African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has disbursed a $975 million financing facility to support the management buyout of Oryx Energies SA, bringing the African energy trading and distribution business under majority African ownership for the first time.

The financing will partially fund the acquisition of Oryx Energies, the holding company of Addax Energy SA, an established provider of energy products and services across Africa.

Afreximbank acted as sole lender, facility agent, security trustee and escrow agent for the transaction.

The acquisition places majority ownership of the business in the hands of its African management team, which plans to build on its existing operations in energy trading, distribution and infrastructure development.

“This management buyout marks an important milestone in the history of Oryx Energies and the continuation of a journey that our management team has been part of for many years,” said Moussa Diao, CEO of Oryx Energies.

“It also reflects the strength of experienced African leadership and its ability to guide established businesses towards new opportunities.”

Diao said the management team intends to strengthen the company's position in African energy markets while pursuing further investment in trading and infrastructure.

“Our ambition remains to strengthen our activities in energy trading and infrastructure development across Africa,” he said.

The transaction forms part of Afreximbank's broader financing activities in Africa's energy sector, which include support for upstream production, refining capacity and energy infrastructure.

According to the bank, the acquisition is intended to increase African participation in the ownership and management of energy businesses while retaining a greater share of economic value within the continent.

“This transaction advances Afreximbank’s mandate to drive the structural transformation of African economies,” said George Elombi, President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Afreximbank.

“Through the Management buyout of Oryx Energies SA’s trading and distribution business, we have secured a strategic platform to deepen Africa’s energy industrial ecosystem, strengthen energy infrastructure and capture more value from the continent’s abundant natural resources.”

Elombi added that the transaction would support local entrepreneurship, employment and capacity building, alongside greater African ownership of energy infrastructure and businesses.

The financing represents another example of Afreximbank's use of structured lending to support large-scale acquisitions and the expansion of African-owned businesses in strategic sectors.