Downstream Infrastructure Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG)

Nigeria’s Sahara Group commits $1bn to LPG vessels and infrastructure in Africa

Tope Shonubi is Executive Director of the Sahara Group. Picture: Sahara Group.

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Nigerian energy infrastructure conglomerate, Sahara Group, has announced an investment of $1bn into Africa’s liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) value chain during the African Refiners and Distribution Association (ARDA) conference 2021 in South Africa this week.

“Sahara, through its subsidiary, WAGL Energy Limited is already working towards investing $1 billion to ramp up its LPG fleet and terminal infrastructure over the next five years. In addition to the vessel fleet, Sahara is in the process of building over 120,000 metric tonnes of LPG storage in eleven countries,” he said.

In October 2020, Sahara and Côte d’Ivoire’s national oil company PETROCI notably broke ground on a new 12,000 MT LPG storage terminal on the outskirts of Abidjan. The company has also earmarked additional such projects in Nigeria, Senegal, Ghana, Tanzania and Zambia while considering additional investment elsewhere on the continent.

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Angola has already surpassed its oil revenue target for 2021

With a new record-high oil revenue in Q3 2021, Angola has collected over Kz 4.2 tn in oil revenue this year so far, data compiled by Hawilti from the country’s Ministry of Finance shows. This is already higher than its oil revenue target of Kz 4.059 tn set within its 2021 budget. “In the first nine months of 2021, Angola had already collected more revenue from oil than it did in twelve months in 2019 and 2020,” said Mickael Vogel, Head of Research at Hawilti. Angola is known for being conservative and realistic in its budget estimates and had set its oil price reference for the year at $39/bbl. In comparison, the Girassol Blend started the year at $55.84/bbl on average in January and stood at over $74/bbl on average in September, according to OPEC data. This explains why despite decreasing output, Angola has posted a strong performance in oil revenue collection this year. Source: Ministry of Finance The country’s total ordinary petroleum receipts comprise of the IRP (petroleum income tax), the IPP (tax on petroleum production), the ITP (tax on petroleum transactions) and additional concessionaire’s revenue. Angola’s ability to meet its oil revenue target notably contrasts with that of Nigeria. Just last week, President Buhari declared that the Federal Government of Nigeria’s share of oil revenue was 51% below target as of July 2021 due to disappointing production levels. However, and despite strong oil revenue collection, Angola’s oil sector continues to underperform due to lack of investments in the past decade. Oil production in 2021 was initially budgeted at an average of 1,220,400 bopd before it was revised down in the middle of the year to 1,193,420 bopd.

Meridiam signs $250m Concession Agreement for Burkina Faso’s Donsin-Ouagadougou Airport

Earlier today, Meridiam signed a 30-year concession agreement with the State of Burkina Faso for the conception, construction, financing, operation and maintenance of a new international airport 35km northeast of Burkina Faso’s capital Ouagadougou. The project is now progressing towards financing close. The engineering and construction works are expected to start at the end of 2022 and last for about 30 months. Meridiam has partnered with Aéroport Marseille-Provence (AMP) as a technical partner under a technical assistance contract. AMP will also be a minority shareholder in the special purpose vehicle set up for the project. The project is expected to cost about €220m (over $250m) and represents one of Bukina Faso’s biggest public-private partnership (PPP) initiatives. Once completed, the new Donsin international airport will replace the current Ouagadougou-Taamsê International Airport built in the 1960s and located in the centre of Ouagadougou.