LINDI, Nov. 18 -- IN a global race where capital is chasing shorter-cycle energy returns, Tanzania is sprinting to close a decade-long negotiation on its 42 billion US dollars Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) project led by Shell (NYSE: SHEL, LSE: SHEL) and Equinor (NYSE/Oslo: EQNR) at Lindi.

The government wants to finalise the Host Government Agreement (HGA) and reach a Final Investment Decision (FID) by end of this year, an ambition first set in 2014.

If achieved, it could generate about 3.5 billion US dollars annually in export receipts, nearly 6 per cent of GDP, estimated by the World Bank at 64 billion US dollars last year.

Yet each year of delay shrinks its competitive edge as investors re-allocate to projects in Mozambique, Namibia ...