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Nigeria: French oil giant, TotalEnergies, joins train to sell stake in onshore oil production

Published

2 years ago

April 29, 2022

The wave of multinationals leaving African countries has continued as French oil major TotalEnergies has announced it will put up for sale its minority stake in a Nigerian oil joint venture.

TotalEnergies Chief Executive Officer, Patrick Pouyanne, was quoted by international media – Bloomberg that “disruption of local communities are sources of great concern in the country,”

The firm attributed its plans to join the bandwagon of other oil majors and sell its stake in an onshore oil production joint venture in Nigeria to the disruption of local communities which has become a source of great concern.

Last year, Royal Dutch Shell, entered talks with the Nigerian government to sell the Anglo-Dutch company’s stake in onshore oilfields, CEO Ben van Beurden.

In February, Seplat Energy Plc, unveiled plans to acquire the entire share capital of Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited (MPNU) from Exxon Mobil Corporation Delaware (USA Incorporated). That includes all of Exxon’s entire shallow water assets in the Niger Delta.

The French energy giant will look to offload its 10 percent interest in a firm that holds 20 onshore and shallow water permits in the West African country, Mr. Pouyanne said.

Shell Plc, the operator of the licenses, is already considering bids from four local firms for its 30 percent shareholding in the company,” he said.

African countries have experienced departures of multinationals. Last month, ride-hailing company, Uber, suspended its services in Tanzania as a result of regulations that are not business-friendly which has made its operation in the East African country. Standard Chartered Bank also announced it has ended its operations in some African countries earlier this month.

Related Topics:Featured onshore oil production TotalEnergies

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Nigeria wants $2.25 billion World Bank loan

Published

23 hours ago

April 23, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Nigeria’s Finance Minister, Wale Edun, has revealed that the country is seeking up to $2.25 billion in World Bank loans and expects the bank’s board to approve the request in June.

The move was announced in a statement following the International Monetary Fund/World Bank spring meetings in Washington, D.C as the country also aims to issue diaspora bonds later this year to attract much-need foreign exchange into the country.

The World Bank loans would include $1.5 billion for development policy and $750 million for program-for-results, the statement said. It also said that the bank would meet in June to decide whether to approve the plan in its entirety.

The multilateral body is yet to comment on the revelation at press time.

Nigeria one of Africa’s biggest oil producers has struggled lately mainly over industrial-scale crude oil theft, and troubles getting foreign currency, which caused its naira currency to drop to all-time lows against the U.S. dollar. It has since recovered, though.

Already, the country is on record levels of debt, high unemployment, and large amounts of money from the central bank. However, Edun has insisted that the government had cut the money it borrowed from the central bank in half.

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Ghana’s finance minister anticipates debt restructuring MoU with lenders

Published

2 days ago

April 22, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Ghana’s Finance Minister has announced that the country’s two main creditors will send him a draft Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on a restructuring deal in May, signifying a major progress in the country’s debt reform.

Once the MoU is signed, it will make public the deal that was made in January to restructure $5.4 billion in loans with its official creditors, such as China and France.

The restructuring is a big step toward Ghana getting rid of its debt as it works to get out of the worst economic crisis in a generation. It should also allow the country to get more money from its $3 billion IMF program.

Mohammed Amin Adam said he was sure the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank would work together at the Spring Meetings in Washington, D.C. In June, the Monetary Fund’s executive board will agree to review its staff-level deal.

From 2023 to 2028, Ghana’s national debt to gross domestic product level was supposed to go down by 15%. This guess says that the number will have gone down every year for six years, ending at 69.96% in 2028.

Ghana didn’t pay back most of its foreign loans in December 2022 because it became too expensive to do so. But now it needs to work out a deal with private holders of about $13 billion in foreign bonds. It has also changed most of its domestic debt.