Dubai: Oil exploration and trading company Kampac Oil, headquartered in Dubai, said on Tuesday it secured a capital of 1.2 billion euros (Dh6 billion) to fund its further expansion in Africa.
The fresh funds have been retrieved through a reverse merger listing on the Frankfurt Stock exchange on Monday under the name of Kampac International plc, generating 1 billion euros, and a 200-million-euro equity credit line facility with US-based fund company GEM Global, Kampac's Chairman and CEO Charles Ampofo said.
Oil trading
Ampofo told Gulf News in an interview that the company plans to increase its exploration and oil trading activities, especially in Ghana and South Africa. Based in Dubai since 2000, Kampofo says that the current staff of 800 will be increased during the next six month.
"I am very confident in the oil business as well in Dubai's economy," Ampofo said. Oil activities for Kampac, which comprise exploration, refining, trading, distribution, infrastructure development, equipment supplies and services, have been "very stable and profitable" in the last years, and he has felt "no impact of the global financial".
He said that the partnership with GEM "is a testament to the trust and confidence of global investors in Dubai's economic fundamentals and its future projects."
Kampac Oil — or, since Monday, Kampac International plc — has currently five oil blocks under exploration. The near-term focus of the company is to acquire five more blocks in Africa as well South America and the Arabian Gulf.
The company is part of a larger business conglomerate, Kampac Group, which is engaged in property, travel, commodities, tele-com and flower trading, generating an annual revenue of $3.4 billion with operations in 13 countries.
Ghana
One of the recent activities of the group was to sign a memorandum of understanding with the Ghana government to build 10,000 affordable units for the Ghana police forces. It also plans to build a golf course in Ghana.
In 2007, Kampac signed a 35-year project worth $1.6 billion with the Ghana Railway Corporation to build 800 kilometres of new railway lines and repair 400 kilometres of existing lines in the western part of Ghana.
