Aim-listed Kefi Gold and Copper has confirmed that an updated $320-million finance plan for the Tulu Kapi gold project, in Ethiopia, has been agreed by all of the project’s syndicate lead contractors, investors and lenders.

The plan is being processed for final reviews and entry into definitive documentation, which should be signed and concluded before the end of December.

Kefi has been updating the project costings with international fabricators and other suppliers in the last few months, since signing a syndicate umbrella agreement in June.

Kefi will share a detailed breakdown of the sources and uses of the $320-million funding at the time of signing the definitive documentation.

“The important milestone of the debt and equity leads approving the finalised finance plan allows all the respective boards to formally approve the definitive documentation.

“Ethiopia’s readiness for foreign direct investment has continued to improve since early this year and positive developments have only served to reinforce that,” Kefi chairperson Harry Anagnostaras-Adams says.

He adds that the company is confident that the project’s construction can start in the new years and that the openpit mine will start producing gold in 2025.

Kefi re-emphasises that the mine is poised to become the single-largest Ethiopian exporter, starting at $250-million a year in the first four years of operation and growing to $300-million a year after.

The project will employ 1 000 people directly and up to 10 000 people indirectly, in what is the high unemployment area of rural West Welega.

The Tulu Kapi project will also produce about $140-million worth of local goods, which should bode well for the economy and small enterprises.

Kefi will also work with the Ethiopian Evangelical Church of Mekane Yesus to create microenterprises in collaboration with experts.