(African Law & Business, London, 7 December 2017) London’s Linklaters & US firm White & Case, together with local law firms, have shared the plaudits in agreeing financing of the US$4 billion Nacala Corridor rail and port project, which spans Mozambique & Malawi. It involves Brazil’s Vale & Japan’s Mitsui and will enable the construction, refurbishment and operation of nearly 1000 kilometres of railway line, as well as the construction and operation of a coal terminal in the port of Nacala, linking Vale’s coal project in Tete Province, in western Mozambique home to some of the world’s richest remaining coal deposits, with a deep sea port to be constructed in Nacala – the so-called Nacala Corridor, in eastern Mozambique. Banks involved in the deal, who were advised by Linklaters, included the African Development Bank (AfDB), Export Credit Insurance Corporation of South Africa (ECIC), Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) and Nippon Export and Investment Insurance (NEXI) together with ECIC and NEXI covered commercial banks.
ECAWatch Newsletter 12
Lenders jostle for mega PNG LNG financing deal
(Australian Financial Review, Sydney, 5 December 2017) Key project debt lenders have been giving their passports and travel insurers a workout as they troop up to Papua New Guinea to get to grips with what could be the region’s biggest financing since the record US$20 billion deal for Ichthys LNG. While the final configuration of the next stage of LNG expansion in PNG is yet to be settled, those behind the circa US$17 billion project – primarily ExxonMobil, Total and Oil Search – are already well advanced. In considering funding export credit agencies are again expected to be well in evidence, while the backing of two oil majors and the sheer size of the project count in favour of commercial lender interest.
Banks criticised for funding coal deals despite Paris agreement
(ECA Watch, Ottawa, 31 December 2017) At the One Planet Summit in Paris in December 2017 a number of NGO, environmental and social movement organizations released briefings and research reports highlighting fossil fuel projects that are being funded by multilateral and national development banks and export credit agencies. The Big Shift global campaign released a briefing titled Dirty Dozen (pdf); complementary reports, ‘Banks vs. the Paris Agreement’ and ‘Investors vs. the Paris Agreement’ (pdf) were launched by Rainforest Action Network, BankTrack, Urgewald, Friends of the Earth France, and Re:Common at the Climate Finance Day in Paris; and the Natural Resource Defense Council released Power Shift: International Coal vs. Renewable Energy Finance.
Pipeline developer sues social movements
(Kallanish Energy News, Greensburg, 18 December 2017) Dakota Access Pipeline developer Energy Transfer Partners (ETP) and Florida-based environmental publication Earth First Journal are arguing in federal court whether something called a “social movement” can be sued. ETP in August filed a lawsuit against enviro-groups Earth First, Greenpeace and BankTrack, alleging they issued false and misleading information about the $3.8 billion pipeline, to move North Dakota crude to Patoka, Ill., interfered with construction, and damaged the company’s reputation and finances through illegal acts. The company’s lawsuit, filed in federal court in North Dakota, seeks damages that could approach $1 billion, The Associated Press reported.
Sinopec Signs $1b Iranian Abadan Refinery Expansion Deal
(Financial Tribune, Tehran, 30 December 2017) China’s Sinopec Engineering Company has signed a deal worth $1 billion to develop Abadan Oil Refinery, Iran’s oldest crude processing facility in the southern oil-rich Khuzestan Province, the Chinese oil and gas group announced. According to Iranian officials, the venture will be financed by China Export and Credit Insurance Corporation, or Sinosure. The funding is reportedly part of a deal worth $3 billion to overhaul and expand the facility. Sinosure is China’s major state-owned export credit insurance company. Its financing since its establishment in 2001 has totaled $290 billion for exports and investments. Commissioned in 1912, Abadan refinery is the longest-running Iranian crude refinery and once the largest oil refinery in the world.
Former Ex-Im Bank Director under investigation for undisclosed foreign agent contract
(Newsweek, Washington, 20 June 2017) Federal investigators probing the lobbying work of ousted national security adviser Michael Flynn are focused in part on the role of Bijan Kian, Flynn’s former business partner, according to a person interviewed by the FBI. In private conversations with potential clients, Kian portrayed himself as a rainmaker for Flynn, tapping into connections cultivated during a five-year tenure as a director at the U.S. Export-Import Bank, according to one person who worked with the firm. Inovo, a Netherlands-based company controlled by Turkish businessman Ekim Alptekin, hired Flynn Intel Group to research Fethullah Gulen’s activities in the United States, which he suspected were “poisoning” relations between the United States and Turkey. Like Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan, Alptekin blamed the coup on followers of Gulen. Kian played a central role in securing and overseeing the Inovo contract, two people with knowledge of that project said. The FBI has been investigating whether Flynn’s consulting firm lobbied on behalf of Turkey – after being paid $530,000 by Inovo – without making the proper disclosure under the Foreign Agents Registration Act.
Inside EDC one of Canada’s most secretive agencies
(The Walrus, Toronto, 19 December 2017) Export Development Canada lends foreign buyers billions of taxpayer dollars. Critics say it’s knowingly banking some of the world’s worst regimes. EDC has perfected the art of lending billions of taxpayer dollars to scandal-ridden foreign buyers. In May 2017, a trove of hundreds of thousands of emails was leaked to the press from an organization belonging to the Gupta family of South Africa. In a lengthy email thread strung out over the course of 2014, it was revealed that Bombardier had negotiated a C$52 million sale of a luxury jet to a Gupta subsidiary, with US$41 million of the jet’s financing provided directly to the Guptas by Export Development Canada, a Canadian Crown corporation. The Guptas are not EDC’s only controversial clients. The agency’s client list is studded with some of the most scandal-ridden multinationals on the planet including Kinross Gold whose West African mining operations were, as of 2016, under investigation by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission for bribery and corruption. [ECA-Watch member Above Ground has questioned EDC financing for controversial projects such as Omai Gold Mines in Guyana and Petrobas in Brazil, with EDC refusing to comment on the possible illegal or inappropriate use of Canadian tax dollars. Above Ground’s 11 December 2017 report on Kinross Gold shows that, among other harms, Kinross’ dramatic expansion of the mine displaced the residents of traditional communities formed over a century ago by former African slaves who have land rights under Brazilian law. The legal process to formalize their collective title was well underway when Kinross announced its expansion plan and Export Development Canada provided financing, forcing them off their land. The report also raises concern about environmental oversight of the mine, which is located within 500 metres of neighbourhoods where hundreds of families live, as well as safety measures to keep people from entering the mine site.] EDC activities are protected by disclosure protocols that are entirely opaque, with the result that few in Canada – including the Minister presiding over it – seem to know the full details about what the agency does, who it finances, and why. With EDC’s mandate up for review in 2018, it seems like a good time to examine the considerable reputational risks the agency often takes. [As well as its compliance with its own international, WTO and OECD agreed due diligence requirements on human rights, environmental standards and corruption.] On December 21, 2017, 2 days after this article was published online, EDC announced that it was suddenly terminating its $41 million loan to the Guptas for the purchase of a luxury Bombardier jet.
Germany’s Hermes in Iran
(Mehr News Tehran, 24 December 2016) Iran always has been considered as an eye-catching and money-spinning market for several European countries like Germany offering not only 80 million people it has but also a 400-million-people marketplace it can provide access to. Following the termination of the nuclear deal between Iran and great powers, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the European Union countries, Germany in particular, are trying to foster their economic cooperation with the Islamic Republic. For decades before sanctions were imposed, Germany, which enjoys the largest economy in Europe with a nominal gross domestic product in 2016 of $3.5 trillion, was Iran’s major trading partner.
Opportunity knocks for Scottish exporters as sterling tumbles
(Daily Record, Edinburgh, 21 December 2016) With the falling value of the pound making UK goods more competitive on the world stage, the environment for Scottish businesses looking to trade internationally is arguably more positive than for many years. According to a recent business survey by Grant Thornton, confidence among firms that their exports will rise has more than doubled in the wake of sterling’s steep fall. UK Export Finance (UKEF) – the UK’s export credit agency which operates through a network of advisers including two based in Scotland – aims to bridge the gap by offering insurance to exporters and guarantees to banks to share the risks of providing export finance.
Ex-Im’s satellite-lending lapse didn’t stop Israel’s Spacecom from buying American
(Space News, Congers NY, 22 December 2016) Spacecom is buying its newest spacecraft from an American supplier without relying on financial support from the Export-Import Bank of the United States, according to a company official. Amos-17 is the first satellite Spacecom has bought from a U.S. supplier. The order comes during a vexing time for U.S. satellite builders trying to sell abroad. The U.S. Ex-Im Bank, a frequently-used source of below-market financing for satellite deals, was closed to new business for nearly half of 2015.
