Page 6 - AfrOil Week 37 2021

AfrOil PIPELINES & TRANSPORT AfrOil

Montfort acquires assets in East Africa

MOZAMBIQUE/KENYA MONTFORT, an international commodities Montfort to partner with Malaysia’s Energi Asia,
trader, is working to establish a foothold in East which took control of the Matola depot in June
Africa through the acquisition of local assets. of this year.
The company recently revealed that it had The company has not yet said exactly what
acquired Kencor Petroleum, a Nairobi-based form its co-operation with the Malaysian com-
fuel marketing company, from Kenya’s Galana pany will take. It has stated, though, that it
Petroleum Investment. It did not say how much bought its stake in the Matola facility with the
it had agreed to pay but noted that its new asset aim of trading petroleum products in Mozam-
was involved in the import, export and local dis- bique and neighbouring states. Additionally,
tribution of refined petroleum products. it has described the acquisition as in line with
In a statement, Montfort said that the deal “Montfort’s overall objective to expand its busi-
with Galana would facilitate its “strategy entry” ness in the region and support Montfort’s aspi-
into the regional fuel market. “The acquisition rations to reach out to customers in South and
of Kencor, an active participant in Kenyan Open East Africa.” ™
Tender System (OTS) imports, is the first step
to achieving Montfort’s goal of expanding its
operations into the region and neighboring
countries,” it commented. “The move is in line
with Montfort’s roadmap and lays a strong foun-
dation for the company’s aspirations of acquir-
ing and developing a portfolio of high growth
potential operations in Africa.”
Meanwhile, the commodity trader has
also entered Mozambique. According to press
reports, it has arranged to acquire a stake in a
58,000-cubic metre petroleum product termi-
nal and storage depot from a local firm, Matola
Terminal de Armazenamento de Petróleos,
for an undisclosed sum. The facility is located
in Matola, which is part of the port of Maputo.
According to press reports, the deal will allow The fuel depot lies within the Matola bulk terminal (Image: Port of Maputo)

Kampala drafts bill for EACOP tax regime

UGANDA UGANDA’S government has finished drafting laws relating to any matter under this Act, and
a law designed to establish a fixed legal frame- where there is a conflict between this Act and
work for taxation of the East Africa Crude Oil any other written law, other than the Constitu-
Pipeline (EACOP), the link that will be built to tion, this Act shall prevail,” the Observer said,
pump crude from fields near Lake Albert to the citing language from the draft legislation.
Tanzanian coast. The newspaper went on to say that the tax
According to a report from the Observer, bill provided for the EACOP partners to estab-
members of the cabinet approved the tax bill lish a holding company to build and operate the
last week and are now preparing to submit it to pipeline in the UK. For tax purposes, though,
Parliament. They have not said when legislators this entity will be treated as if it were based in
might begin debating the measure. Uganda, thereby ensuring that most of its pay-
The bill aims to reassure TotalEnergies ments are made to the Ugandan government.
(France) and China National Offshore Oil Corp. The draft bill outlines the tax benefits that
(CNOOC), the two foreign shareholders in the Ugandan authorities have granted to the EACOP
EACOP project, by barring changes in the tax- project, including a temporary exemption from
ation regime applied to the pipeline. It does so corporate income tax and a permanent exemp-
by means of a provision that prevents Kampala tion from customs duties on imported goods.
from enacting any laws or regulations that might Additionally, it describes the local content rules
override the deal to which TotalEnergies and that the holding company must follow and tasks
CNOOC have already agreed. the Petroleum Authority of Uganda (PAU) with
“This Act takes precedence over all existing monitoring compliance.

P6 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 37 15•September•2021