Nizar Juma Chairman Jubilee Holdings during the launch of Explorer health insurance at Serena yesterday photoKARUGA WA NJUGUNA Jubilee Holdings Limited (JHL) has purchased a further 9.44 per cent stake in Uganda based Energy firm Bujagali from its technical partner SN Power for $40 million (Sh4.2 billion).
This transaction increases Jubilee Holding’s shareholding in Bujagali Energy Limited to 18 per cent from an initial 8.8 per cent.
SN Power however is still the majority shareholder in the energy firm invests in clean, renewable energy on a commercial basis in emerging markets at 55.5 per cent.
The company’s primary focus is on hydropower and is fully owned by Norfund, the Norwegian Investment Fund for Developing Countries.
Bujagali had cost approximately $900m (Sh95.4 billion) to build and was funded through a combination of equity and debt financing.
In a statement Tuesday, the insurance firm’s Chairman Nizar Juma said the increased investment in Bujagali is part of the insurer’s strategy to hold a diversified and conservative portfolio of investments totaling Sh111.2 billion.
“We are very pleased with this additional investment in Bujagali and we have confidence that it will continue to provide us with stable and consistent returns as has been the case with all our existing investments,’’ Juma said.
He added that the core investment holdings include quoted securities, government bonds, real estate, unquoted securities and projects that generate US dollar returns, including interests in Farmer’s Choice, PDM, and Seacom.
The Bujagali Hydropower Project is widely considered the most successful public-private partnership in the power sector in Sub-Saharan Africa and has been used as a model for subsequent projects in the region.
It was commissioned in August 2012, putting an end to years of constrained economic growth caused by an insufficient and unreliable power supply in Uganda.
It remains the first independent power producer in Uganda and one of the largest clean development mechanism project.
