Maputo, March 24, 2025 (Lusa) - Financial rating agency Fitch believes that TotalEnergies' Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) megaproject in Mozambique will go ahead this year, following the approval of the €4.3 billion financing by the US Exim Bank.
"It will improve the prospects for the resumption of the huge project, which could have several positive benefits for Mozambique in the medium term," writes Fitch Ratings, in an assessment consulted today by Lusa.
"However, we believe that insecurity will continue to pose significant risks to the completion of the development," it added, recalling that the project has been suspended since 2021, when the force majeure clause was invoked due to terrorist attacks in Cabo Delgado, northern Mozambique.
"Our basic assumption remains that work on the TotalEnergies LNG project will resume in 2025," says Fitch Ratings, acknowledging that a “rapid” resumption “could allow some production and exports to begin around 2030”.
The resumption of the Mozambique LNG project in Cabo Delgado will support 16,400 jobs for 68 companies in the United States, said the US bank Exim Bank.
According to information from the bank, previously reported by Lusa, the board of directors of the public EximBank, which supports US exports and imports, said that the "second amendment" to the loan granted in 2019 to the project, up to $4.7 billion (€ 4.3 billion), was approved on 13 March "unanimously."
The financing aims to "support the export of goods and services from the United States for the development and construction" of the integrated LNG project, an investment of $15 billion (€13.8 billion) that TotalEnergies is building on the Afungi peninsula in Cabo Delgado.
"It will support the engineering, procurement and construction of the onshore LNG plant, related facilities and offshore activities. The transaction, which had been on hold for four years, will support approximately 16,400 well-paid American jobs that support workers and families in more than 68 companies in 14 states," reads the information from Exim Bank, which emphasises that it is “the largest deal in the 91-year history” of the credit institution.
On Thursday, Mozambique's President Daniel Chapo thanked his US counterpart for approving the financing: "Your support plays a key role in advancing this crucial project. The Mozambique LNG project has the potential to generate 13 million tonnes of LNG per year and 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," adds the letter.
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 of the Exim Bank, which reconfirmed reaffirmed its support for the overall financing of the project. It's a very important financing, a critical step," said TotalEnergies" director for Mozambique, Maxime Rabilloud.
TotalEnergies, leader of the Area 1 consortium, is developing the construction of a plant in Afungi, near Palma, to produce and export natural gas.
Rabilloud explained that, besides the US Exim Bank, the Asian banks in the financing consortium had already reconfirmed financing of around five billion dollars (4.5 billion euros), with only the reconfirmation of financing from European banks pending.
Since October 2017, gas-rich Cabo Delgado has been facing an armed rebellion, which has caused thousands of deaths and a humanitarian crisis, with more than a million people displaced.
PVJ/ADB // ADB.
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