TotalEnergies signs are seen at a petrol station in Nice, France, October 10, 2022. The letter, seen by Reuters, comes at a crucial juncture for the French energy company as it prepares to relaunch Africa's largest foreign direct investment project. Activists warn the project may worsen climate change and fuel human rights abuses in the impoverished southern African nation. TotalEnergies said before Friday's letter that arrangements for project finance remain in place despite a 'force majeure' halt in 2021 when Islamist militants threatened the project site. The project delay has led some investors to reassess their previous cost assumptions in light of inflation and global gas market swings.

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Persons: Eric Gaillard, Banks, TotalEnergies, Ntshengedzeni Maphula, Reta Jo Lewis, Wendell Roelf, Toby Sterling, Nellie Peyton, Forrest Crellin, Mathieu Rosemain, Yuka Obayashi, Tim Cocks, Olivia Kumwenda, Elaine Hardcastle Organizations: REUTERS, Reuters, ActionAid International, Greenpeace, African Development Bank, Societe Generale, Africa's Export Credit Insurance Corporation, Thomson Locations: Nice, France, Mozambique, Greenpeace France, Netherlands, U.S, Exim, Cape Town, Amsterdam, Johannesburg, Paris, Tokyo