Algeria's Energy Future was launched at a half-day round-table seminar at Chatham House, London, on Wednesday 6 April.
The report was presented at the seminar by its lead authors, Jon Marks and John Hamilton, and critically assessed by Algerian and international experts. Read more
The African Energy Atlas has established itself as an indispensable resource for energy industry professionals.
The 2011 edition features more than 45 maps and charts drawn with expert care by journalist cartographer David Burles. Read more
Briefings and Reports 2
AfricaHardball is an executive dialogue that brings together policy-makers, industry leaders and analysts to discuss the key political issues affecting African markets in frank and open terms.
The next AfricaHardball roundtable will be held on 1 December in London, focusing on North Africa Read more
Briefings and Reports 3
A detailed and frank analysis of Libya’s energy sector
Published in July 2010, Libya's Energy Future provides authoritative, independently sourced analysis of Libya’s energy sector policy and history, examines the country’s governance and financial record and assesses the potential for international partners to do business with its institutions and interest groups.
On the page below you will find a selection of articles from the African Energy archive. All items preceded by a padlock symbol require a subscription.
DR Congo energy maps - link to the DR Congo page in the African Energy map library
Société Nationale d’Electricité (Snel) and the Bureau Central de Coordination (BCECO) have invited expressions of interest from consultants to diagnose and strengthen the management structure for improved operation and maintenance of the 350MW Inga I and 1,424MW Inga II hydropower projects on the Congo River.
After a period of tensions when the Kinshasa government shelved the five-nation Western Corridor (Westcor) company’s plans to deliver up to 5,000MW of power from the planned Inga III unit, the DRC and South African governments are making more positive noises about the potentials for cross-border co-operation to develop the hydroelectric megasite (AE 205/7).
The Grand Inga project has been given a fresh boost with the launch of a $14.5m feasibility study funded by the African Development Bank (AfDB). The study will be carried out by Electricité de France and New York-listed Aecom Technology Corporation’s RSW subsidiary (AE 203/6).
DRC/Region: Donors push cross-border projects while Snel struggles to provide minimal services
A new study for the pan-African Grand Inga project and efforts to launch the three-nation Ruzizi III scheme suggest that international backers still have appetite for complex schemes to exploit Central Africa’s hydropower potential. But Democratic Republic of Congo is more focused on getting power into its dilapidated grid and putting utility Snel on a sounder footing, write François Misser and Jon Marks Issue 203, 18 February 2011.more
Ruzizi donors line up
Officials from Burundi, DRC and Rwanda are expected to meet potential investors in Kigali in March to put together an estimated $500m financing package for the planned Ruzizi III HEP scheme, which would supply electricity to all three partner states.
The African Development Bank (AfDB) is close to finalising grants of UA9.69m from the African Development Fund and UA60m from the Fragile States Facility to finance Congo’s semi-urban and rural electrification project.
State comany Société Nationale d’Electricité (Snel) and India’s Kalpataru have signed a construction contract for a second high-voltage transmission line from the Inga dam to Kinshasa.
Block 5 companies put national park drilling on hold
International concern over drilling for oil in the Virunga National Park, and opposition from local lobby groups including National Assembly deputies, has encouraged the Kinshasa government to block exploration in Albertine Graben Block 5 on environmental grounds (AE 203/15).
European majors accelerate push into Great Lakes as traditional partners falter
The politics are complex and transport routes can be even more difficult than the governance, but European majors are increasingly drawn to Central African upstream plays, often working with Africa-based concerns. This is a response to the Great Lakes region’s exploration success, as well as to the growing volatility of the Maghreb and Middle East, write Thalia Griffiths and John Hamilton Issue 205, 18 March 2011.more
Virunga Park exploration sparks controversy
Controversy is growing over the award by President Joseph Kabila of an oil exploration permit in the Virunga National Park, home to some of the world’s last few mountain gorillas. But while international organisations are urging the government to protect the park, MPs from North Kivu want exploration to go ahead in the hope of bringing development cash to the region.
Virunga violence highlights continuing militia threat to IOCs’ exploration plans
Continuing violence involving renegade militias, international oil companies and their security contractors, and government forces in the Virunga National Park area of eastern Congo highlights the wider region’s chronic instability and the problems that poses for IOCs who are entering Central Africa excited by its hydrocarbons potential.
Elsewhere in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, French major Total is negotiating a farm-in on Block 3, held by South Africa’s SacOil and Divine Inspiration Group.
The presidents of Democratic Republic of Congo and Angola have agreed to establish a joint commission to delineate the maritime border, in a bid to defuse a growing row over the territory and the large quantities of oil its now produces for Angola (AE 198/13).
Tullow Oil has lost an injunction to stop two South African companies linked to President Jacob Zuma developing oil blocks in eastern Congo. Tullow was awarded rights to blocks 1 and 2 in the Albertine Graben in 2006 and paid a signature bonus, but the government subsequently reallocated the blocks. It is pursuing legal action against Kinshasa and the two British Virgin Islands-registered companies, Caprikat and Foxwhelp (AE 194/24).
After a period of tensions when the Kinshasa government shelved the five-nation Western Corridor (Westcor) company’s plans to deliver up to 5,000MW of power from the planned Inga III unit, the DRC and South African governments are making more positive noises about the potentials for cross-border co-operation to develop the hydroelectric megasite (AE 205/7).
In a first for Democratic Republic of Congo, a small community in Ibi village, on the Batéké Plateau some 150km from Kinshasa, has mobilised Clean Development Mechanism credits in a project registered under the Kyoto Protocol.
The Grand Inga project has been given a fresh boost with the launch of a $14.5m feasibility study funded by the African Development Bank (AfDB). The study will be carried out by Electricité de France and New York-listed Aecom Technology Corporation’s RSW subsidiary (AE 203/6).
DRC/Region: Donors push cross-border projects while Snel struggles to provide minimal services
A new study for the pan-African Grand Inga project and efforts to launch the three-nation Ruzizi III scheme suggest that international backers still have appetite for complex schemes to exploit Central Africa’s hydropower potential. But Democratic Republic of Congo is more focused on getting power into its dilapidated grid and putting utility Snel on a sounder footing, write François Misser and Jon Marks Issue 203, 18 February 2011.more
Ruzizi donors line up
Officials from Burundi, DRC and Rwanda are expected to meet potential investors in Kigali in March to put together an estimated $500m financing package for the planned Ruzizi III HEP scheme, which would supply electricity to all three partner states.
Controversy is growing over the award by President Joseph Kabila of an oil exploration permit in the Virunga National Park, home to some of the world’s last few mountain gorillas. But while international organisations are urging the government to protect the park, MPs from North Kivu want exploration to go ahead in the hope of bringing development cash to the region.
DRC business model will make investors pay to rebuild the country
The government in Kinshasa is looking to impose President Joseph Kabila Kabange’s vision of how the world should do business with Democratic Republic of Congo, as it struggles to work with a pitifully small state budget, substandard governance and a woeful lack of human resources to meet huge demands for everything from basic health and education services to building transport, energy and other infrastructure almost from scratch. Ministers argue that many of those companies looking to exploit DRC’s mineral resources should spend substantial sums on building physical and social infrastructure in parallel with their extraction projects.
Tullow Oil has lost an injunction to stop two South African companies linked to President Jacob Zuma developing oil blocks in eastern Congo. Tullow was awarded rights to blocks 1 and 2 in the Albertine Graben in 2006 and paid a signature bonus, but the government subsequently reallocated the blocks. It is pursuing legal action against Kinshasa and the two British Virgin Islands-registered companies, Caprikat and Foxwhelp (AE 194/24).
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