Kibo Mining makes power plant acquisition and welcomes new board member

Africa focused resource developer and explorer Kibo Mining announced on Tuesday that it has acquired an 85% interest in the Mabasekwa Coal Independent Power Project (MCIPP).

The MCIPP, which Kibo reports is a comparable project to its flagship MCPP in Tanzania, is an advanced project for a coal based mine-mouth power plant which has seen a scoping study highlight a 30-year life of mine with a maximum capacity of 600MW based on a coal delivery rate of 3.2Mtpa.

The project is located approximately 50km southeast of Francistown, Botswana’s second largest city, and has potential for the incorporation of a solar component.

Louis Coetzee, chief executive of Kibo Mining, said: "Ideally located in Botswana, which has one of the best credit ratings in sub-Saharan Africa, and like much of Africa suffers from acute energy shortages, the MCIPP has notable similarities with our MCPP in Tanzania. These synergies will enable us to capitalise on our institutional knowledge and contacts in the industry as we pursue rapid development of both projects in tandem."

The interest was acquired through an all share deal with Shumba Energy subsidiary Sechaba Natural Resources Limited, and saw Sechaba issued 153,710,030 new ordinary shares in Kibo at an issue price of £0.061.

Following this, Sechaba now holds 27.13% of the enlarged share capital of Kibo.

Furthermore, the company has appointed Mashale Phumaphi, founder and managing director of Shumba Energy, as non-executive director.

Phumaphi has experience in investment analysis and research and has raised debt and equity finance for projects in the Americas, Europe and Africa since starting his career as an engineer with Debswana Diamond Company in Botswana.

"I also welcome Mr Phumaphi's appointment to the board; his extensive corporate finance and technical experience will make him a valuable addition to our team. Finally, I would like to offer my sincere gratitude for all the hard work done, in a short timeframe, by the teams at both Kibo and Sechaba," said Coetzee.

As of 1153 BST, Kibo Mining’s shares were up 6.39% at 7.07p.