Page 13 - AfrOil Week 03 2023

AfrOil POLICY AfrOil

TotalEnergies operates the Mozambique LNG The French major and its partners aim to
consortium through its subsidiary Total E&P extract gas from Area 1, which lies offshore
Mozambique Area 1, which holds a 26.5% stake. Mozambique within the Rovuma basin. They
The remaining equity in the consortium is split will process the gas at an LNG plant and onshore
between two Japanese companies, Mitsui and complex on the Afungi Peninsula. This facility
Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corp. (JOG- will eventually have two production trains, each
MEC), which have a combined stake of 20%; with a capacity of 6.44mn tonnes per year (tpy).
Mozambique’s national oil company (NOC) Work on the onshore facility was suspended
ENH, with 15%; BPCL, with 10%; ONGC in March 2021 due to the deteriorating secu-
Videsh (India), with 10%; Beas Rovuma Energy rity situation in Cabo Delgado, Mozambique’s
Mozambique (a 60:40 joint venture between northernmost province. Conditions have
ONGC Videsh and Oil India Ltd, or OIL), with improved since that time, but TotalEnergies has
10%; and PTTEP (Thailand), with 8.5%. yet to resume work at the site. ™

Rising investment in Ugandan oil sector

triggers surge in demand for office space

UGANDA THE Ugandan property market is projected to the growing demand. Additionally, developers
maintain an upward growth after office space should consider going into other suburbs as
occupancy rose 8% in annual terms during the office space is still domiciled in areas such as
second half of 2022, driven by a significant surge Bugolobi, Kololo, Lugogo bypass, and Naka-
in oil sector investments, central bank data and sero,” Sharon Kamayangi, Knight Frank Head of
research by UK-based property consultancy occupier services and commercial agency was
Frank Knight show. quoted as saying by The Monitor.
Uganda is fast becoming a hotspot for for- Despite the surge in demand, Uganda is grap-
eign direct investment (FDI) in East Africa after pling with office space shortage due to some real
attracting investments worth $1.1bn in 2021, estate investors holding back on investments, a
according to the United Nations Conference reality that is delaying completion of ongoing
on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) World projects by up to four years.
Investment Report 2022. The country was ahead Knight Frank contends that the real estate
of neighbouring Tanzania, where FDI stood at sector is feeling the pressure of a turbulent eco-
$922m and Kenya, where it reached $448m. nomic environment occasioned by double digit
Uganda registered a 35% growth in FDl in inflation that stood at 10.2% in December and
the last quarter of 2022, supported by increased high interest rates that have slowed down credit
activity in the oil sector, according to the cen- uptake by the private sector.
tral bank. The heightened activity in the sector Data by the Bank of Uganda, which main-
relates to the East Africa Crude Oil Pipeline tained its benchmark policy rate at 10% in
(EACOP), the midstream component of the December, shows that private sector credit
Lake Albert Development Project (LADP), a growth remains weak and below historical
$10bn initiative that aims to monetise Uganda’s trends after falling to 10.5% year-on-year in the
as-yet untapped crude oil resources. quarter to October 2022, down from 10.8% in
A Knight Frank report covering the second the quarter to July 2022. ™
half of 2022 shows that the massive investments
into Uganda, the majority of which are in the oil
sector, pushed occupancy rates in the office mar-
ket where 12,800 square metres of rentable space
accounted for an 8% y/y increase.
Apart from oil and gas, the financial ser-
vices and professional services sectors also
contributed to the growing demand for Grade
A office space at a time when more people are
seeking smaller office spaces ranging from 50 to
200 square metres. The increase in demand for
high-end office space resulted in a 3% percent
increase in average rents in prime office build-
ings during the second half of the year.
“It will be ideal for landlords to upgrade the
existing buildings from B and C grade to meet Uganda expects first oil in 2025 (Image: TotalEnergies)

Week 03 19•January•2023 www. NEWSBASE .com P13