(Africa Confidential, Cambridge, 20 December 2024) France’s TotalEnergies is making a final push to win United States funding for its liquefied natural gas project in northern Mozambique before Donald J Trump is inaugurated US President on 20 January. Total wants to restart the project held up after attacks on it by Islamist militias. The political fight over Mozambique’s disputed elections together with uncertainties about the incoming Trump administration’s position on the Total project have further delayed Exim Bank’s decision on financing.
France
Polish nuclear power plant receives €22bn financial backing from US, French & Canadian ECAs
(EnerData, Grenoble, 17 December 2024) The Lubiatowo-Kopalino nuclear power plant project has collected, based on the letters of intent received so far, declarations of financial commitment for a total equivalent of over PLN95bn (€22bn). The project developer Polskie Elektrownie Jądrowe (PEJ) has received letters of intent from American and French companies to finance Poland’s first nuclear power plant. The French export credit agency Bpifrance Assurance Export and the French public development bank Sfil will provide over PLN15bn (€3.5bn) to the project. In addition, Export Development Canada will finance up to PLN6bn (€1.4bn), on top of commitments from the American International Development Finance Corporation (€17.5bn) and the US Export-Import Bank (€16.5bn). Cooperation with export credit agencies is an important part of the strategy to secure financing for the nuclear power plant.
Algeria aims to become key player in trade insurance in Africa and Arab-Muslim world
(Trade World News, Dubai, 12 December 2024) Algeria is positioning itself as a major force in trade insurance across Africa and the Arab-Muslim world, reflecting its commitment to fostering fair and dynamic international trade. Algeria’s ambitions align with its broader strategy to diversify exports beyond hydrocarbons. The Finance Minister underscored that Algeria views fair international trade as a strategic pillar for economic growth and an essential mechanism for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030. Meanwhile, a December 11-12 French summit conference on the future of economic relations between France and Arabic countries was jointly organized by the Arab-French Chamber of Commerce, the Union of Arab Chambers and the Federation of Small and Medium Enterprises (CPME), with the support of CCI France, the International Chamber of Commerce – France, Medef International, and Business France.
Does Italian ECA stifle Mozambique LNG atrocities?
(Barrons/AFP, Paris, 15 November 2024) French energy giant TotalEnergies, recipient of Italian (& French?) ECA funding, was aware of accusations of abuses committed by soldiers charged with protecting its gas site in Mozambique as early as 2021. “Complaints of extortion, disappearances and even violence leading to the deaths of two fishermen are recorded in quarterly social reports written by teams of Mozambique LNG,” TotalEnergie’s subsidiary in the country, according to Le Monde. The reports were sent to the Italian export credit agency SACE, from which an Italian NGO, ReCommon, and Le Monde obtained them under a right of access to information legislation. TotalEnergies used hired guards of the local affiliate of UK security firm G4S linked to a former liberation figure and ex-minister of security in the 1980s. ECA-Watch noted in 2016 that Korean, French, Italian and Chinese ECAs were set to play a key role in the financing of two LNG projects planned in the north of Mozambique despite widespread concerns about gross human rights violations by local authorities.
NGOs urge banks & China to refuse support for Ugandan oil projects
(Mongabay, Menlo Park, 17 October 2024) A group of 28 NGOs have written to 34 banks, insurance companies and the Chinese government, urging them to deny financing and other support for oil and gas projects in Uganda. The letters, written by U.S.-based Climate Rights International (CRI) and 27 Africa-based NGOs, follow a report detailing numerous human rights violations and environmental harms at the Kingfisher oil project sites in Uganda. Similarly, Uganda’s Tilenga oil fields also face scrutiny over their ecological and social harms, including impacts on wildlife and displacement of local communities. Both Kingfisher and Tilenga are co-owned by French oil and gas giant TotalEnergies, the Chinese National Offshore Oil Company Uganda Ltd. (CNOOC), and the Uganda National Oil Company (UNOC). Both projects are also part of the East African Crude Oil Pipeline initiative (EACOP), where TotalEnergies is a major partner. The initiave aims to transport oil and gas from Uganda to Tanzania for export.
Critical Minerals Security Partnership may not be enough for Australia
(Australian Strategic Policy Institute, Canberra, 25 September 2024) Fourteen countries this week took what they intended to be a big step in countering China’s dominance of critical minerals supply. But it’s unclear whether the initiative will restore competitiveness of Australian production and investment in the face of massive subsidies offered by China and, in response, the United States. The Minerals Security Partnership, a coalition of 14 countries, including the G7, Australia, India, South Korea, and European Union members, announced plans for a finance network to boost investment in critical metals. The initiative will tap into domestic export credit agencies and development finance institutions to attract private sector capital to produce, extract, process and recycle critical minerals, especially in riskier markets. The partnership seeks to lower investment risks and drive global supply chain resilience by providing guarantees and concessional financing. Australia’s economic prosperity and national security are intrinsically linked to the exploitation of its abundant resources, notably critical minerals. These minerals are the new oil. They’re the building blocks for everything from emerging technology to energy transition. Although Australia has vast reserves, its critical mineral mining and processing are still threatened by the intense subsidy war between the US and China.
Campaigners Increasingly Targeting Financial Backers with Lawsuits Against Fossil Fuel Funders
(DeSmog, Seattle, 26 June 2024) Campaigners are increasingly taking out lawsuits against the funders of fossil fuels and other climate-harming activities, according to a new report. In its annual review of climate litigation, published June 26, the London School of Economics and Political Science’s (LSE) Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment identifies a modest but growing number of lawsuits challenging the flow of finance to projects that worsen climate change. In total, 33 cases that challenge the flow of funding have been recorded since academics began keeping track nine years ago. Six were filed in 2023. In one significant recent case, human rights and environmental NGO Jubilee Australia challenged Australia’s export credit agency Export Finance Australia and the $7 billion AUD Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility for giving taxpayer-subsidized finance to risky new fossil fuel projects and related ventures that would otherwise not go ahead. Jubilee Australia wants to force the public bodies involved to disclose impact assessments for these investments. French bank BNP Paribas also recently said it would stop funding new gas projects as the risk of litigation rises. Campaigners, including Oxfam France, had sued the bank for financing fossil fuels in the first-ever climate-related lawsuit against a commercial bank. However, activists noted that BNP cut out direct loans, and it still supports oil and gas through indirect loans to other involved companies and by underwriting bonds. A previous claim from 2020 against Australian banking group ANZ confirmed that climate change was relevant to responsible business practices under the OECD guidelines, but the organization did not require companies to divest from fossil fuels. The OECD guidelines are just one example of “soft law” – agreements that are influential but not legally binding – groups use to try to push corporations and their funders in a greener direction.
US & EU differ over the future of fossil fuel subsidies in OECD talks
(Financial Times, London, 26 March 2024) Second round of discussions ends without significant progress on export credit policies. The world’s richest countries are at odds over ending subsidies for oil and gas development as the US and EU differed over the extent of a ban, according to people familiar with the talks. OECD countries have held a second round of closed-door talks in Paris to debate proposals by the EU and UK to cut off most export credit agency loans and guarantees for oil, gas and coal mining projects, which are the biggest source of international public finance for the sector. This would follow an agreement in 2021 to stop providing such support for coal-fired power. A person familiar with the talks said the US was still assessing the EU’s proposals, with discussions scheduled to continue in June and November. The US Treasury declined to comment. The US, Canada, France, Germany and the UK were among countries that agreed around the UN COP26 climate summit in Glasgow in 2021 to align their public finance institutions with a Paris agreement goal to limit global warming to ideally 1.5C above pre-industrial levels. But this could affect the role of Exim, the US’s credit export agency, which will need to secure fresh funding from the US Congress in 2026, opening it to political scrutiny from Republican lawmakers who are resistant to cutting off finance for oil and gas, and progressive lawmakers critical of the bank’s climate record.
ECAs pile in on European battery gigafactories facility
(Global Trade Review, London, 14 February 2024) Three export credit agencies have thrown their support behind a €4.4bn debt raising for a company building lithium battery gigafactories across Europe, the latest in a string of deals intended to beef up the continent’s renewable energy supply chains. France-based Automotive Cells Company (ACC) says Italian export credit agency (ECA) Sace, Germany’s Euler Hermes and France’s bpifrance have all agreed to support financing provided by a pool of commercial lenders.
UKEF: Taxpayers underwrite French contractor’s Saudi project
(Construction Index, London, 5 January 2024) The UK’s export credit agency has guaranteed an Islamic Murabaha financing facility for the development of Six Flags Qiddiya City near Riyadh. UK Export Finance (UKEF) has guaranteed an Islamic Murabaha financing facility for £550m signed by Qiddiya Investment Company to finance the construction of the theme park. This is being undertaken by a joint venture led by Bouygues Bâtiment International of France and local firm Almabani General Contractors. UK Export Finance chief executive Tim Reid said: “Saudi Arabia’s ‘Vision 2030’ is hugely ambitious, and UKEF is determined to ensure that British businesses can benefit from the enormous exporting opportunities it offers.
