Africa’s Evolving Mega-Project Finance: FLNG, Pipeline Sponsors Rethink Construction Risk
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Sponsors of Africa’s largest floating LNG (FLNG) and cross-border pipeline projects are taking different approaches to construction and financing risk, from long-term vessel leasing to standardized FLNG designs and phased debt entry as projects advance. Each structure requires coordination between sponsors, national oil companies (NOCs), asset owners and financiers. The Invest in African Energy (IAE) 2027 Forum will bring those stakeholders together in Paris on May 13 for “Mega-Project Financing: FLNG, Pipelines and Floating Assets,” the fourth session of its Commodities and Capital Allocation Forum.
In floating liquefaction, the lease model can separate the ownership and financing of the FLNG vessel from the upstream development. Golar LNG’s FLNG Gimi operates under a 20-year Lease and Operate Agreement with bp for the Greater Tortue Ahmeyim project offshore Mauritania and Senegal, with commercial operations beginning in June 2025. In Mozambique, Eni and its partners reached FID on the $7.2 billion Coral North FLNG project in October 2025, using a second FLNG based on the Coral Sul development. The Mozambican government approved the financing structure for the project in September 2026, allowing for up to $7.2 billion in funding, including financing for state-owned ENH’s participation. The IAE 2027 session will examine how leasing, standardized designs and other structures could shape the next wave of African gas developments, bringing vessel owners, NOCs and lenders into the same discussion.
Pipeline developers are also sequencing financing as projects move through construction. The $5 billion East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) was funded initially through shareholder equity, with the project exceeding 50% overall progress by the end of 2024. In March 2025, EACOP closed its first tranche of external financing through a syndicate including Afreximbank, Standard Bank, Stanbic Bank Uganda, KCB Bank Uganda and the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector.
The Nigeria-Morocco African Atlantic Gas Pipeline is at an earlier stage of the capital-raising process. Following a July 2026 intergovernmental agreement, Morocco opened discussions with the Export-Import Bank of the United States and the World Bank Group on a potential financing package of about $26 billion, with FID on the Moroccan segment expected by the end of 2026. For projects still assembling their capital stacks, IAE 2027 will provide direct access to export credit agencies (ECAs), development finance institutions and commercial banks whose commitments can determine the pace of financial close and construction.
The session sits within IAE’s final-day program, which also covers ECA support and political risk insurance, bringing the institutions that underwrite mega-project construction together with the sponsors seeking capital. The 2026 edition drew more than 300 companies from over 50 countries and facilitated three upstream deal signings. IAE 2027 builds on that platform with a three-day format focused on moving projects from origination through structured financing discussions and investment commitments.
To register and attend as a delegate, visit invest-africa-energy.com.