Maatla Energy acquires P1.6 billion Mmamabula Energy & Coal mining
Business
Diversified energy and coal exploration outfit Maatla Energy has closed in a deal to acquire majority shareholding in Jindal BVI Ltd from Jindal Steel & Power Limited, a Mauritius conceived global energy conglomerate owned by Indian Billionaire Industrialist Naveen Jindal, Weekendpost has established.
Maatla Energy is a multibillion pula mid-tier coal mining company in Botswana wholly owned by Maatla Resources Limited. The company is currently developing a coal export mine in Mmamabula Coal Fields, 145 kilometers north of Gaborone. The Mmamabula Coal Project contains over 90Mt of high-grade thermal coal. Maatla Energy is also currently conducting feasibility study to explore setting up Coal- Liquefaction Plant in around the operation.
On the other hand Jindal BVI is an investment company incorporated in accordance with the Laws of the British Virgin Islands. It is controlled by Jindal Steel & Power Limited; an investment company registered in Mauritius.Jindal BVI is involved in the mining and metallurgy industry with subsidiaries in Barbados, Bahamas, Mauritius and Botswana. In Botswana, Jindal BVI is present through Jindal Resources (Pty) Ltd a coal exploration and mining company, Trans Africa Rail (Pty) Ltd a railway construction company and Jindal Energy Botswana (Pty) Ltd a power and energy Management outfit.
Jindal BVI ‘s other subsidiaries in Botswana are Meepong Group of Companies encompassing Meepong Resources (Pty) Ltd a mining and management company , Meepong Energy (Pty) Ltd power station operation company in Mmamabula, as well as ,Meepong Services (Pty) Ltd and Meepong Water (Pty) Ltd focusing on infrastructural and water abstraction respectively. All these subsidiaries under Jindal BVI were set up as operation companies for the Mmamabula Coal projects.
Reports from global media outfits indicate that Maatla Energy has put a price offer of $150 million for the acquisition of 97.44% of issued share capital in Jindal BVI a holding company housing all the above subsidiaries. In March this year Competition Authority Botswana as a regulatory requirement floated a merger notice in the market calling for expression of any opposition against the proposed acquisition.
Reports confirming Jindal Steel & Power Limited (JSPL) divestment from Jindal BVI suggests the transaction is predominately motivated by JSPL‘s quest to pare debt at group level.JSPL is reported to have a total outstanding debt of Rs 40,000 crore(over $5.6 billon) as on March 2019.
Company Executives have confirmed that JSPL has entered into a share purchase agreement to divest its stake in the Botswana project for a consideration of around $150 million as part of its international portfolio rationalization, an undertaking focusing at disposing some of JSPL mines and minerals assets across Australia, Asia and Africa.
“The assets are being rationalized and monetized keeping in view their long-term viability, the raw material security for JSPL and the profitability of each of these businesses. The Group has been combing each asset, with a view of either exiting it or building it, to add to the bottom-line,” disclosed JSPL on various market platforms.
Jindal Africa, a subsidiary of JSPL, bought the coal explorations which are also around Mmamabula from CIC Energy for $116 million in 2012, as part of its global expansion. The project plan also included setting up a 1,200-Mw power plant in the area. The company has investment and business ventures in other Southern African markets such as Mozambique, Namibia, Zambia, Tanzania and Madagascar. However, with rising debt and global slowdown in the coal and steel market over the past few years, JSPL is selling off its international ventures to reduce its debt burden.
Maatla Energy exploration parameter, Mmamabula is one of the main coalfields in Botswana and contains more than 90 million tonnes of high grade thermal coal. Maatla’s Mmabula flagship mine has a life in excess of 25 years and is targeting initial production of 50 000 t/m, ramping up to 100 000 t/m within the first year of production. Currently site establishment and construction activities are underway with first coal sales expected in 2019.
There is an upward movement in the international coal price and an increasing demand for the high grade sized coal in the Southern Africa inland market. The Mmamabula coal mine will produce high grade coal for cement and lime producers, paper mills, chemical industries, brick works, breweries, sugar estates, hospitals and for general boiler applications in Southern Africa.
Maatla Resources says its mission is to develop the coalfields of Mmamabula to generate and supply coal which will power Botswana’s economy and assist in achieving energy security in the long term. With this acquisition Maatla Energy now stands to be a major player in the Mmamabula Coal exploration rush and Botswana’s coal industry as a whole.
Botswana’s Coal Industry
Botswana has over 200 billion tonnes of coal deposits underground, though the world is moving to green technology experts say the lucrative deposits cannot go unnoticed and be left untapped. Briton Billionaire Global Entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson also shared the same sentiments when headlining the 2017 Global Expo. He urged Botswana to explore coal deposits for industrialization, economic diversification and most importantly creation of much needed jobs as well as GDP growth in the interim while the country seeks environmental friendly energy generation alternatives.
Amongst international companies who are exploring the coal business and its value chain in Botswana are Tlou Energy, Shumba Energy, and Minergy all which are listed on Botswana Stock Exchange. Currently the only operating coal mine is Morupule Colliery founded by mining giant Debswana Diamond Company. Morupule is now wholly owned by government through Mineral Development Corporation (MDC).
Business
Stargems Group establishes Training Center in BW
Internationally-acclaimed diamond manufacturing company StarGems Group has established the Stargems Diamond Training Center which will be providing specialized training in diamond manufacturing and evaluation.
The Stargems Diamond Training Institute is located at the Stargems Group Botswana Unit in Gaborone.
“In accordance with the National Human Resource Development Strategy (NHRDS) which holds the principle that through education and skills development as well as the strategic alignment between national ambitions and individual capabilities, Botswana will become a prosperous, productive and innovative nation due to the quality and efficacy of its citizenry. The Training Centre will provide a range of modules in theory and in practice; from rough diamond evaluation to diamond grading and polishing for Batswana, at no cost for eight weeks. The internationally- recognized certificate offered in partnership with Harry Oppenheimer Diamond Training School presents invaluable opportunities for Batswana to access in the diamond industry locally and internationally. The initiative is an extension of our Corporate Social Investment to the community in which we operate,” said Vishal Shah, Stargems Group Managing Director, during the launch of the Stargems Diamond Training Center.
In order to participate in this rare opportunity, interested candidates are invited to submit a police clearance certificate and a BGCSE certificate only to the Stargems offices. Students who excel in these programs will have the chance to be onboarded by the Stargems Group. This serves as motivation for them to go through this training with a high level of seriousness.
“Community empowerment is one of our CSR principles. We believe that businesses can only thrive when their communities are well taken of. We are hoping that our presence will be impactful to various communities and economies. In the six countries that we are operating in, we have contributed through dedicating 10% of our revenues during COVID-19 to facilitate education, donating to hospitals and also to NGOs committed to supporting women and children living with HIV. One key issue that we are targeting in Botswana is the rate of unemployment amongst the youth. We are looking forward to working closely with the government and other relevant authorities to curb unemployment,” said Shah.
Currently, Stargems Group has employed 117 Batswana and they are looking forward to growing the numbers to 500 as the company grows. Majority of the employees will be graduates from the Stargems Diamond Training Center. This initiation has been received with open arms by the general public and stakeholders. During the launch, the Minister of Minerals and Energy, Honorable Lefoko Moagi, stated that the ministry fully endorses Stargems Diamond Training and will work closely with the Group to support and grow the initiative.
“As a ministry, we see this as an game changer that is aligned with one of the United Nations’ Six Priority Sustainable Development Goals, which is to Advance Opportunity and Impact for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI). What Stargems Group is launching today will have a huge impact on the creation of employment in Botswana. An economy’s productivity rises as the number of educated workers increases as its skilled workmanship increases. It is not a secret that low skills perpetuate poverty and widen the inequality gap, therefore the development of skills has the potential to contribute significantly to structural transformation and economic growth by enhancing employability and helping the country become more competitive. We are grateful to see the emergence of industry players such as Stargems Group who have strived to create such opportunities that mitigate the negative effects of COVID-19 on the economy,” said the Minister of Minerals and Energy.
Business
Food import bill slightly declines
The latest figures released by Statistics Botswana this week shows that food import bill for Botswana slightly declined from around P1.1 billion in November 2022 to around P981 million in December during the same year.
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Business
Moody’s Reaffirms African Trade Insurance’s A3 Rating & Revises Outlook to Positive
Moody’s Investors Service (“Moody’s”) has affirmed the A3 insurance financial strength rating (IFSR) of the African Trade Insurance Agency (ATI) for the fifth consecutive year and changed the outlook from stable to positive.
Moody’s noted that the change in outlook to positive reflects the strong growth in ATI’s membership base – that has resulted in improved portfolio diversification, strengthened capital adequacy, and the good profitability despite the challenging operating environment. In addition, ATI benefits from its preferred creditor status (PCS) amongst sovereign member states which protects it from the risk of default by member sovereigns through securing recoveries against claims paid on guarantees.
The strong membership and equity growth are some of the key considerations for the consistent reinstatement of ATI’s A/Stable rating by Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s rating, over the years. Also supporting the rating affirmation are; consistent improvement in financial performance, commitment of its shareholders who continue to uphold the preferred creditor status, its high quality and conservative investment portfolio as well as strong relationships with a number of global reinsurers that provide significant risk-bearing capacity.
With the change in outlook to “positive”, ATI is now better placed to provide enhanced support to its member countries, attract additional shareholding and grow its portfolio. The positive outlook is an indication that if ATI continues to demonstrate its strong underwriting performance and ability to recover claims under the preferred creditor arrangements, among other factors, an upward pressure towards an upgrade may be generated. The Moody’s press release can be accessed from here
Commenting on the rating, Africa Trade Insurance Chief Executive Officer Manuel Moses said: “This positive revision is in line with our 2023 – 2027 strategic objectives in which we set to improve our rating outlook to positive in the first year, and achieve an upgrade of at least “AA”/Stable rating by both Moody’s and S&P within this Strategic Plan period. We aim to achieve this by doubling our exposures and increasing our capital to more than USD1 billion.”
ATI’s mandate is to provide trade-credit and political risk insurance, as well as other risk mitigation products to its member countries and related public and private sector actors. These insurance products not only directly encourage and facilitate foreign direct investment as well as local private sector investment in our member countries, but also contribute to intra- and extra-African trade.
About The African Trade Insurance Agency
ATI was founded in 2001 by African States to cover trade and investment risks of companies doing business in Africa. ATI predominantly provides Political Risk, Credit Insurance and, Surety Insurance. Since inception, ATI has supported US$78 billion worth of investments and trade into Africa. For over a decade, ATI has maintained an ‘A/Stable’ rating for Financial Strength and Counterparty Credit by Standard & Poor’s, and in 2019, ATI obtained an A3/Stable rating from Moody’s, which has now been revised to A3/Positive.