Haldor Topsoe, a Danish chemical catalyst manufacturing company has recently agreed to support the Republic of Congo to build a $2.5 billion fertilizer plant near the port city of Pointe Noire. As per trusted sources, the move would help the region diversify its dependency on crude oil and further improve its economy.
According to The PetroTimes, the new fertilizer plant will help diversify Congo’s oil-dependent economy which reportedly has the second highest level of inequality in the continent, after South Africa.
The International Monetary Fund’s forecast cites that the economy has been in crisis since the past two years due to a sharp decline in crude oil prices and predicts a grow rate by just 0.7% in recent upcoming years.
As per Gilbert Ondongo, Economy Minister of State, Republic of Congo, Haldor Topsoe will team up with Pointe Noire’s MGI Energy, who will offer natural gas for the project to produce ammonia, a raw material used in the production of fertilizers. In addition, a feasibility study is being conducted for the next six months before the commencement of the project in 2019, with completion expected to take place in about three years, Ondongo said.
The three-quarters of the funding for the project will come from EKF, Denmark’s export-credit agency, while the rest will be provided by Copenhagen’s Investment Fund for Developing Countries, Ondongo added.
As per Haldor Topsoe spokesperson statement, the total estimate of the project and its precise timeline is yet to be figured out, however, it’s safe to say that the project is currently in the early stage of commencement.
Reportedly, similar fertilizer plants have already been constructed and operated in India, Bangladesh and Pakistan and have efficiently helped those countries become self-sufficient in serving their agriculture sectors, claims Ondongo. Moreover, Congo’s new facility developed with the support of Haldor Topsoe and MGI Energy will seemingly ease the availability of the fertilizer for the local, regional, and international markets.
