Infrastructure Project Finance Training Course

This five-day programme covers the principles of non-recourse and limited-recourse project finance, the instruments used to finance African infrastructure, and the negotiation and documentation that carries a transaction to financial close.

Infrastructure in Africa is financed differently from a typical corporate balance sheet. Lenders look to the project itself, not the sponsor's broader balance sheet, for repayment, which changes how risk, security and returns are structured from the outset of a transaction. It also changes who needs to be in the room: development finance institutions, export credit agencies and guarantee providers each bring their own appetite, pricing and conditions, and a financing structure that ignores one of them is rarely the cheapest or fastest route to close.

This course positions participants to understand the full financing stack behind a bankable infrastructure project, from senior debt and DFI co-financing to guarantees, credit enhancement and syndication, and how these instruments are negotiated and documented on the way to financial close. Participants work through a live African case study to design, defend and refine a financing structure, building the same judgement a project finance officer or PPP unit adviser needs when a deal is under real commercial pressure.

• Explain the principles that distinguish project finance from corporate and balance-sheet lending.
• Structure a project's financing stack across senior debt, mezzanine and equity.
• Evaluate the role of development finance institutions and export credit agencies in African infrastructure.
• Assess guarantee and credit enhancement instruments, including partial risk and partial credit guarantees.
• Analyse syndication structures and the mechanics of a club deal.
• Compare local currency and hard currency financing, and the tools used to manage currency risk.
• Interpret key project finance term sheets and financing documentation.
• Apply lender due diligence criteria to assess a project's bankability.
• Present a financing structure recommendation for a live infrastructure case study.

This course is designed for:

• Project and infrastructure finance officers at commercial banks and DFIs
• Government and PPP unit officials structuring infrastructure financing
• Corporate finance and treasury teams at infrastructure developers
• Investment and portfolio managers assessing infrastructure debt
• Advisory professionals structuring financing for infrastructure sponsors
• Export credit agency and guarantee institution staff

This programme is delivered through a case-based, highly interactive approach centred on a live African infrastructure financing case study. Participants will combine structured expert input with hands-on term sheet analysis, financing structure design, negotiation simulations and collaborative group exercises to develop practical skills in structuring, evaluating and negotiating infrastructure finance transactions.

This training strengthens organisational capability to:

• Stronger internal capability to structure and negotiate project financing.
• Reduced reliance on external advisers for routine financing structure decisions.
• Faster, more informed engagement with DFIs, export credit agencies and guarantee institutions.
• Improved ability to attract financing for projects previously seen as unbankable.
• Better risk-adjusted financing structures, reducing cost of capital over time.
• Stronger negotiating position in syndication and club deal discussions.
• Improved consistency in how financing structures are proposed across a project pipeline.
• Reduced financial risk from poorly structured currency or guarantee arrangements.
• Enhanced institutional credibility with financing partners and co-lenders.

Participants will gain the knowledge and practical skills to:

• Gain a working command of project finance structuring vocabulary and logic.
• Build confidence assessing and negotiating financing term sheets.
• Strengthen credibility with lenders, DFIs and guarantee institutions.
• Improve ability to evaluate financing options rather than accept the first structure offered.
• Sharpen judgement on currency and country risk in cross-border financing.
• Expand career options across banking, DFI, advisory and government roles.
• Build a professional network of peers active in African infrastructure financing.
• Improve confidence presenting financing recommendations to senior stakeholders.
• Strengthen understanding of how guarantees and blended finance reduce project risk.

At Strategic Revenue Africa, our certification goes beyond proof of attendance—it represents practical competence and measurable capability. Upon successful completion of our training programs, participants are awarded a Certificate of Completion from Strategic Revenue Africa, recognizing their ability to apply acquired knowledge in real-world settings. As an organization focused on architecting sustainable revenue and strengthening organizational performance, our certifications signal that participants are equipped with skills that drive results, not just theory.

A working understanding of corporate finance and basic credit concepts is assumed. No prior project finance experience is required.