British buyers seek Zimbabwean coal to plug energy supply gaps

The coal mining company Contango, which has a 70% interest in the Lubu coal project in north-western Zimbabwe, is getting off-take proposals from industrial users, including from the UK, executive director Carl Esprey tells The Africa Report.

Record gas prices are depressing global demand and causing users to switch to coal, while sharp cuts in Russian gas flows to Europe are raising alarms about supplies ahead of the winter, the International Energy Agency said on July 5.