDO, employs diverse investment instruments while embracing considerable risk. FSDAi bridges funding gaps by supporting novel financial solutions for transformative change in Africa’s financial markets to deliver better-quality jobs and economic opportunities, equitable access to basic services, reduction of human vulnerability and inequity, and environmental benefits.

For more information, visit https://fsdafrica.org/our-work/fsdai/ .