Shumba upbeat on power project

Shumba Coal Limited, one of Botswana’s coal explorers has raised funds for its proposed 300MW coal fired power projects. 

In a statement on Wednesday, the company said they have $2.2 million (about P15 million), which is ready to be injected into their projects in Botswana. 

Shumba Coal directors said the amount was raised following undertakings to subscribe for 18 572 482 new ordinary shares for a total subscription value of $2 228 698 which were received from private and institutional investors based in Mauritius. The 18 572 482 new ordinary shares will be issued on July 16, bringing the total number of shares in issue to 196 958 562.

The funds come at a time when the company has just concluded a design for the power station. The designs are accompanied by preliminary financial modeling. The studies are a follow on from the power transmission scoping study into transmission solutions describing options available to export power from the Sechaba Energy Project, to be sited on Shumba Coal’s Sechaba thermal coal resources into the region, which was concluded a year ago. Shumba, which is managed by Mashale Phumaphi, is in the process of developing a 300MW coal fired power plant.

Shumba Coal is one of the private companies that aim to take part of the green field power stations. The company’s flagship asset is the Sechaba Project, which has approximately 1 billion tonnes of JPRC compliant thermal coal resources. The envisaged power plant will be located in relatively close proximity to the A1 national road and other important infrastructure such as the railway line and 400kV substation for possible integration. The BSE and Stock Exchange of Mauritius (SEM) listed Company will admit the new ordinary shares for listing early August when all regulatory approval processes have been completed.