Today I welcome the opportunity to introduce the KIBA project, my name is Owen WANG, I am the project manager of Kiba development project within our team. I am from China-Africa Investment and Development Company. Since 2015 CAIDC has been assessing the commercial viability of the Kiba project and within the past few months, that effort has resulted in the formal submission of the feasibility study. I would like this opportunity to introduce our company to every stakeholder and development partner.
To better introduce our completed work, I will present our trusted partner Energy China, the technical consultant.
China-Africa Investment and Development Company is jointly funded by China Poly Group and China Reform Holdings Corporation. As the overseas investment and capital operation platform of China Poly Group. CAIDC focuses its investment on energy, infrastructure projects in Africa, Southeast Asia and countries in the Government of China's Belt and Road initiative.
As a project developer and equity investor CAIDC will do its best to target potentially suitable projects. We will utilise our resources to precisely integrate project participants, which include governments, investors, financial institutes and EPC contractors. We aim to deliver a commercially viable project that suits the requirements and demand of all parties involved. We ultimately hope to deliver a mutually beneficial development that in this case is a commercially sustainable hydropower project and is a long term energy investment and solution for Uganda. Then, It is my great pleasure to introduce Energy China as our main development and equity partner in the Kiba project.
Energy China is one of the largest comprehensive solution providers to the power sector and infrastructure developers in the world. Energy China has a global presence across the entire generation sector including thermal, hydro, nuclear, wind, solar and waste-to-energy power. They develop all generation and associated transmission line and substations as well as other general infrastructure projects. Energy China has provided services in more than 100 countries, including one-stop integrated solutions and full life-cycle project management services. In 2018, it's revenue ranked 333rd amongst “The Fortune Global 500” group of companies.
The Kiba hydropower project is envisaged as a cascade development on the Victoria Nile River, Kiba is an investment IPP project, all the development and construction capital will be funded by CAIDC and its equity partners. Please allow me to remind you of the milestone of the past few years.
In May 2015 CAIDC signed an MOU with Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development. In July 2016, we finished the Pre-Feasibility Study with our consultant EIPL. By the end of 2016, we also applied NOI and six months later the Energy Regulatory Authority (ERA) issued us the permit for the FS. June 2018, we are awarded clearance to the Murchison Fall National Park to commencement the on-site study work. On 23rd July of this year, we finally finished FS and Environment and Social Impact Assessment work and submitted by said date. Last month, CAIDC's Ugandan Special Purpose Vehicle was formally incorporated and established. Our plan soon is to start the licensing and financing stages at the start of 2020.
CAIDC and its partners will be the primary equity investors and will arrange project financing from Chinese creditors and financial institutions. The project will be implemented on the Build-Own-Operation-Transfer basis, with zero increase in Government of Uganda’s debt. All the risk will be undertaken by the investors over the life of the project – from design/ construction to operations/ maintenance.
In line with achieving the Presidents National Vision 2040, CAIDC will undertake best efforts to provide an affordable sustainable tariff. Ensuring public sector capacities can meet the growing demand for energy and future commercial infrastructure development.
We will engage the local community will ensure benefits from the Kiba development project are received across the board. CAIDC and its partners attach great importance to social and environmental responsibility. Not just directly in the employment sector which will include approximately 10,000 new jobs are created. But also that skills will be transferred to locals and those skilled workers from past projects are put to good use over the next few decades. The project will widen the tax bases for the Ugandan government and also promote Uganda has the energy base to become a power hub for East Africa Power Pool.
I would like to brief you on our next steps and seek support from every stakeholder. We have formally established a Ugandan local company, the ESIA report has been submitted, we will coordinate with NEMA seeking for Uganda environmental approval. Based on the result of FS, we will apply for the Surface water and construction permit from DWRM. We seek support from the stakeholders to expedite these assessments and license conditions to progress more quickly.
Kiba is a large investment project and thus the Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) will be a key component of the investments viability. We wish to commence the PPA negotiation with UETCL; Concession for use of the land and access road issues and will apply simultaneously. The activities mentioned above are the pre-conditions to apply for the generation license from ERA. However, at present, we're are encountering some delays and issues. The reality is our current permit has expired as we have submitted the Feasibility Study. Due to the large size of the project and its complexity, 24 months was not sufficient for comprehensively developing Kiba project and getting to where we are now. The Ministry and stakeholders are kindly requested to ensure the validity of the project are in order within their respective departments so we can focus on preparing all submissions for the next phase of the projects licensing development.
We look forward to working with all stakeholders and government departments on bringing the project to fruition.
A "BIG" thank you for your reading.
