Métis National Council of Canada
Lead author of a report to improve Métis Access to Capital to enable equity participation in resource projects This involved accessing how federal and provincial government programs could facilitate this access, including by providing concessional loans, loan guarantees or other forms of financial assistance. The mandate included 1) the mapping of potential sources to clarify opportunities and forms of financing available that would yield the best expected returns in alignment with the needs of Métis governments; 2) analyzing the potential concessional financing or loan guarantee opportunities including in oil and gas (production, facilities, pipelines) and renewable energy (hydro, solar, wind); and 3) the structuring of equity and debt along with their respective pros and cons in seeking to minimize risk and maximize returns for the Métis Nation (with R4D)
HEC-Montreal & Centrum- Peru
As part of a joint Master program, delivery of a training on Energy, mines, and resources sector investment. The training covered different strategies and techniques used in investment decisions, approaches to evaluating investment projects. financial analysis techniques, risk assessment and management, sources of capital, debt sizing and project finance structures.
Capacity-Building – Guinea Ministry of Mines
Preparation and delivery of a custom-made training on: A) Evaluation of the performance of tax instruments and optimal tax design, Financial and Fiscal Analysis of mining projects & assessment of the cost of tax incentives. Tax Administration and Tax Erosion mitigation strategies (BEPS). B) A second training on Allocation and Management of mining rights: principles and approaches, types of mining titles, eligibility criteria, potential sources of mismanagement, limiting speculation, evaluation of title applicants: assessment of technical and financial capacity as well as corporate integrity (beneficial ownership, criminal and judicial history, conflict of interest). Allocation procedures, management of mining title, main risks related to allocation of rights, compliance with license conditions.
Competitiveness of the Mining Sector of Gabon
Mission Chief for a project that comprises of a comparative analysis of policy documents and mining legislation in sub-Saharan Africa, critical analysis of Gabon mining Law and its implementing texts. Diagnosis of the functioning of the mining administration services and the procedures applied for the allocation and management of mining rights and titles as well as high-level diagnosis of the tax regime governing the mining sector in Gabon. Finally, formulation of recommendations to improve the competitiveness and investment climate of the mining sector
Hydrogen & Energy Transition in the Commonwealth
For the Commonwealth, overview of the hydrogen industry and potential impact to the global energy mix and implications for petroleum and gas producing countries in the Commonwealth. Also, introduction to the concept of carbon pricing and perspectives, opportunities and risks for Commonwealth countries.
Cost Analysis, Back & Forecasting of Congo’s Production Sharing Contracts
Project Director for a project that covers a review of Congo’s Oil fiscal regime with national and international comparative analysis of PSCs, modelling of licenses, comparative analysis of petroleum costs and finally, analysis of RC oil sales and determination of fiscal prices.
Competitiveness and issues of the fiscal regime in Kenya.
Comprehensive review of the mining fiscal regime in Kenya and its competitiveness with peer countries. Focus on the global “take” that Kenya should receive and recommend an optimal structure of tax instruments that would encourage investment in the Kenyan mining industry Mandate also addressed issues of progressivity, tax erosion, stabilization clauses, mining development agreements and how to approach renegotiations of existing agreements
Improving the monitoring and auditing of the Extractive Sector in Sub-Sahara Africa
Within the “Enhanced Oversight of the Extractive Industry in Africa”, a 5-years project assisted countries developing the tools for the proper monitoring and auditing of their extractive sector. Developed and delivered a comprehensive capacity-building program including on Fiscal design and Tax Administration, Fiscal Leakage and Tax Erosion, Legal framework and mining contracts, Negotiations & Contract monitoring, etc. Assisted in the development of audit manuals.
Preparedness for Large-Scale Mining in Burundi
Head of Mission to perform a tax audit mandate in the mining sector. Analysis of the legislative and regulatory framework of industrial and artisanal mining, review of the organizational responsibilities of the main ministries and institutions and identification of gaps in terms of performance and compliance. Recommendations in view of the development of large-scale mining.
Revenue Optimization & Intergenerational Equity in Mongolia
Assisting the Government of Mongolia on revenue management issues in particular on the establishment of a Sovereign Fund. Development and implementation of a capacity-building program on managing and auditing the mining and petroleum sectors including addressing tax administration matters such as tax erosion issues.
Mozambique: Review of a $50 Billions LNG project
Paradoxum was contracted to perform a complete review of the structuring and financing of LNG development in Mozambique in view of maximizing the country’s benefits. Three main options were analyzed through complex financial & fiscal modelling: LNG plant as part of upstream petroleum, LNG as a merchant plant and LNG as a tolling processing facility. PSA structure, government interests and National Oil Company (NOC) were taken into account with different structured & project finance scenarios. The particularity of the approach was to focus in determining the real net cash flows ultimately going to the government’s treasury year-by-year rather than limiting the analysis to estimating the overall theoretical “government’s take” as it is often the case.
Niger: Back to the Future through a Capacity-Building action plan
As Project Director, review of the development of the mining and oil sectors in Niger in the past 15 years and the evolution of its legal, commercial, fiscal frameworks as well as the various changes within the ministries and governing institutions. Taking into account national and international economic and resources contexts, identification and analysis of the obstacles for the future development of the oil and mining sectors in Niger and preparation of 25-years scenarios. Based on these scenarios, assessment of the institutions responsible for the management of mining and oil and preparation of recommendation on the necessary adjustments and improvement for the appropriate management of the extractive sector. Finally, development of an action plan that covers managerial skills capacity-building, enhancing of technical expertise and development of tools and systems within the Ministry of Mines and the Ministry of Energy & Petroleum
APPA: Re-Dynamizing the African Petroleum Producers Association
As governance expert, Paradoxum collaborated with the German firm, Fichtner Management Consulting in the reform of APPA, the African Petroleum Producers Association with its 18 Member Countries. The project includes a) the Strategic Re-positioning – redefining the objectives of APPA in view of organizational, economic, social, and environmental effectiveness criteria; b) Structure Enhancement: formulating proposals aimed at restructuring and repositioning APPA, including growing its Membership; c) Financial Sustainability – suggesting mechanisms for financing APPA and its activities and; d) legal adjustment – amending the legal statutes of the APPA to better align them with its new ambitions, and good governance principles
Belize – Integrated review of Petroleum Governance
The legal and technical assistance provided to Belize concerning the petroleum sector is an example of custom-made interventions, tailored to the needs of the country, while reflecting the best standards of the industry. The initial part of the program of assistance was to ensure that the country’s petroleum fiscal regime generates a fair and equitable fiscal take for the government, while at the same time remaining internationally competitive. This was done though a review of tax instruments covering elements such as royalty rates, income tax, and production sharing and government participation. Once the fiscal regime was agreed upon, a Petroleum Revenue Management Fund was developed, fundamentally guided by the need for transparency and managing the oil revenues keeping future generations in mind.
Cook Islands (CKI) – The mining final frontier: Deep-Sea Mining
Following the delivery of legal and technical assistance, the Cook Islands established a modern national policy and implemented legislation to develop and govern a deep seabed minerals sector. The provision of this assistance resulted in the enactment of the Cook Islands Seabed Minerals Act (2010), which establishes a comprehensive management regime for mineral and includes provision for the grant of prospecting permits, exploration licenses, mining licenses and retention leases and the conditions related to them.
The Act also includes occupational health and safety provisions as well as modern environmental provisions. The Act also establishes a range of new institutions to complement the regulatory aspects of the legislation. Furthermore, one of the first financial and fiscal model on deep-sea mining was built in order to establish an appropriate fiscal regime for the benefit of the people of the Cook Islands. The work performed became the benchmark for the management of deep-sea mining in the Pacific region.
Tanzania – From molecules of gas to Kwhs of electricity
Following the provision of legal and technical assistance, Tanzania successfully concluded commercial terms leading to investment in a multi-billions dollar natural gas exploration and development LNG project, which lead to Tanzania’s first global-scale offshore deep-sea natural gas discovery in the East African region.
A core element of the mandate was on the development of a gas-to-power project, the financial simulations of the value of such a project and direct assistance at the negotiations table. This implied a review of a series of agreements that included an implementation agreement, a production sharing contract, a pipeline right-of-way agreement, a gas sales agreement, a power purchase agreement, a transmission and distribution franchise agreement (including a detailed review of tariff calculation methodologies) and finally, a tariff equalization agreement and a generation facilities agreement.
Malawi: Framework for a nascent mining sector
The mandate addressed primarily special issues relating to the fiscal regime for mining and the commercial framework for the development of the mining sector in Malawi. The work first involved reviewing the previous recommendations made to the government and focusing the intervention on examining specific issues impeding the optimization of revenues collected by the government. These included issues relating to royalty, additional income tax, state participation, fiscal stability and a number of elements related to direct taxation such as tax treaties, thin capitalization and transfer pricing.
A financial model for a potential niobium mining project was also built with various development scenarios. Revenue forecast for an existing uranium project were also performed. The work also involved a thorough review of a draft mines and minerals act and recommendation were made in terms on royalty calculations, environmental provisions and a number of other issues.
Kenya: Thorough review of petroleum and mining
The main focus of the mandate was the future of Kenya’s fiscal regimes for upstream petroleum and mining. It also tackled the assessments of the present regulatory framework, including advising on appropriate reforms to improve fiscal arrangements for the upstream petroleum and mining sectors; and proposing appropriate fiscal provisions in contract and legislation for future gas development.
The work set out the upstream petroleum fiscal regime and economic evaluation of the existing fiscal terms for, and allocation of rights to, petroleum resources in the light of international experience and of projected economics of illustrative potential petroleum projects in Kenya. Analysis of potential transit infrastructure including an assessment of the policy challenges that may arise in developing cross-border transportation infrastructure for petroleum were performed. Mining fiscal regimes were also reviewed including an economic evaluation of a typical mining project. The government was also presented with some common fiscal topics and issues for EI sectors.
Other international projects:
Namibia (Energy Policy & Mining), Guyana (petroleum governance & fiscal regime), Surinam (review of mining contracts), Pakistan (mining policy & mining legislation), Zimbabwe (mining policy), Mali (mining legislation), Sierra Leone (petroleum governance), Solomon Islands (mining environmental issues), Uganda (strategy on oil refining), Bosnia (unbundling, power grid integration & regional markets), Bulgaria (power generation strategy), Kazakhstan (power generation & gas distribution), Kyrgyzstan (power generation), Costa Rica (project finance & power generation), India (Madhya Pradesh – energy sector restructuring), Morocco (undisclosed), Honduras (energy market).