Mozambique Primed For Its Largest Ever Project Financings

The would‐be developers of Mozambique’s first LNG schemes are starting to work to put together project financing for their ventures. If closed, they could be the largest project financings ever implemented in the country and if the staged LNG developments are realized as conceived they could also be Africa’s largest project financings. Based on the prolific Rovuma Basin reserves and led by Italian major Eni and US exploration company Anadarko, the projects have the potential to make Mozambique one of the top handful of LNG producers worldwide, with planned first phase production alone amounting to 24.5 MMt/y. These schemes could also be the largest sub‐investment grade financings ever seen – Mozambique is rated B by Standard & Poor’s, B1 by Moody’s and B+ by Fitch. The planned LNG developments will be the largest private sector projects that have been implemented in Mozambique to date (see table). An initial phase of the project, involving six trains, could cost about $60 billion, according to a study published by South Africa’s Standard Bank in July 2014. This is a significant stepup from the Mozal and Mozal II aluminum projects, Pande- Temane gas field and pipeline scheme implemented by South Africa’s Sasol, and Kenmare Moma titanium mining project. The Moatize coal mining venture sponsored by Brazil’s Vale will ultimately cost $8.4 billion, but funds are being provided by development banks and it will be implemented in three phases. Please fill out the form below to access full article: