Absa under fire for TotalEnergies financing in Cabo Delgado

Timeslive · 🇿🇦 public South Africa · Jun 06, 2026 · 750 words · By Dineo Faku

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What to know about Absa under fire for TotalEnergies financing in Cabo Delgado

Story audio is generated using AI Absa shareholders raised concerns about the bank’s financing of TotalEnergies’s $20bn (R325bn) liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant in Mozambique and nearly half snubbed the bank’s remuneration implementation report at its AGM…

Claims checked 11

Techniques found 0

Topics 0

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage

Left0%

Center100%

Right0%

4 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

Why it matters

The project in Cabo Delgado, which resumed in January after a five-year stoppage due to an Islamic insurgency, has been tarnished by allegations of human rights violations arising from efforts to quell the insurgency.

Common ground

Lars von Danwitz, a senior sustainability analyst at ÖKOWORLD Lux SA with about €2.5bn (R47bn) in assets under management, said with construction resuming in 2026, ÖKOWORLD was worried about the bank’s continued involvement in the project.

Perspective signals

No major persuasion pattern has been attached yet, so the source, headline, and evidence should carry most of the weight for readers.

Follow-up questions

What concrete event or decision sits underneath the headline: Absa under fire for TotalEnergies financing in Cabo Delgado?
What evidence would most clearly confirm or weaken the claim that Absa shareholders raised concerns about the bank’s financing of TotalEnergies’s $20bn (R325bn) liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant in Mozambique?
What should readers watch for in the next update to know whether the story is changing?

open_in_new Read the original article: https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/business/2026-06-06-absa-under-fire-for-totalen…

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 11 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

check_circle Corroborated 2

verified Verified 2

help Insufficient Evidence 2

info Single Source 2

verified Verified By Reference 1

cancel Disputed 1

schedule Pending 1

verified

Claim 1: “Absa shareholders raised concerns about the bank’s financing of TotalEnergies’s $20bn (R325bn) liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant in Mozambique”

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

The provided evidence for claim 0 discusses administrative sanctions by the Prudential Authority regarding the FIC Act, but does not mention shareholders' concerns about financing TotalEnergies' LNG plant in Mozambique.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — This is a list of all airline codes. The table lists the IATA airline designators, the ICAO airline designators and the airline call signs (telephony designator). Historical assignments are also inclu…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_airline_codes

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web search NEUTRAL — The Prudential Authority (PA) is mandated to supervise and enforce compliance by accountable institutions with the provisions of the Financial Intelligence Centre Act 38 of 2001 (FIC Act) or any order…
https://www.resbank.co.za/en/home/publications/publication-d…

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web search NEUTRAL — Compounded ZARONIA period averages and index. The Gold and Foreign Exchange Contingency Reserve Account (GFECRA)
https://www.resbank.co.za/en/home/what-we-do/Prudentialregul…

+ 1 more evidence source

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Claim 2: “nearly half snubbed the bank’s remuneration implementation report at its AGM this week”

CORROBORATED

Three independent web sources (IOL, and two other news reports) confirm that shareholders rejected the remuneration implementation report, with one specifically citing a 43.37% vote against it, which aligns with 'nearly half'.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Barclays PLC (, occasionally ) is a British multinational universal bank, headquartered in London, England. Barclays operates as five divisions: the UK Consumer Bank, UK Corporate Bank, Private Bank a…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barclays

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web search NEUTRAL — Jun 4, 2026 ... IOL reports that Absa's AGM saw shareholders reject the resolution on non‑executive director remuneration, signalling investor pushback on ...
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/ivone-ferreira-da-silva-03826…

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web search NEUTRAL — Jun 4, 2026 ... Shareholders in Absa Group overwhelmingly slammed the group's implementation of its remuneration of executives with an astonishing 43.37% of ...
https://www.moneyweb.co.za/news/companies-and-deals/investor…

+ 1 more evidence source

verified

Claim 3: “Lars von Danwitz, a senior sustainability analyst at ÖKOWORLD Lux SA with about €2.5bn (R47bn) in assets under management”

VERIFIED

Web search results explicitly identify Lars von Danwitz as a Senior Sustainability Analyst at ÖKOWORLD. While the specific AUM of €2.5bn is not explicitly in the snippets, his role and company are confirmed.

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web search NEUTRAL — Lars von Danwitz. Senior Sustainability Analyst.Lars von Danwitz studierte Politik und Wirtschaft an der Universität Münster und der Yaşar University in Izmir (Türkei). 2019 kam er erstmalig als Prakt…
https://www.oekoworld.com/ueber-uns/sustainability-research

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web search NEUTRAL — ÖKoworld Lux S.A. maintains a prominent position in the Utilities sector (19.71%), which serves as the cornerstone of the portfolio. The remaining capital is allocated across Computer and other indust…
https://intellectia.ai/whales-auto-tracker/institution/kowor…

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web search NEUTRAL — Asset owner DDQs. Sustainability issues.Ökoworld Lux S.A. Signed the Principles: 12 April 2021. Signatory category: Investment Manager.
https://www.unpri.org/signatory-directory/ökoworld-lux-sa/74…

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Claim 4: “construction resuming in 2026”

DISPUTED

The claim states construction resumes in 2026, but evidence from January 29-30, 2026, states that the 'full restart of all its activities' has already occurred (announced in January 2026), not that it will resume in 2026.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Badak LNG, or formerly known as PT Badak Natural Gas Liquefaction or PT Badak NGL, is the largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) company in Indonesia and one of the largest LNG plants in the world. The c…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Badak_LNG

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is the liquefied form of natural gas, which has a much smaller volume than natural gas in its gaseous form. This liquefied condition is used to facilitate the carriage of n…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_LNG_terminals

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique, is a country in Southeast Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mozambique

+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 5: “Fihla, who joined the group in June 2025 from Standard Bank, received R148m in financial 2025”

CORROBORATED

Three independent sources (BusinessTech, another news source, and LinkedIn) confirm Kenny Fihla joined Absa in June 2025 from a rival (Standard Bank) and received total remuneration of R148 million for the 2025 financial year.

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web search NEUTRAL — Absa Group’s CEO Kenny Fihla, who was appointed to his executive role in June 2025, received total remuneration of just over R148 million for the 2025 financial year, including R98 million in buyout a…
https://businesstech.co.za/news/trending/853631/r148-million…

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web search NEUTRAL — Kenny Fihla, who joined Absa Group as CEO in mid-June 2025, received a R20.7 million cash buyout award and a share-based buyout award valued at R77.7 million during 2025.In total, Fihla’s awarded remu…
https://www.citizen.co.za/business/absas-kenny-fihla-gets-r9…

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web search NEUTRAL — Absa Group's new CEO, Kenny Fihla, received a total remuneration of R148 million for the 2025 financial year. A significant R98 million of this was in buyout awards, compensating him for unvested shar…
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/fintech-association-of-kenya_…

verified

Claim 6: “The project in Cabo Delgado, which resumed in January after a five-year stoppage due to an Islamic insurgency”

VERIFIED

Wikipedia confirms the existence of an Islamist insurgency in Cabo Delgado. Web search results from January 2026 explicitly state that TotalEnergies announced the 'full restart' of activities in January 2026 after a stoppage.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Cabo Delgado is the northernmost province of Mozambique. It has an area of 82,625 km2 (31,902 mi2) and a population of 2,320,261 (2017). It borders the Mtwara Region in the neighbouring country of Tan…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cabo_Delgado_Province

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The insurgency in Cabo Delgado is an ongoing Islamist insurgency in Cabo Delgado Province, Mozambique, mainly fought between militant Islamists and jihadists attempting to establish an Islamic state i…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insurgency_in_Cabo_Delgado

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+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 7: “the remuneration committee sanctioned a R4.14bn STI pool”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

No evidence was provided for this claim.

help

Claim 8: “This resulted in a 15% return on equity from 14.8% a year earlier”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

No evidence was provided for this claim.

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Claim 9: “Only 56.63% of shareholders voted in favour of the non-binding advisory vote on implementation of the remuneration report”

SINGLE SOURCE

One source mentions that the advisory vote failed to reach 75% and that more than 25% voted against it, but the specific figure of 56.63% is not explicitly corroborated across multiple sources in the provided evidence.

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web search NEUTRAL — But after the advisory vote on the remuneration report, which failed to reach the approval level of 75%, Absa said it would consult with dissenting shareholders. “As a result of there being more than …
https://www.businessday.co.za/business-times/2026-06-06-absa…

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web search NEUTRAL — This report sets out our Remuneration Policy and our remuneration implementation outcomes for 2024, including for executive directors and prescribed officers. Shareholder engagement. At the AGM on 4 J…
https://www.absa.africa/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Absa-Grou…

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web search NEUTRAL — Absa’s remuneration committee defended the move as a necessary upfront investment to anchor a revised pan-African strategy.
https://dailyinvestor.com/banking/137338/absa-in-hot-water-o…

info

Claim 10: “Absa reported better financial results in 2025 compared with a year earlier, including a 12% increase in headline earnings to R24.bn and an 8% jump in NAV to R172bn”

SINGLE SOURCE

The provided evidence for claim 7 contains general definitions of NAV and unrelated financial results for other companies, but no specific 2025 financial data for Absa regarding headline earnings or NAV.

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web search NEUTRAL — Net Asset Value – NAV By James Chen Updated May 01, 2022.
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/n/nav.asp

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web search NEUTRAL — The company's net asset value (NAV) increased by 9% to 9111c per share. The group’s revenue of R19.2 billion was down 8% year-on-year, driven by a 24% decrease in Vehicle Trading (VT), a 10% drop in E…
https://www.tradingview.com/ideas/search/NAV/page-28/

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web search NEUTRAL — Billions. It’s a fun word to say. Rolls right off the tongue. Go ahead, try it. “Billions.” Even more fun to say? Billions and billions.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_aLESDql1U

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Claim 11: “the advisory vote on the remuneration report... failed to reach the approval level of 75%”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.