From Concept to Financial Close: The 6-Stage Framework.

The average African infrastructure project spends four to seven years in development before reaching Financial Close — and most never get there. The projects that do close are the ones that follow a disciplined, stage-gated process with funder-grade deliverables at every gate. This is the framework we use.

Stage 1 — Origination & Screening (Weeks 0–4)

The first gate is the cheapest and the most brutal. Its job is to kill bad projects before they consume capital.

Deliverables:

• Two-page concept note with sponsor profile, project description, indicative size (USD m), sector, country.
• Initial screening matrix scored against AIB's bankability criteria.
• Country risk view, sponsor KYC, preliminary sector fit.
• Go / No-Go / Rework memo.

Quality gate: Does the project sit in a sector we cover, a country we can finance into, with a sponsor we can underwrite? If any answer is "no", the project does not advance.

Stage 2 — Pre-Feasibility & Appraisal (Weeks 4–12)

This is where the hard questions get asked for the first time. Pre-feasibility is about falsifying the project — actively looking for reasons it cannot work.

Deliverables:

• Market study — demand, pricing, off-taker landscape.
• Preliminary technical configuration and capex estimate (±25%).
• Opex envelope, fuel / feedstock / water assumptions.
• Regulatory mapping — licences required, timelines, counterparties.
• Preliminary financial model with DSCR, Project IRR and sensitivity to the three most material variables.
• Environmental and social screening against IFC Performance Standards.

Quality gate: Does the base-case financial model show a DSCR ≥ 1.30x and a Project IRR above the country-specific hurdle rate? Does the regulatory path exist and is it achievable in the project timeline?

Stage 3 — Structuring & SPV Formation (Weeks 12–24)

Stage 3 is where the project becomes a transaction. The sponsor's vision is translated into a legal, financial and contractual architecture that lenders can underwrite.

Deliverables:

• Incorporation of the Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) in an appropriate jurisdiction (often Mauritius, the host country, or a DIFC / DFSA structure).
• Shareholders' Agreement, with reserved matters, pre-emption, tag/drag, exit mechanics.
• Term sheets for all project contracts — EPC, O&M, PPA / off-take, fuel / feedstock supply, concession agreement.
• Indicative capital structure: senior debt, mezzanine, equity, grant (where applicable).
• Draft risk matrix with named instruments and counterparties.

Quality gate: Is the SPV structure tax-efficient, lender-friendly, and ring-fenced? Does every project contract have a named counterparty with the balance sheet to honour it?

Stage 4 — Full Financial Model & Information Memorandum (Weeks 24–36)

Stage 4 produces the two documents that will be read more carefully than any others in the project's life: the Financial Model and the Information Memorandum (IM).

Deliverables:

• Fully-auditable financial model with model-audit-ready structure.
• Base, downside, upside and break-even cases.
• Information Memorandum (80–120 pages) — project overview, market, technical, ESG, legal, financial, risk matrix, sponsor section.
• Teaser (4–6 pages) for initial outreach.
• Virtual data room populated to DFI standard.

Quality gate: Can a credit committee analyst form an independent view from the IM and the model alone, without calling us? If the answer is "not quite", the documents are not yet ready to go out.

Stage 5 — Capital Raise & Term Sheet (Weeks 36–60)

With an investable package in hand, the project goes to market. This is rarely a single process — it is a choreographed sequence.

Deliverables:

• Structured outreach to DFIs (AfDB, IFC, DEG, Proparco, FMO, BII, Norfund), commercial banks, ECAs, institutional investors and impact capital.
• Information Memorandum briefings and Q&A.
• Initial indicative term sheets — collected, compared, negotiated.
• Mandate Letter with lead arranger(s).
• Credit committee approval from anchor lender(s).

Quality gate: Has the project secured at least one signed, non-binding term sheet from an anchor DFI or commercial lender? Without this, Stage 6 does not begin.

Stage 6 — Financial Close & First Drawdown (Weeks 60–96)

Stage 6 is the closing sprint. It is where projects that have done their work reach the finish line — and where projects that skipped steps discover they are not ready.

Deliverables:

• Full legal documentation — Common Terms Agreement, facility agreements, security documents, inter-creditor agreement, accounts agreement, direct agreements with project contractors.
• Satisfaction of Conditions Precedent (CPs) — licences, insurances, legal opinions, model audit, technical adviser report, market adviser report, ESG adviser sign-off.
• Equity contributions in place, escrow funded.
• Execution of financing documents — Financial Close.
• First Drawdown on the senior facility.

Quality gate: Every CP satisfied, every lender condition met, every signature in place. There is no partial Financial Close — it either happens or it does not.

Why the stages matter

Projects that skip Stage 2 end up with financial models that lenders reject. Projects that skip Stage 3 end up in Stage 5 with a capital structure that does not match the risk allocation. Projects that skip Stage 4 spend 18 months "in market" with a pitch deck that no credit committee can underwrite from.

The stages are not bureaucracy — they are the compounding order in which funder questions get answered. Each gate reduces project risk enough that the next stage of spend (and the next class of counterparty) becomes justified.

Realistic timelines

A disciplined, well-resourced greenfield African infrastructure project, starting from a credible concept note, typically reaches Financial Close in 18 to 24 months. Projects that are already past Stage 3 when engaged can reach close in 9 to 12 months. Projects that arrive at our desk with only a concept and an ambition will take longer — not because we are slow, but because the work is real.

Related reading: The 5 Pillars of a Bankable Project · Engaging AfDB, IFC, DEG & Proparco