MACAUHUB NEWS SUMMARISED FOR MOZAMBIQUE From 25th June to 01st July 2013 Coal India group consigns US$42 million to social spending in Mozambique June 25th, 2013 Mining group Coal India Ltd (CIL) has consigned US$42 million to social spending in Mozambique in order to overcome some obstacles that are apparently preventing it from commercial coal exploration, said a senior official from the group. Cited by the Indian press, the official said that the social spending plan, which includes construction of two professional training institutes, had been presented to the Indian Foreign Affairs Ministry as the social investments will be analysed at bilateral meetings of the two countries. The CIL group, which was granted two coal blocks in Tete province, central Mozambique, in 2009, at the end of last awarded the contract to explore the 205 square kilometres with estimated reserves of 1 billion tons of thermal coal and coke, to Tribeni Minerals. According to the group official, the Mozambican government formally protested the delays in developing the two blocks and the fact that the social spending commitments were not following the agreed schedule. The group argued that the social expenses could not be a condition for development of the blocks as its aims were purely commercial, which led the board of CIL to consider backing out of the two coal blocks. However, the project continued due to an intervention by the Indian government, which considered that CIL’s backing out of the deal would create a bad impression in relation to India’s interest in that region of Africa, the official said. Portugal and Mozambique top the Globe Spots list of best tourist destinations Travel website Globe Spots, made up of contributions from professional and amateur travellers, has named Portugal and Mozambique as the two best tourist destinations in 2013, in a list of 10 countries published recently. In its three categories – classic, adventure and hardcore – for the fifth year running Globe Spot announced its top 10 list of best tourist destination based on opinions from its users on “what’s happening” in the tourism sector around the world. In the classic category, Portugal, and its “old European charm,” is in first place and the website considers it to have “great tourism areas” and that it is “easy access.” “After a few days in Portugal you’ll find yourself in a little square with a glass of port wine in your hand, whether you like port or not. It’s just one of those things that Portugal does to you,” the Globe Spots website says. In second place, and considered to be a “hardcore” destination, Mozambique is described as an ideal destination “for those that will travel anywhere,” and who are “tired” of tours and safaris in neighbouring countries. “Mozambique is not a country that can be explored without effort (…). Thankfully, long journeys are made easier by the laid back attitude and good humour of the Mozambicans, who are one of the good reasons to visit the country,” noted the authors of the list. Kyrgyzstan, which is also considered to be a “hardcore” destination, was the website’s third suggestion, followed by Panama (adventure), Armenia (adventure), Rwanda (adventure), Cuba (Classic), Ukraine (adventure), Malawi (adventure) and Canada (classic). Mining group Rio Tinto analyses total or partial sale of its operations in Mozambique June 26th, 2013 Anglo-Australian mining group Rio Tinto is considering the total or partial sale of its operations at the Benga mine, in Mozambique and is looking for a financial consultant to support the process, the Wall Street Journal reported. Citing unnamed sources the US newspaper said that the company had launched a “tender amongst several investment banks,” trying to find a solution for the “troubled coal unit” located in Tete province, central Mozambique. “Rio Tinto is trying to boost its balance sheet by selling a number of non-core businesses and under performing assets,” the newspaper said. The news coincided with a halt to coal exports from Mozambique due to safety problems. In 2012 Rio Tinto Coal Mozambique posted losses of over US$3 billion following a downward review of coal reserves at the Benga mine, in Tete province, along with difficulties in transporting the coal away from the mine. The company bought the Benga mine in 2011 from Riversdale Mining for US$3.7 billion. Now, and according to the Wall Street Journal, the multinational company may net US$700 million if it decides to sell the entire unit, or it may look for a partner to buy part of the project to share expenses. Indian state groups ONGC and OIL pay US$2.48 billion for 10 pct of Mozambican oil block Indian state groups Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and Oil India Ltd (OIL) have agreed to pay US$2.48 billion for the stake owned by India’s Videocon Industries in an oil block in Mozambique, Indian newspaper the Economic Times reported. In a statement, ONGC Videsh, the group’s company for international business, said that the agreement meant the group was stepping into a business with worldwide scale and would help it to achieve production targets of 20 million tons of oil by 2018 and 60 million tons by 2030. The deal is the ONGC group’s third significant acquisition after it had paid US$1 billion for the 2.7 percent owned by Hess Corp in Azerbaijan’s largest oil field. The group also signed a deal to buy the 8.4 percent stake owned by ConocoPhillips in an oil project in Kazakhstan, which, in the meantime, has faced some obstacles from China, according to the Indian newspaper. Officials from Oil India Ltd said that the natural gas extracted from the Area 1 Block, in the Rovuma basin, northern Mozambique, would be shipped to India. Liquefaction of the natural gas is expected to begin in 2018. The Area 1 Block is operated by US group Anadarko Petroleum, with 36.5 percent, 10 percent of which is up for sale, and the remaining partners are Japan’s Mitsui & Co. (20 percent), Indian group Videocon Industries and Indian company Bharat Petroleum, with 10 percent each, Thai state group PTT with 8.5 percent and Mozambican state company Empresa Nacional de Hidrocarbonetos with 15 percent. IMF approves three-year support programme for Mozambique The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has approved the three-year Policy Support Instrument (PSI) for Mozambique after completing its sixth assessment of the agreement it has with the country, the IMF said in a statement issued in Washington Monday. In the statement, the IMF said that the PSI was designed for low income nations that perhaps do not need to make use of IMF financial assistance but which are still interested in benefitting from the services provided by the organisation in terms of advice, control and policy endorsement. “Mozambique’s PSI is intended to maintain macroeconomic stability and reduce poverty by providing support for economic management, improve focus on priority expenses, boost debt management, the efficiency of the financial sector and improve the business climate and competitiveness,” the document said. The IMF said that economic performance and outlook for Mozambique remained solid and that the country was well prepared to maintain robust growth in the medium term due to increased mining production. Infrastructure built in Mozambique with US funding completed by September June 27th, 2013 Almost all construction work funded by the Millennium Challenge Account Moçambique is due for conclusion by September of this year, said the vice president of the Millennium Challenge Corporation, the United States federal agency to fund development projects. In 2007 the US government provided Mozambique with US$506.9 million to be used, over five years, in the provinces of Cabo Delgado, Niassa, Nampula and Zambézia to repair roads, water supply and sanitation systems, improve agricultural yields and safe access to land. On a recent visit to some projects in Nampula province, Andrew Mayock said he was happy that it had been possible to make up for some delays that occurred. According to daily newspaper Notícias, until the end of last year there was a lot of concern about reduced productivity in the infrastructure sector, mainly due to delays in transporting the equipment needed to carry out the work, particularly to repair roads. Together with the government and contractors the Millennium Challenge Account Moçambique was able to speed up the work, which in some cases was achieved through sub-contracting. When work is concluded in Nampula, water supplied to the city will double to 40,000 cubic metres per day, which means that 70 percent of the population will have access to piped water 24 hours per day. Anglo-Australian group Rio Tinto brings coal exports from Mozambique to a standstill Anglo-Australian group Rio Tinto has suspended coal exports from Tete province in central Mozambique, due to instability in that region of the country, the group’s Mozambican subsidiary said in a statement. Hélder Ossemane, the company’s spokesman, cited by the Reuters news agency, said that the board of directors had decided to halt coal transport along the Sena railroad to the port of Beira, “in order to carry out an assessment of the current situation in Mozambique.” However, Ossemane gave assurances that coal mining would continue at Benga, near the city of Tete. Brazilian group Vale, which is investing billions of dollars in building a logistics network linking Moatize to Nacala, said in a statement that it would continue to transport coal along the Sena railroad although it planned to increase security. Last week, opposition party Renamo threatened to prevent travel in the centre of the country and since then there have been attacks on trucks and buses in the region. A few days ago some carriages of a train travelling on the Sena railway were derailed, but state port and rail management company Portos e Caminhos de Ferro de Moçambique played down the occurrence noting that travel along the line had not been interrupted. First cashew research centre due to start operating in Mozambique this year June 28th, 2013 A cashew research centre is due to start operating in Mozambique this year, as part of an initiative set up by the Mozambican and Chinese government, said Filomena Maiopué, director of the Cashew Institute (Incaju). According to daily newspaper Notícias the two governments plan to spend 150 million meticals (US$5 million) over five years at the centre. The aim of the centre is to boost cashew production and yield, which will require identification, research and multiplication of cashew varieties with high potential and that are resistant to disease, which will later be distributed to farmers. The centre will have licensed technicians who will receive additional Master and PhD training in and outside the country in order to improve the results of their work. Maiopué said that negotiations between the Chinese and Mozambican governments, represented by Incaju and the Chinese Academy for Tropical Agricultural Sciences (CATAS), respectively, were underway with a view to releasing some funding in order to start construction work. Oil India Ltd to take on loan to buy stake in Mozambican oil block Oil India Ltd (OIL) plans to take on a foreign loan of US$800 million and US$900 million in order to pay for it portion of a stake owned by Indian group Videocon Industries in an oil block in Mozambique, Indian news agency PTI reported. This week the consortium made up of the Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) and OIL announced it had reached an agreement to buy the 10 percent stake owned by Videocon Industries in the Area 1 block of the Rovuma basin, in Mozambique, for US$2.48 billion. ONGC Videsh, the ONGC group for international business will have a 60 percent share of the 10 percent stake, and OIL will keep the remaining 40 percent. “We are going to take on a foreign loan for between 80 and 90 percent of our US$1 billion portion so that the deal can be finalised,” the group’s financial director, Ananth Kumar told the Press Trust of India. The debt, which will cushion the group from rupee-dollar exchange rate volatility, will be a mixture of commercial loans and a dollar bond issue. N K Bharali, the group’s business development director, said the area 1 block had estimated natural gas reserves of between 35 and 65 trillion cubic feet. The natural gas will undergo liquefaction so that it can be exported to countries such as India. Bharali also said that, as well as the acquisition price, fixed capital expenditure is expected to total US$31.25 billion if the block’s partners decide to build two natural gas processing units, and that ONG’s portion of this is 4 percent. The deal requires approval from both the Indian and Mozambican authorities as well as Videocon Industries paying capital gains tax of between 12 and 32 percent, similarly to other mining resources deals in Mozambique. The Area 1 Block is operated by US group Anadarko Petroleum, with 36.5 percent, 10 percent of which is up for sale, and the remaining partners are Japan’s Mitsui & Co. (20 percent), Indian group Videocon Industries and Indian company Bharat Petroleum, with 10 percent each, Thai state group PTT with 8.5 percent and Mozambican state company Empresa Nacional de Hidrocarbonetos with 15 percent. Switzerland provides US$36 million in aid to Mozambique for 2013-2016 Switzerland plans to supply Mozambique with two loans worth US$34 million and US$2 million, the former for direct budgetary aid and the latter to finance the Tributary Authority Common Fund, under the terms of agreements signed Thursday in Maputo. The financing agreements, which were signed by Mozambique’s Finance Minister Manuel Chang and by the Swiss ambassador to Mozambique, Theresa Adam, stipulate that the funding will be provided in the 2013-16 period. By providing this funding Switzerland is financing part of the Plan of Action to Reduce Poverty and other economic reforms that are being carried out in Mozambique. Eaglestone plans to invest in renewable energy in Angola and Mozambique July 1st, 2013 Amsterdam-based company Eaglestone plans to invest at least 40 percent of 100 million euros of a renewable energy fund in renewable energy projects in Angola and Mozambique, the chairman of the group said Friday in London. Cited by financial news agency Bloomberg, Pedro Neto noted that although there were more opportunities in South Africa, other nations with a “growing appetite” for renewable energy included Angola and Mozambique as well as Botswana. The chairman of the company founded in 2011, with its headquarters in Amsterdam and offices in Cape Town, Lisbon, Luanda and Maputo, said that the Mozambican authorities were evaluating tow possible renewable energy projects and that in Angola the local government had plans to reach production of 200 megawatts each of solar and wind energy by 2017, as part of an ambitious programme to produce a total of 6.2 gigawatts of power compared to current production of 1.2 gigawatts. A few days ago the International Energy Agency (IEA) published a report that noted that Namibia, Mozambique and South Africa are in the top five countries for growth of wind energy by 2018. Two months ago Eaglestone started raising cash for a 100 million-euro fund in partnership with Infraventus Capital Partners. In a second stage the fund may total 150 million euros. Eaglestone, which was set up with a view to becoming an active partner in development of projects essentially located in sub-Saharan Africa and to support worldwide renewable energy projects, has three main business areas – financial advisory, private equity and brokerage. Macauhub News Agency Address: Av. Infante D. Henrique, 43-53 A The Macau Square, 8th Floor – L Macau Phone: (853) -28355315/6 Fax: (853) -28355466 E-Mail: [email protected]
Posted on: Tue, 02 Jul 2013 11:50:18 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015