Hunt continues for Coal to Liquid project investors

Known as Ikaegeng XTL, the ambitious multi-billion-pula project has been in the works for more than a decade, which is seen as a transformational step towards fuel self-sufficiency. A previous attempt by government to self-finance the project was abandoned in July 2021 in favour of a PPP arrangement. At that time, Botswana Oil had a list of 11 companies, which it later whittled down to a shortlist of two.

The PPP process was kicked off via a Request for Proposals from November 2023 to February 2024, without a suitable investor being identified. The RfP sought proposals from “competent developers to design, build, finance, operate, maintain and transfer the Ikaegeng Coal-to-Liquid Fuels (CTL) Facility, to be built in Botswana on a Public Private Partnership (PPP) basis”.