The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) and UTM Offshore Limited have signed a Project Preparation Facility Agreement to develop, design, and construct Nigeria’s first indigenously-owned Floating LNG facility with a nameplate production capacity of 1.2 million metric tons per annum in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria.
The agreement was signed on the sidelines of the 30th Afreximbank Annual Meetings (AAM2023) by Mr. Denys Denya – Executive Vice President, Finance, Administration & Banking Services and Mr. Julius Rone – Chief Executive Officer of UTM Offshore Limited and witnessed by Professor Benedict Oramah – President & Chairman of the Board of Directors of Afreximbank.
Under the agreement, Afreximbank is to part-finance project preparatory activities that will de-risk the project and advance it to bankability in a timely manner.
The Bank is leveraging its diverse product suite to provide end-to-end solutions to the project. In this regard, besides availing the project preparatory facility, Afreximbank as Lead Financier has been appointed as the Financial Advisor and is to be appointed Mandated Lead Arranger once the project attains bankability.
Through its Financial Advisory Mandate, Afreximbank has been playing an instrumental role in structuring the transaction to ensure optimal returns and debt sizing, as well as identifying equity investors to invest in the project on favorable terms.
Moreover, this project has economically transformative potential – establishing trade-enabling infrastructure which will allow Nigeria to pivot from a crude oil export-based economy to a gas-based processing industrial economy in turn unlocking significant development impacts.
The project will also contribute to the reduction of flaring of natural gas.
