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Despite protests, TotalEnergies gets South Africa’s approval for offshore drilling

Published

1 year ago

October 2, 2023

After turning down an appeal from more than a dozen people and lobbying organisations, South Africa’s environment ministry has approved TotalEnergies’ plans to drill for natural gas and oil offshore.

There have been a string of lawsuits seeking to stop energy companies from exploring new offshore discoveries at the foot of Africa, with a specific appeal to stop TotalEnergies from drilling in Blocks 5/6/7 off the coast of Cape Town.

The area in question is 10,000 square kilometres in size and is located offshore roughly between Cape Town and Cape Agulhas. It is 170 kilometres from the coast at its farthest point and 60 kilometres from the coast at its closest point. The water depth ranges from 700 metres to 3,200 metres.

Natural gas and crude oil production are quite limited in South Africa, and consequently, the bulk of South Africa’s crude oil is imported, as the country largely counts on its large coal resources.

The request is for the ministry to revoke the environmental authorization given to the French energy company by the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy in April, citing issues like marine noise, oil spills, climate change, and inadequate public consultation. But environment minister, Barbara Creecy on Monday dismissed the concerns in a 144-page ruling.

“I am therefore satisfied that the impacts of noise and light have been adequately assessed and mitigated to ensure low impacts on the receiving environment. As such this ground of appeal is dismissed,” Creecy said in the ruling.

Related Topics:Featured South Africa TotalEnergies

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IMF mission concludes 4th loan program assessment in Egypt

Published

2 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.

VenturesNow

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.