World
Europe Expects Early November Mozambique’s LNG Exports
By Kestér Kenn Klomegâh
Local and foreign media are awash with Mozambique’s efforts in supplying the first tanker of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to be exported from the Rovuma basin, off Cabo Delgado province, to Europe.
While this southern African country is set to make its history with the new direction in exports, it will also help, to some extent, alleviate the energy crisis that has arisen due to the Russia-Ukraine crisis.
Mozambique expects to ship these liquefied natural gas exports to Europe from the Eni-operated Coral Sul floating plant. The BP’s LNG tanker, British Sponsor, has already arrived offshore northern Mozambique, according to the Welligence Energy Analytics media release, with all of Coral Sul’s annual gas output of 3.4 million tonnes contracted to BP for 20 years on a free-on-board basis.
“Regarding the LNG export, it will be for European markets since BP is committed to taking the gas resources to Europe,” said the National Petroleum Institute (INP) in an emailed response to Reuters. The new LNG cargoes will help alleviate a tight global LNG market and gas shortages in Europe as winter looms following Moscow’s February invasion of Ukraine and Russia’s later decision to curb gas pipeline supplies into major European Union economies.
As part of its exploration activity offshore Mozambique, Eni discovered the Coral South gas field in 2012 and took its final investment decision in 2017, pledging to start producing gas using a floating LNG plant after five years.
Thanks to a fast-track strategy led by CEO Claudio Descalzi, Eni has been able to stick to its original schedule despite the pandemic and supply chain issues. The exports from Mozambique, which neighbours South Africa, will help transform its economy as billions of dollars pour into the country to develop massive offshore gas fields in its deepwater Rovuma basin.
Mozambique’s Minister in charge of Economy and Finance, Max Tonela earlier informed while in Washington, on the sidelines of the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund, that the first tanker of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to be exported from the Rovuma basin, off Cabo Delgado province.
Of the three liquefied natural gas projects approved for the northern region of Mozambique, it is the Coral Sul platform, on the high seas, far from the armed violence in Cabo Delgado, that is set to be the first to export gas from reserves that are among the largest in the world.
The platform, which is overseen by a consortium led by Italy’s Eni, is expected to produce 3.4 million tons of gas per year. The gas has already started to be processed on the platform, and the arrival of the first cargo ship from BP, which has signed a contract to buy the production for 20 years.
The other two larger projects, led by TotalEnergies and Exxon/Eni, have liquefaction plants planned for onshore on the Afungi peninsula but await final decisions by the oil companies to go ahead. The TotalEnergies project was underway but was suspended in March 2021 due to armed attacks in the Cabo Delgado region.
“We have prioritised ensuring the resumption of the construction work of the two onshore liquefaction lines, promoted by Area 1, and all the work that has been carried out aims to recover the situation of normality for families, for the affected populations, but also to promote investments that will result in a more sustained development of the region,” Minister Max Tonela said.
According to him, among the projects is the resumption of TotalEnergies, but taking into account the volume of gas resources that exist and the challenges at the global level of demand and diversification of sources, the government is ready to discuss other scenarios that do not jeopardise the development of onshore projects.
In early September, Mozambique’s president, Filipe Nyusi, also said that the new global scenario might be an added reason to rethink the issue. “We made the first platform: what is the possibility of making another one? There are studies in that direction among the measures to accelerate the production of those reserves,” Nyusi said.
The Rovuma gas is expected to represent 0.3% of the total revenue of the Mozambican state in 2023, which will be the first full year of production from the Coral Sul floating liquefied natural gas platform (FLNG), according to the State Budget draft for 2023.
“Of the amount foreseen for State revenue, 1.25 billion meticais (€20 million) comes from natural gas from Area 4 of the Rovuma Basin. The number comes from the medium-term fiscal scenario,” reads part of the document sent for discussions in parliament and published on the Ministry of Economy and Finance website.
Rovuma gas, off Cabo Delgado, a province affected by an armed insurgency and a humanitarian crisis, accounts for just 0.3% of total revenue collection, which is expected to reach 357 billion meticais (€5.7 thousand million) in 2023.
The general gas revenues are expected to grow as exploitation of the reserves progresses. The project, led by Italian oil company Eni will produce 3.4 million tonnes of liquefied natural gas per year for BP (which has bought the production for 20 years). Revenues from the extractive sector, including gas, should help to create a sovereign wealth fund this year, to which 40% of them will be channelled, according to the proposed sovereign fund law.
In forecasts made in 2020, with all three LNG projects up and running, Mozambique is expected to receive $96 billion (roughly the same amount in euros) over the lifetime of Rovuma gas reserves – almost five times the country’s annual gross domestic product (GDP).
With an approximate population of 30 million, Mozambique is endowed with rich natural resources but remains one of the world’s poorest and most underdeveloped countries. It is one of the 16 countries with a collective responsibility to promote socio-economic, political and security cooperation within the Southern African Development Community.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Nigeria regained its position as Africa’s leading destination for equity startup investment in the first half of 2026, raising $214 million in equity financing and a total of $254 million across equity and debt, according to the latest Africa: The Big Deal report.
The report, titled H1 2026: Mapping the Money, showed that Nigeria ranked second on the continent in total funding, behind Egypt, which attracted $327 million, while Kenya and South Africa followed with $126 million and $83 million, respectively.
However, the report noted that Egypt’s top position was largely driven by a single fundraising by electric mobility company Spiro, which secured $327 million, including $270 million in equity and $57 million in debt. Excluding debt financing, Nigeria emerged as Africa’s largest equity funding market in the first six months of the year.
According to the breakdown by Africa: The Big Deal, Nigeria’s equity funding of $214 million was higher than Egypt’s $183 million, while South Africa and Kenya attracted $66 million and $46 million, respectively.
Beyond funding value, Nigeria also led the continent in the number of startups that raised at least $100,000 during the review period, reclaiming the top spot after what the report described as an “underwhelming” second half of 2025.
The publication observed that Nigeria’s fundraising performance has remained relatively stable over the past few years and exceeded the $250 million mark for the first time since 2022, pointing to renewed investor confidence in the country’s startup ecosystem.
It also found that while the Big Four startup markets—Nigeria, Egypt, Kenya and South Africa—continued to dominate Africa’s investment landscape, their combined share of total funding stood at 58 per cent in the first half of 2026.
“Zooming back on the Big Four (110 out of 190 $100k+ deals, i.e. 58%), Nigeria is head and shoulders above its peers, with Egypt and Kenya almost tying, and South Africa in fourth position again,” the report noted.
The report highlighted contrasting performances among the continent’s largest startup ecosystems. While Nigeria and Egypt maintained strong funding momentum, Kenya recorded its weakest funding performance since early 2021 after a strong second half of 2025, and South Africa failed to attract $100 million in funding during the period despite leading the continent a year earlier.
Africa: The Big Deal also noted a broader shift in investor behaviour, with funding increasingly concentrated in larger transactions while early-stage investments continued to decline. According to the publication, the drop in smaller funding rounds reflects growing concerns about limited capital available for early-stage startups across Africa.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
Accessing the US Dollar in the East Africa region has now been made easier with the expansion of the stablecoin settlement infrastructure of SCRYPT.
This development enables banks, payment providers and corporate treasury teams to move value into and out of the continent in real time.
Businesses paying international suppliers frequently have to convert local currency into USD before purchasing stablecoins for settlement, incurring FX conversions and spreads before any payment is made.
But SCRYPT is eliminating this intermediate conversion by enabling direct settlement corridors for local African currencies into stablecoins.
This development allows businesses to move from local currency to stablecoin settlement in a single licensed transaction, without first sourcing rationed bank dollars, as stablecoins are increasingly becoming settlement infrastructure rather than an investment product.
The expansion adds settlement support across four African currencies: the Kenyan shilling (KES), Tanzanian shilling (TZS), Rwandan franc (RWF) and Ugandan shilling (UGX). Each corridor is delivered through the same full-stack infrastructure our clients already use for trading, custody and treasury operations.
Speaking on this, the chief executive of SCRYPT, Norman Wooding, said, “Across Africa, stablecoin adoption is driven by economic need, not speculation.
“Businesses here are not chasing yield; they are trying to pay suppliers and manage treasury without losing margin to a banking system that rations dollars. Licensed, fair-rate dollar access is the clearest proof of what this infrastructure is for.”
Also commenting, the Managing Director of Markets & Trading at SCRYPT, Mr Gabriel Titopoulos, said, “Until now, reaching stablecoins from local African currencies meant buying scarce dollars and incurring several layers of conversion costs.
“SCRYPT removes this friction. Firms and payment providers can now settle straight from local currencies through live corridors, with local partners.”
World
African Graduates Association Promoting Multifaceted Initiatives With Russian Educational Institutions
By Kestér Kenn Klomegâh
In preparations for the third Russia-Africa Summit, scheduled for late October 2026, Dr Francois Ngan, deputy chairman of the Union of Associations of African Graduates of Soviet and Russian Universities, during an official working visit, has held a consultative meeting with Professor Vladimir Filippov, the President of the Russian University of Peoples’ Friendship (RUDN), and former Minister of Higher Education of Russia, Chairman of the National Commission for Accreditation of Higher Education.
RUDN is an educational institution established in 1960, primarily to provide higher education to Third World students. It has now become a popular multidisciplinary spot for many students, especially from developing countries. The university offers various academic programmes and has research infrastructure that comprises laboratories and interdisciplinary centres. The university is named after the former Congolese leader, Patrice Lumumba.
Dr Francois Ngan and Professor Filippov discussed the importance of the Graduates Association as a continental platform dedicated to strengthening unity, cooperation, and promoting shared progress among African graduates who studied in the former Soviet Union and in the Russian Federation. They also reviewed multifaceted initiatives that could bring together alumni associations from across Africa, whose members obtained education and professional training, and cultural experiences in Soviet and Russian institutions of higher learning.
Professor Filippov expressed optimism in addressing emerging challenges as a result of shifting geopolitical changes, emphasised strategic cooperation in the educational sphere with Africa, in general, and with the Republic of Cameroon, in particular, and further about the integration of African students during their studies in the Russian Federation.
The meeting also touched on academic and scientific work, the possibility of rewriting a scientific thesis, and the official organisation of transferring versions translated into six languages for the library of RUDN. Significant questions relating to Russia’s educational opportunities, collaborations and partnerships involving African countries were thoroughly discussed.
The Union of Associations of African Graduates of Soviet and Russian Universities was created under one continental umbrella to promote friendship, for professional networking, to engage in cultural exchange, and with particular emphasis on forging strategic cooperation between Africa and Russia.
