Cape Town — Alfajiri Energy Corporation, a Canada-based start-up operated from a private home, was selected by the Democratic Republic of Congo government to extract methane from the country's notorius "killer" Lake Kivu despite failing to meet the minimum financial requirements, Reuters wrote in an e xclusive report .

Sonia Rolley reported that the selection of  Alfajiri's bid by auction during 2022 - the first of its kind to be held in the nation based on a 2015 law meant to offer openness in the oil and gas industry - was as a result of a technical report being altered in the company's favour.

Lake Kivu holds large reserves of methane and is one of three African lakes at risk of limnic eruption, a very rare type of natural disaster involving the sudden eruption of dissolved carbon dioxide from deep lake waters creating a gas cloud capable of capable of killing wildlife, livestock, and people by asphyxiation.