AU Continent-Wide Electricity Market Masterplan

RNS Number : 7899X

Kibo Energy PLC

23 December 2019

 

Kibo Energy PLC (Incorporated in Ireland)

(Registration Number: 451931)

(External registration number: 2011/007371/10)

Share code on the JSE Limited: KBO

Share code on the AIM: KIBO

ISIN: IE00B97C0C31

("Kibo" or "the Company")

Dated: 23 December 2019

Kibo Energy PLC ('Kibo' or the 'Company')

African Union to Roll-Out Continent-Wide Electricity Market Masterplan

Kibo Mining plc (AIM: KIBO; AltX: KBO), the multi-asset Tanzania focused energy and resource company, notes recent press comment confirming that the African Union is to roll-out a continent-wide electricity market masterplan ('the Masterplan').  See below extracts from the commentary.

The African Development Bank ('the Bank') and the African Union Development Agency ('AUDA-NEPAD') have agreed to jointly develop a blueprint for a pan-continental electricity network and market.  The agreement to set up a Continental Power System Master Plan between the Bank and AUDA-NEPAD was unveiled recently during a three-day workshop on the side-lines of Programme for Infrastructure Development ('PIDA') Week held in Cairo.

Professor Mosad Elmissiry, a senior energy advisor to AUDA-NEPAD said, "The Continental Power System Master Plan will ensure that competitive electricity markets are developed at regional and continental levels, creating unique opportunities to optimally utilise Africa's vast energy resources for the benefit of Africa."

The workshop was aimed at advancing the launch of an Integrated Continental Transmission Network to link national power utilities into regional power pools and, ultimately, into a continent-wide transmission network. Plans also include setting up a market for electricity trading.

The Masterplan also will inform the energy component of a PIDA Action Plan, which focuses on key regional integration projects.  Development of a unified electricity transmission network and market for electricity trading are viewed as a critical priority to improve the lives of people across the continent.

Angela Nalikka, the Bank's manager for national and regional power systems, said, "Most state-owned electric utilities in Africa today are unable to secure the financial resources needed to implement required segments of regional interconnectors and associated national feeder lines.  The Bank plans to encourage private sector participation in transmission projects in the continent."

Louis Coetzee, CEO of Kibo Mining said: "We are delighted that the African Union is uniting to roll-out this electricity market masterplan, which is something we have been suggesting for some time. We have been positioning Kibo both strategically and operationally since 2018 in anticipation of this inevitable development.  We believe that our Africa project portfolio, which was meticulously created and communicated over the past 18 months, could not have been positioned better on commercial, geographical, socio-political and developmental levels, to take full advantage of this latest radical development in energy policy that will, in our opinion, enable the fastest economic development in the history of Africa to date."

**ENDS**

For further information please visit www.kibo.energy or contact:

Louis Coetzee	[e-mail]	Kibo Energy PLC	Chief Executive Officer
Andreas Lianos	[phone]	River Group	Corporate and Designated Adviser on JSE
Jason Robertson	[phone]	First Equity Limited	Joint Broker
Philip Adler	[phone]	ETX Capital Limited	Joint Broker
Bhavesh Patel / Stephen Allen	[phone]	RFC Ambrian Limited	NOMAD on AIM
Isabel de Salis / Charlotte Page / Beth Melluish	[phone]	St Brides Partners Ltd	Investor and Media Relations Adviser

Notes

Kibo Energy PLC is a multi-asset, Africa focused, energy company positioned to address the acute power deficit, which is one of the primary impediments to economic development in Sub-Saharan Africa. To this end, it is the Company's objective to become a leading independent power producer in the region.

Kibo is simultaneously developing three similar coal-fuelled power projects: the Mbeya Coal to Power Project ('MCPP') in Tanzania; the Mabesekwa Coal Independent Power Project ('MCIPP') in Botswana; and the Benga Independent Power Project ('BIPP') in Mozambique.  By developing these projects in parallel, the Company intends to leverage considerable economies of scale and timing in respect of strategic partnerships, procurement, equipment, human capital, execution capability / capacity and project finance.

Additionally, the Company has a 60% interest in MAST Energy Developments Limited ('MED'), a private UK registered company targeting the development and operation of flexible power plants to service the UK Reserve Power generation market. 

Johannesburg

23 December 2019

Corporate and Designated Adviser

River Group

 

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