Maputo, March 21, 2025 (Lusa) - The resumption of the Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) project in the province of Cabo Delgado, in northern Mozambique, will support 16,400 jobs at 68 companies in the US, according to EXIM Bank, the official export credit agency of the US.
According to information from the bank, the board of directors of EXIM Bank, which supports US exports and imports, said that the "second amendment" to a loan granted to the project in 2019, of up to $4.7 billion (€4.3 billion), was on 13 March approved "unanimously" by that board.
The financing, it recalls, aims to "support the export of goods and services from the US for the development and construction" of the integrated LNG project, a project worth $15 billion (€13.8 billion) that France's TotalEnergies is building on the Afungi peninsula, but which has been suspended since 2021 due to rebel attacks in Cabo Delgado.
"It will support the engineering, procurement and construction of the onshore LNG plant, related facilities and offshore activities," reads the information from EXIM Bank, which emphasises that it is “the largest deal in the 91-year history” of the credit institution. "The transaction, which had been on hold for four years, will support some 16,400 well-paid American jobs that support workers and families in more than 68 companies in 14 states."
As well as being repaid the $4.7 billion, EXIM Bank expects to receive $600 million (€554 million) in interest.
Quoted in the document, the bank's vice-president, Jim Burrows, stresses that this financing will allow US equipment to be exported to Cabo Delgado, "something that would have gone to Chinese and Russian manufacturers instead, were it not for [US President Donald] Trump's leadership in reauthorising" the loan guarantee granted in 2019 by EXIM Bank.
On Thursday, the president of Mozambique, Daniel Chapo, thanked his US counterpart, Donald Trump, for approving the financing, saying: "Your support plays a crucial role in advancing this crucial project. The Mozambique LNG project has the potential to generate 13 million tonnes of LNG per year, create 40,000 new jobs, including approximately 20,000 in the US.
"This support allows US companies to participate in Mozambique and contributes to global energy security, within the framework of a solid partnership between our two countries," Chapo's letter adds.
The TotalEnergies oil company said this week that the financing to resume the natural gas exploration megaproject in Cabo Delgado has almost been finalised, following EXIM's approval.
"We're still in a situation of force majeure - the project hasn't restarted yet - but one of the critical steps was the decision by EXIM Bank, which reconfirmed, reaffirmed, its support for the overall financing of the project," said TotalEnergies’ director for Mozambique, Maxime Rabilloud. "It's a very important financing, it's a critical step,"
TotalEnergies, leader of the Area 1 consortium, is undertaking the construction of a plant in Afungi, near Palma, for the production and export of natural gas.
The LNG project, one of three under development in Mozambique, has been suspended since 2021 due to the rebel attacks in Cabo Delgado, which led TotalEnergies to invoke the force majeure clause and withdraw all staff from the construction site.
This forced the consortium of financing banks to reconfirm the previously approved financing, and the resumption of the project is also conditional on the re-establishment of security, which has the support of the Rwandan armed forces in the area.
Rabilloud explained that in addition to EXIM Bank, the Asian banks in the financing consortium had also reconfirmed financing of around $5 billion (€4.5 billion), with only the reconfirmation of financing from European banks pending.
Since October 2017, Cabo Delgado, which is rich in gas, has been facing an armed rebellion, which has caused thousands of deaths and a humanitarian crisis, with more than one million people displaced.
PVJ/ARO // ARO.
Lusa
