- Aziza Project invests in early-stage oil and gas exploration operations in underdeveloped Southern Africa region
- Aziza’s first investment is a 20 percent stake in Africa New Energies (ANE), which is preparing to drill wells on a Montana-sized chunk of Namibia
- The company’s investment opportunity consists of a security token offering that will allow coin holders to share in company profits
- Company engineers are awaiting the results of a September bore drilled to identify where potable underground water might be located and for conclusive results from water samples being tested for the presence of hydrocarbons
Amid revived interest in the potential of Southern Africa’s oil and gas exploration prospects, Aziza Project LLC’s tokenized oil and gas fund is offering investors a foundation building opportunity to fund a new era of hope for the 630 million people who currently have no access to the power grid and typically depend on wood and paraffin for their energy needs.
The exploration-friendly policies of Namibia’s government, in particular, have created the potential for investors to see returns as planned drilling backed by Aziza Project delivers anticipated results using big data algorithms. The privately held company invests in early-stage oil and gas businesses with the aim of ethically developing hydrocarbon resources in parts of Southern Africa that are generally regarded as having underdeveloped potential.
After nearly a decade of stalled exploration, drilling in Namibia picked up dramatically this year and is expected to increase further in 2019, with experts evaluating the country’s economic growth prospects as favorable (http://nnw.fm/JckS5). Daniel McKeown, the co-founder and managing director of oil explorer Azinam Limited, recently told investors that the drilling that has taken place to date has demonstrated beyond doubt that the region has the potential to become a new petroleum province, because all the indicators of hydrocarbons – from source-rock to structural traps – have been confirmed (http://nnw.fm/6uoFu).
Aziza Project owns 20 percent of Africa New Energies (ANE), which is preparing a program of 10 well drills on a Namibian government concession that’s roughly the size of Montana — a 22,000-square-kilometer (8,494.2-square-mile) prospective hydrocarbon resource bordering Botswana and the Kalahari Desert, with infrastructure in place for transportation to neighboring South Africa’s refineries.
Aziza Project is helping to fund the $60 million called for to develop the drilling program and to make additional investments in other early-stage oil and gas businesses by utilizing a security token initial coin offering (ICO), or security token offering, that tokenizes ANE’s asset and anticipated hydrocarbon resource.
“Our token represents what I’ve described as an indirect fractional ownership interest in the Aziza Project,” CEO Robert Pyke stated in a November NetworkNewsAudio interview (http://nnw.fm/2oTJT). “It’s a little bit different to being a shareholder, but what’s critically important is that Aziza Coin holders will be the economic beneficiaries — that means they will be able to share in any of the profits made by the Aziza Project organization.”
Pyke said a lot of the reason Namibia’s hydrocarbon potential remains underdeveloped is that South Africa’s Apartheid era created an unwillingness among investors to build resources in the region. As the political climate has changed, so have outsiders’ attitudes toward sustaining national wellbeing in the region.
“Whereas in Northern Africa, in Western Africa there are tens of thousands of wells that have been drilled, it’s practically zero — dozens — in Southern Africa. So we see it as a big untapped geography. We think the geology is exciting,” Pyke continued.
ANE rejected an unsolicited bid of $500 million last year for its concession, because the company believes that the land’s hydrocarbon prospects are worth far more to its investors. However, the bid allowed the company to establish a base valuation for the site. Aziza’s 20 percent share of ANE’s asset is therefore valued at $100 million.
“One of the biggest challenges we’ve (in the leadership team) faced is we are a security token,” Pyke said. “We are very clear that the reason we would expect people to buy an Aziza Coin is that there is the potential of making an excellent financial return. (If) the oil and gas assets produce hydrocarbons, they will appreciate in value substantially. Navigating the regulatory environment has been very time-consuming.”
ANE expects to place orders for drilling rigs and complete the environmental impact assessment for the site next year before “spudding” its first exploratory well, according to its website. The company is awaiting the results of a test bore drilled in September to establish where subsurface water and hydrocarbons might be located. As drilling continues into 2020, the company expects to complete analysis of its initial well results. By 2021, the company expects to begin planning for an IPO.
For more information, visit the company’s website at www.Aziza.io
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