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Qatar Investment Authority Invests $180 million in TechMet

The Qatari flag is seen at a park near Doha Corniche, in Doha, Qatar February 17, 2018. REUTERS/Ibraheem al Omari/File Photo
The Qatari flag is seen at a park near Doha Corniche, in Doha, Qatar February 17, 2018. REUTERS/Ibraheem al Omari/File Photo
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Qatar Investment Authority Invests $180 million in TechMet

The Qatari flag is seen at a park near Doha Corniche, in Doha, Qatar February 17, 2018. REUTERS/Ibraheem al Omari/File Photo
The Qatari flag is seen at a park near Doha Corniche, in Doha, Qatar February 17, 2018. REUTERS/Ibraheem al Omari/File Photo

Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) announced on Wednesday an initial $180 million investment in TechMet, a company focused on building businesses across the critical minerals value chain, from extraction and processing to refining and recycling.

This investment aligns with QIA’s ambition to invest in a broad range of areas in the industrial sectors such as critical minerals, which are required to advance the clean energy transition and to help address the growing demand in the global market for sustainable energy solutions, QIA said in a statement.

“We are delighted to partner with TechMet to invest in the responsible sourcing of critical minerals, which are crucial to the global green transition,” said Chief Investment Officer of Americas at QIA Mohammed Al-Sowaidi.

“This investment builds on QIA’s theme of diversified energy transition and critical minerals investments,” he added.

For his part, TechMet Founder, Chairman and CEO, Brian Menell, said: “QIA’s investment further highlights TechMet’s position as a leading global critical minerals investment company.”

In a statement, TechMet said the funds will be used to develop both its existing assets and to continue to build its portfolio with strategic projects that scale production and refining of its target critical minerals, which include lithium, nickel, cobalt and rare earths.

The announcement sees TechMet meet its $300 million fundraising target, adding to a follow-on investment from S2G Ventures, bringing their total commitment to $50 million; and an additional $50 million from the US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC).

Now valued at well over $1 billion, TechMet is one of the largest private investors in critical minerals supply chains.

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Bangladesh Garment Factories Reopen after Sheikh Hasina’s Flight

Garment factory workers break for lunch, in Dhaka on August 7, 2024 (AFP)
Garment factory workers break for lunch, in Dhaka on August 7, 2024 (AFP)
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Bangladesh Garment Factories Reopen after Sheikh Hasina’s Flight

Garment factory workers break for lunch, in Dhaka on August 7, 2024 (AFP)
Garment factory workers break for lunch, in Dhaka on August 7, 2024 (AFP)

Garment factories in Bangladesh, forecast to account for 90% of the country's exports, reopened on Wednesday hoping to swiftly resume full operations after production was disrupted by violent protests that ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina this week.

Hasina resigned and fled the country on Monday after around 300 people were killed and thousands injured in a crackdown on student-led protests since July.

Garment and textile factories which supply major western brands such as H&M, Zara and Carrefour had been forced to shut under curfews imposed during the unrest.

"We lost a total of four days, it is too early to make an estimate of the loss. There was little physical damage to factories," Miran Ali, vice president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), told Reuters.

"I am hopeful that in the next few days, we will see complete normalization," he said. "I'm confident our buyers will stand by our side."

He added that H&M, which sources garments from about 1,000 factories in Bangladesh, had already said it would not seek discounts due to the delays. The world's second largest fashion retailer had said it was concerned about developments in Bangladesh.

At a factory belonging to apparel maker Urmi Garments in Dhaka, the mainly female employees were back operating sewing machines.

"We went out of work, sitting idle at home. We were scared. We are poor people depending on daily wages and overtime. If we sit back home, how can we run our families?" 38-year old Razia Begum, an employee at the factory, told Reuters.

Factory manager Emdadul Haq said the factory had lost 228,000 pieces of production worth $107,000. In all, Urmi, which counts H&M, Japan's Uniqlo and Britain's Marks and Spencer among its clients, had lost about $2.2 million across three units, he said.

The International Monetary Fund expects the ready-made garments industry will account for 90% of Bangladesh's $55 billion annual exports in the financial year 2024.

Bangladesh was the third-largest exporter of clothing in the world last year, after China and the European Union, according to the World Trade Organization. Nearly half of its exports in the July 2023-May 2024 period were to the EU, worth $21.65 billion.