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Partners ‘willing to walk away,’ US warns Tanzania over gas project delays

Published

9 months ago

March 3, 2024

Tanzania’s much-awaited, multimillion-dollar liquefied natural gas project is facing impending investor withdrawals from the United States, if delays caused by negotiating technicalities persist, the country has warned.

Companies like Exxon Mobil, who have been pushing the deal with Tanzanian authorities, have reached a point where they are now “willing to walk away,” US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Joy Basu told journalists.

Basu, whose portfolio in the Joe Biden administration includes overseeing economic and regional affairs in Sub-Saharan Africa cautioned that “there is LNG in lots of places around the world now, and for Tanzania the window for this particular investment is closing fast. Such windows do not remain open forever.”

In meetings with Tanzanian government officials during the week to monitor the development of a US-Tanzania commercial dialogue that was initiated in October of last year, she stated that the project’s status was a top priority.

One of many international companies involved in the LNG project in southern Tanzania is Exxon Mobil, headquartered in Houston, Texas. The project’s estimated cost increased from $30 billion in 2014 to $42 billion by the previous year.

The project’s other partners include the state-owned Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation, Exxon Mobil, Pavilion Energy (Singapore), Medco Energi (Indonesia), and Britain’s Shell and Norway’s Equinor, which have been designated as joint main operators.

She said that the project’s status was a major priority during meetings with Tanzanian government representatives this week to track the progress of a US-Tanzania commercial dialogue that was started in October of last year.

In order to expedite the development of its natural resources, the government intends to work with China’s Cnooc Ltd. to jointly explore for oil and gas in two offshore blocks that are owned by Tanzania Petroleum Development Corp., a state-owned company.

Since a downturn in 2020 when it 57.1 billion cubic feet of natural gas, a decline from 63.8 billion cubic feet the year before, the continent’s search for hydrocarbons has increased gradually as European countries look to diversify their energy sources and reduce their reliance on Russian gas.

Apart from the established main gas producing countries like Nigeria, Algeria, and Egypt, other African nations like Tanzania have been rising as potential players in the natural gas industry.

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IMF mission concludes 4th loan program assessment in Egypt

Published

6 hours ago

November 22, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Following the completion of a recent visit to Egypt, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has announced that its mission had achieved significant strides in policy talks aimed at concluding the fourth review of the IMF loan program.

The review is the fourth in Egypt’s most recent 46-month IMF loan program, which was authorised in 2022 and increased to $8 billion this year following an economic crisis characterised by high inflation and chronic foreign exchange shortages. It may unleash more than $1.2 billion in financing.

Along with reaffirming its commitment to maintain a flexible exchange rate system, the IMF stated that Egypt “has implemented key reforms to preserve macroeconomic stability,” including the unification of the currency rate that facilitated imports.

Earlier on Wednesday, Egypt’s Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said Cairo has asked the IMF to modify the targets for the programme not only for this year, but for its full duration, he added without giving more details.

“Discussions will continue over the coming days to finalize agreement on the remaining policies and reforms that could support the completion of the fourth review,” the IMF added in its statement.

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Kenya seeks $750m from World Bank, obtains $200m from AfDB— Official

Published

2 days ago

November 20, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

The head of debt management for the finance ministry told Reuters that Kenya had obtained a $200 million loan from the African Development Bank (AfDB) and was negotiating a fresh $750 million loan with the World Bank.

After being forced to abandon proposed tax rises costing more than 346 billion shillings ($2.68 billion) in June due to fatal demonstrations, the East African nation’s administration, which has been grappling with significant debt, has been frantically seeking fresh funding.

The Finance Ministry’s public debt management office director general, Raphael Owino, told Reuters that the IMF’s October clearance of the seventh and eighth reviews, which opened the door for a $606 million loan tranche, had aided the ministry’s talks for more loans.

“The World Bank is coming on board, riding on the back of IMF receipts,” Owino said. “The AfDB is already on board.”

The discussions for more assistance, which came under the World Bank’s “Development Policy Operations” (DPO) with the government, were confirmed by a representative at the organization’s Kenya office.

“The amount of the current (loan) is yet to be determined. The amount will also depend on the implementation of the policy reforms agreed upon,” the spokesperson told Reuters, adding that past DPO loans averaged about $750 million.

In May, the World Bank approved the latest round of DPO loans, totalling $1.2 billion.

According to a statement made last month by Finance Minister John Mbadi, Kenya has set a foreign borrowing goal of 168 billion shillings for the fiscal year ending in June 2025.