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Mixed feelings here.

Seems to say enough gas to be...'the “battery” to support solar'. Thus in one partial sentence turning our company on its head.

The primary objective was CBM fired power generation with a secondary objective of integrating solar and gas as baseload power. With the lack of drilling and the shut down of wells with dewatering still ongoing it seems reasonable to conclude that the new reality and primary objective, at least in the near term, is integrating solar with the gas we have managed to generate.

As for how that might impact the ongoing financial negotiations well I hope that the loss of CBM as the main energy thrust at this point doesn't negatively impact those negotiations. I can take some heart from a previous statement that, 'Potential investors have often requested that Tlou include solar in its generation mix.' Well they have their wish but probably weren't expecting that to be the companies main objective.

'Since my appointment in June, Sterling has progressed its efforts on securing a material M&A transaction. The appointment of GMP FirstEnergy as co-broker, coupled with the engagement of Pinsent Masons, adds to strengthen Sterling's ability to achieve the mandate.

We have a clear strategy and can move quickly and decisively for the right opportunity, leveraging our full cash balance of ca.$47 million and technical capabilities to good effect. We remain very focused on finding a suitable acquisition.'

Well that was from the CEO in 2018 so they cannot be accused of just throwing their (our) money at any old acquisition so I agree Rift I'm expecting an excellent purchase in today's climate, one that will be cash appreciative very quickly. The upshot of such should reflect very well on our current SP.

They've had an eye on Egypt for some time be interesting to see where the penny eventually does drop.

'.....presumably the generators are raring to go once they sniff CBM? If they haven't rusted up waiting for Kalahari since 2012?'....

They won't have rusted Brad.... there's no water in Botswana:-))

They also told us that they were seeking an imminent interim PPA with the government Whizz. They have nailed that. Progress is being made and I think 'misled' is pretty harsh. They haven't achieved the funding as soon as expected with 'tantalisingly close' but equally there is a realistic view that they felt it was closer than it was or indeed in African time 7 months is within the realms of being such particularly given how long this project t has been running. We are making progress and it has been very substantial.

Accurately reflects the previous announcements as you would expect. This definitely looks like being our time to achieve hook up to the grid which is good. Thanks again to all the team and particularly to those conserving cash at the moment through significant wage cuts.

Made me a happy man that post BTS. Glad the market in TLOU has given you a boost mate, we all needed it.

Let's hope so. I'm pretty convinced but not wholly convinced just yet. The PPA tells me a lot but nobody's losing any money on that bit of work. If the Bots gov's financing arm stump up $10m that's when I know everything really has changed here.

The shutting down of Lesedi 3 is also to preserve cash. It's often quickly forgotten that the management of shareholder value has always been at the forefront of our CEO's work. The present CORVID-19 response to conserve cash also included:

'Consequently, Tlou will be implementing significant cost reductions across the Company. This includes senior management: Anthony Gilby (Managing Director) will reduce to 50% of his currently contracted rate backdated to 1 January 2020 and then 25% from 1 April 2020. Colm Cloonan (Finance Director), Gabaake Gabaake (Executive Director) and Solomon Rowland (General Manager) will reduce to 50% of their currently contracted rates backdated to 1 January 2020. '

'The unpaid amounts will not be accrued nor payable by the Company at a later date.'

We can all say that he has earned enough in the past, is a rich man etc but the reality is that CEO's, on whatever platform their company trades, don't work for nothing and very few take steps to downgrade their pay when the companies back is against the wall no matter how much cash they have in the bank.

I like the man, his effort and his ability to sniff out an opportunity.

Hi BTS, I have never given predictions on price and I won't start now. There is however reason to believe that matters will develop positively from here. AIM isn't always about bad investments and pump and dump. Occasionally there is a settled runner that quietly completes incremental portions of its strategy (not always to time plan) and becomes a fully functioning and profitable company.

I agree that we may have some tension to come (equally we may not) but if we get the minimum £10m financing then I may make a limited exception to my no price prediction stance. If it is the Botswana Development Corporation that funds us through debt or debt/equity then matters change.

BDC’s primary mandate is to drive the Industrialisation of the country by providing financial assistance to investors with commercially viable projects. The latter three words would tell me what I need to know.

ATB NE

'I cannot imagine how he felt with so little support from shareholders in this last 6 months.'

The perspective is that some shareholders were critical of how things were going and indeed critical of the management team. I think it is important to recognise that only an extremely small proportion of shareholders bother to post on here. Those that were critical, if invested, had a right in my view to question what was happening or not happening.

Matters not for me, I am happy with our team, always have been. Yes there have been bumps in the road and may well be some still to come but I'm not counting on them being big ones.

I think people only have to look at one sentence contained in the half year consolidated financial report Dec 2019 to understand what has changed here:

'Following the long silence on commencement of negotiations for the “Development of a Maximum of 100 MW of Coal Bed Methane (CBM) Fueled Pilot Power Plants in Botswana”,.........'.

In comes the new Minister and boy he has backed up his words tremendously and lifted us right over a massive hurdle. No more silence it seems and no doubt about it his actions are what TG and the team and probably a great section of Botswana have been praying for.

A huge well done to Tony and his team. Now I expect a £10m financing agreement (the minimum amount for 2MW to get connected) imminently. Connected, connected, connected. We are now pretty damn close to having the means to get connected.

Correction;

Having several valid defences and counterclaims, which is definitive, has now gone to several valid defences and 'possibly' counterclaims is not quite the same. So not the same level of emphasis on EM as a defaulter.

Interesting to note the difference in terminology being used to describe this dispute and that of the dispute with Agamore. In Agamore's case the parties consider the action to be 'ill-founded' and that the action 'will be dismissed in due course'.
With this EM dispute they state, 'The Company's directors believe, based on legal advice, that ShoreCan has several valid defenses to the action brought by Essar Mauritius and possibly counterclaims of its own.'

I also preferred the previous response to this dispute, included in the Nov 19 MD&A, rather than the rather less strident utterings above.

'Essar Mauritius asserted that ShoreCan has not commenced funding of the US$80 million agreed cumulative funding in Essar Nigeria. ShoreCan has denied the claim and produced evidence of substantial expenditure to date. ShoreCan also alleged that any delay in securing mainstream long-term project funding is due in part to the failures of Essar Mauritius to comply with its obligations under the Essar Nigeria Shareholders Agreement. The Essar Nigeria Shareholders Agreement contains a dispute resolution process which ShoreCan has sought unsuccessfully to invoke. As at the date hereof, Essar Mauritius has not sought to terminate the Essar Nigeria Shareholders Agreement and no formal proceedings have been commenced by either party. As such, there has been no quantifiable impact to the Company’s working capital or its operations. ShoreCan will vigorously contest any action by Essar Mauritius to terminate the Essar Nigeria Shareholders Agreement in the English courts which have jurisdiction over any formal dispute. The directors are of the belief that ShoreCan has several valid defences and counterclaims to any such action.'

Of note was the seemingly purposeful splitting up of the last sentence immediately above when it came to today's announcement. Having several valid defences and counterclaims, which is definitive, has now gone to several valid counterclaims and 'possibly' counterclaims is not quite the same. So not the same level of emphasis on EM as a defaulter.

For all the news this morning the SP is holding up better than I for one expected. The only way that happens is with buying support. I am certainly erring towards it most definitely not being the Ruia's doing any buying. The Ruia's could buy us now without the litigation costs and delay's that the court case would bring. Plus there is the small matter of a further PSC to negotiate with the NNPC as its clear we won't be satisfying the conditions for the current extension.

I suspect it is PI's buying here on the drop and if anyone of note was buying it would be more likely Shoreline picking up here. Shoreline also have first offer on any sale of COPL's interest in OPL226 so any move by the Ruia's would be more than capable of being matched by Kola.

Lots of conspiracy threads could be evident but the one thing this has made clear to me is that it now seems implausible that EM and Shoreline are in any way acting together so that removes one conspiracy theory.

The Minister has been excellent for TLOU in the short time he has been in post, he clearly has a political agenda that suits our needs perfectly. It's realistic now to expect news pretty quickly on financing.

Its not formality Charlie this is a serious challenge to us staying in business.

It doesn't take much to grasp that we have no money and we will need money to defend this case. It may well come down to having to rely on another businessman. We will lose something out of this saga that is absolutely certain just what that is and how severe it is to shareholders is anybody's guess having been provided with so little information.

This will not be quick either. The announcement as have previous announcements, made it clear that there is claim and counter claim here. There has been no desire to settle this in line with the dispute resolution procedure under the partnership agreement so EM are in this for the long haul. Many have suspected this and time means nothing to EM. It does to us.

The issue now comes down to how we manage this court action with no funds. Yes it is opportunistic by Essar Mauritius (EM) but they have had this course of action under their belt for two years and its reasonable to believe they were just biding their time. That time is now and at least we all know where we now stand. If Art can, and its a big if, get the funds together to finance the defence then we have a fighting chance of eventually moving forward once the case has been decided. That will take some time and EM know it. Our saving is now I suspect in the hands of Kola. Let's see what 'partnership' really means to him.

And that in an absolute nutshell is why we have not had the funding. The commercial dispute has to be settled before any financier will step forward. At last we have the reason in an official announcement.

'With Brent below $30 cash is king so even the most incompetent COE could find a deal with fantastic value in this current climate.'

Forget cash return that's not going to happen because of the above. They will either make an acquisition(s) now or keep doing what they are doing now which is simply using the money to cover general expenditure (their own wages). If they have nothing in the next 6 months that will give us a good idea what they are up to (piggy bank).

Not declining, not holding steady but actually increasing expenditure it seems Sub. Goes against everything I thought was happening vis-à-vis financing oil/climate control. I also have to accept this is an accurate study given that neither of the major financiers challenged it when giving their response.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/mar/18/global-banks-climate-crisis-finance-fossil-fuels