KEFI, the AIM-listed gold and copper developer with operations across Ethiopia and Saudi Arabia, said it expects to begin full development of its flagship Tulu Kapi gold project by the end of 2025, following key milestones in financing and government engagement.

The announcement came as Harry Anagnostaras-Adams, KEFI’s executive chair, outlined the long-awaited project’s status at the MINTEX Ethiopia conference on 16 November. Addressing an audience that included Mines Minister Habtamu Tegegne, lenders, investors and senior representatives from Tulu Kapi Gold Mines S.C. (TKGM), Anagnostaras-Adams described the initiative as part of the broader take-off of Ethiopia’s minerals sector.

According to the company, the project’s budget of about $340mn has now been finalised, with lenders approving the $240mn debt portion. KEFI has also received equity commitments exceeding the remaining $100mn required.

With the funding framework largely in place, the company outlined a tight sequence of remaining tasks: a week to refine the equity capital structure, followed by another week to complete definitive financing documentation; mechanisms to allow Ethiopian public- and private-sector investors to participate in local currency; and preparatory work for a future stock-exchange listing of KEFI Minerals Ethiopia. The syndicate is also seeking to deepen backing from specialist international mining financiers.

KEFI said it would assess the possibility of allocating any excess local capital to accelerate longer-term development initiatives in the Tulu Kapi region, including underground mine planning, exploration programmes and community-focused investment.

These commitments were captured in a Memorandum of Intent signed by TKGM in the presence of federal and regional government representatives, lenders, Ethiopia’s and Oromia’s sovereign funds, principal local contractors and the Tulu Kapi Charitable Endowment Fund.

Development activity is set to ramp up immediately, with early work on community housing and project-related plant and infrastructure slated to begin ahead of the full launch.

Below is a short interview with former Exec Chairman Harry Amagnostoras-Adams, filmed in ealy 2025, in which he outlines the potential of their gold projects