Just In: President thanks Trump for $4.7B for Mozambique LNG project

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Just In: President thanks Trump for $4.7B for Mozambique LNG project

11:37 CAT | 20 Mar 2025

Image: Presidência da República de Moçambique

The President of Mozambique has thanked his US counterpart for approving $4.7 billion in funding for a natural gas project that is expected to create 20,000 jobs in the US.

“Your support plays a crucial role in advancing this crucial project. The Mozambique LNG [Liquefied Natural Gas] 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,” reads the message sent by Daniel Chapo to Donald Trump and released this Thursday by the Mozambican Presidency office.

“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 missive, regarding the approval of funding for the LNG project by the US Exim bank.

Daniel Chapo emphasises that the Mozambique LNG project, valued at US$15 billion (€13.7 billion), also represents “a commitment to protecting the natural resources of southern and eastern Africa”.

“By promoting responsible development, we are ensuring that these resources benefit both the local population and our global partners,” emphasised Chapo.

Oil company TotalEnergies said this week that the financing to resume the natural gas exploration megaproject in Cabo Delgado, northern Mozambique, is almost closed, following Exim’s endorsement.

“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. It’s very important funding, it’s a critical step,” said TotalEnergies’ director for Mozambique, Maxime Rabilloud.

He was reacting to the reconfirmation, on 13 March, by the management of the Export-Import Bank of the United States (Exim Bank) of the financing of US$4.7 billion (€4.3 million) for the project in Mozambique.

TotalEnergies, leader of the Area 1 consortium, is developing the construction of a plant in Afungi, near Palma, in the province of Cabo Delgado, to produce and export natural gas.

TotalEnergies’ Liquefied Natural Gas project, one of three under development in the country, has been suspended since 2021 due to the terrorist attacks in Cabo Delgado, which led the oil company 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.

Maxime Rabilloud recalled that the overall financing for the project, with various international banks and credit agencies, is US$15 billion. In addition to the US Exim Bank, he said, the Asian banks in the financing consortium had also reconfirmed financing of around US$5 billion (€4.5 billion), 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.

Source: Lusa