JOHANNESBURG, Aug 6 (Reuters) - Cairo-based African Export-Import Bank has committed $400 million in loans and guarantees to Mozambique's $20 billion liquefied natural gas (LNG) project, the multilateral lender said on Thursday.

Afreximbank's move follows a similar commitment for the same sum by The African Development Bank last month.

"The ... financing will be used to partially finance ... activities required to extract natural gas offshore, its transfer to onshore processing facilities and then its conversion to LNG for export ... around the world," the Afreximbank statement said.

The Mozambique LNG Area 1 Project is ranked Africa's single largest foreign direct investment to date. It will consist of two LNG trains with a total capacity of around 13 million tons per year.

French energy major Total, the operator, has secured a $14.9 billion senior debt agreement, the biggest project financing Africa has seen. (Reporting by Tim Cocks; editing by David Evans)