Companies

Kenyan tycoon wins Sh37.5bn tender to build gas plant in Mozambique

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Dalbit International chairman Humphrey Kariuki (right) presents linen to the then Kenyatta National Hospital chief executive Dr Simeon Monda when the company donated Sh8 million for renovation, medical equipment and linen at the hospital on November 04, 2013. FILE PHOTO | PHOEBE OKALL | NATION MEDIA GROUP

Kenyan tycoon Humphrey Kariuki has won a Sh37.5 billion tender to build a gas power plant in Mozambique.

Mr Kariuki’s firm GL Africa Energy, which is based in the UK, will build and operate the 250-megawatt gas-powered plant in northeastern Mozambique.

The gas concession is the second foray into the Southern Africa energy sector for GL Africa, which was established in 2013. It is also the operator of a 103 megawatt thermal power plant in Ndola, Zambia.

“GL Africa Energy UK is among three firms that have been selected from 14 firms that originally bid for the natural gas development projects in the Ruvuma gas basin.

Norway’s Yara will produce fertilisers and 30-50 MW of electricity, while Shell Mozambique will produce diesel and 50-80MW of power,” the National Petroleum Institute of Mozambique said in a statement.

Commissioning date

The Mozambican agency did not indicate the expected date of commissioning of the new plant, with the gas fields that will supply the commodity to the power firms still under development.

The Kenyan tycoon maintains interests in a large number of well-known Kenyan businesses, which include oil marketer Dalbit Petroleum, Africa Spirits Limited, WOW Beverages, Fairmont Mount Kenya Safari Club and the Hub Mall in Karen.

He was also the owner of a popular Nairobi eatery, Green Corner Restaurant.

His oil firm Dalbit has operations in a number of other African countries including Tanzania, DR Congo, Zambia and South Sudan.

The businessman has also been entangled in controversy in the past, most notably when he was pulled into the Charterhouse Bank controversy in January 2001 after the Central Bank of Kenya froze the account of a business he owned — Crucial Properties Limited — due to a large inward transfer of Sh2 billion.

Mr Kariuki maintained the legitimacy of the large transfer, saying it was part of a $150 million package the company had negotiated with international lenders to be invested in Kenya.

The firm withdrew up to Sh1.6 billion from the account after the High court lifted the account freeze orders five months later.

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