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 links preceded by a padlock symbol require a subscription.
There are more conflicting noises emerging from central and southern Africa about the next phase of the Inga dam development. According to the multinational Western Corridor (Westcor) company, after a hiccup as Société Nationale d’Electricité (Snel) flirted with BHP Billiton as anchor offtaker/investor, its project to take electricity from Democratic Republic of Congo into the Southern Africa Power Pool area is back on. Issue 175, 27 November 2009.more
Surestream expands in Great Lakes as companies weigh up Rift potentials
UK private company Surestream Petroleum has just been awarded Burundi Block B, on the north-east side of Lake Tanganyika, in addition to Block D which it already holds. Issue 174, 13 November 2009.more
DR Congo’s new hydrocarbons law aims for greater clarity
Legislation currently before parliament aims to bring greater clarity to a licensing process regarded as opaque and overly dependent on the president, writes Jon Marks, recently in Kinshasa. Issue 173, 30 October 2009.more
Partner sought to revive Socir
Moribund refiner La Société Congolaise des Industries de Raffinage (Socir) is seeking an international partner to support the Muanda-based refinery’s rehabilitation. A 50/50 joint venture between the Congolese state and international trader Glencore, Socir has nominal 75,000t/yr capacity, but shut its doors in the early 1990s as the country slid into crisis. Issue 173, 30 October 2009.more
DRC seeks more from investors and donors to emerge from ‘decades of lethargy’
Seeking to renegotiate mining contracts and use external funds the way it wants, President Kabila’s government has upset western donors and investors, while SADC neighbours are frustrated at the failure of plans to tap Inga’s hydroelectric resource. In a series of articles below, Jon Marks reports from Kinshasa that major new power projects and an oil and gas licensing round are planned, but investors will need watertight guarantees to persuade them Congo really is open for business. Issue 172, 16 October 2009.more
Power promoters look for bankable PPPs
Parastatal Société Nationale d’Electricité (Snel) is in a parlous financial condition and a majority of vital projects remain on the drawing board, but Kinshasa seems determined to pursue its national interest in structuring how Democratic Republic of Congo’s huge hydroelectric potential is used. Issue 172, 16 October 2009.more
Radical reform doesn’t mean privatisation
Criticism in the local press and among officials and trade unions of State Assets (Portefeuille) Minister Jeannine Mabunda Lioko Mudiayi shows the arch reformer in President Joseph Kabila Kabange’s government coming under a range of pressures as parastatals struggle to meet her stringent demands for reform, which are strongly backed by the International Monetary Fund and World Bank Group (AE 166/24). Issue 172, 16 October 2009.more
Upstream licensing round, block awards wait on Kabila
The launch of a licensing round offering oil and gas exploration blocks in the untapped Cuvette Centrale (Central Basin) needs presidential approval and may have to wait for the new hydrocarbons law now before parliament, Hydrocarbons Vice Minister Professor Gustave Beya Siku told African Energy. Issue 172, 16 October 2009.more
Angolan tensions complicate offshore plans
Relations between Angola and Democratic Republic of Congo have deteriorated following the tit-for-tat expulsion of Angolan and Congolese nationals who have, until recent crackdowns, generally been allowed to live in border regions. Issue 172, 16 October 2009.more
Mag fights on with Chinese backing
Toronto Stock Exchange-listed MagIndustries is finalising the entry into its capital of China’s Sinohydro Corporation, which is to take a 52.7% stake in the company. It will give Sinohydro a stake in the Canadian group’s Kouilou potash project, eucalyptus plantations and other assets in Republic of Congo (Brazzaville). It could also give essential impetus for the MagEnergy subsidiary’s projects in Democratic Republic of Congo, where its privately funded contract to rehabilitate turbines at Société Nationale d’Electricité (Snel)’s aged Inga II facility is mired in disputes with the government. Issue 172, 16 October 2009.more
Fund to buy CO2 credits from reforestation project
After several years of negotiations, an Emissions Reductions Purchase Agreement for 500,000 tonnes of carbon has been signed by the World Bank’s BioCarbon Fund and the director general of Congolese private company Novacel, Olivier Mushiete. Issue 172, 16 October 2009.more
DRC-Rwanda: Entente cordiale boosts joint energy projects in explosive Lake Kivu region
A spectacular improvement in relations between DRC and Rwanda is paving the way for the much-anticipated development of regional energy projects, writes François Misser with Jon Marks Issue 169, 4 September 2009.more
Some progress and much talk about DRC projects
In Kinshasa, Public Works, Infrastructure and Reconstruction Minister Pierre Lumbi Okongo has announced that the 28MW Ruzizi I power station will be rehabilitated by the end of this year. Meanwhile, despite continued doubts about the future of some mining contracts, work continues to bring power to major mining schemes. Issue 169, 4 September 2009.more
Ruzizi III tenders could be launched by early 2010
Tenders for the construction of the 129-145MW Ruzizi III hydropower dam could be launched by year-end or early in 2010, write François Misser, and Jon Marks in Bordeaux. Issue 166, 3 July 2009.more
Westcor has failed, but DRC still dreams of Grand Inga and privatisation
After years of talk, the five governments supporting the Western Corridor (Westcor) project – Angola, Botswana, Democratic Republic of Congo, Namibia, and South Africa – have decided to shelve the scheme to provide electricity from the planned 3,500MW Inga III to the Southern African Power Pool (SAPP). Issue 166, 3 July 2009.more
Downstream update – West and Central Africa’s plentiful crude supply doesn’t mean big profits
West and Central African states have no shortage of refinery projects, but access to crude oil alone is not enough to make a refinery economic, as producing states like Nigeria and Republic of Congo can testify. Issue 166, 3 July 2009.more
Power pools in bullish mood, have yet to prove they can improve the sub-Saharan supply mix
Africa’s power pools are talking up their potential to endow the continent with a larger, more rational electricity supply infrastructure. A number of projects now under way or set for launch signal progress, but there are still too few regional integration schemes making any significant impact, writes Jon Marks. Issue 165, 19 June 2009.more
DRC’s top teams in turmoil as government presses for energy sector privatisation at breakneck pace
Can the government’s Decree 09/11 really deliver key parastatals for privatisation? The government has set an ambitious timetable for Snel and other ailing companies to be prepared for market, while also drawing up a new electricity law, and writing legislation that requires new regulators and other institutions. Officials in Kinshasa are bemused, write François Misser and Jon Marks. Issue 163, 22 May 2009.more
New hydrocarbons law adds standard contract
An early draft of a new hydrocarbons law was presented in late March by senator Fidèle Sulubika, but still awaits amendments to include elements drawn from the legislation of other African countries such as Angola, Nigeria and Algeria. Issue 163, 22 May 2009.more
EnerGulf contracts Chinese for Lotshi seismic
EnerGulf Resources has signed a contract with China National Administration of Research Institute of Coal Geophysical Exploration (CGE) to acquire 2D seismic on its Lotshi Block in western Congo (AE 157/18). Issue 162, 8 May 2009.more
Step forward for Chinese in DR Congo as Sinohydro signs MoU for Zongo II HPP
Kinshasa’s agreement with China for Sinohydro to build the Zongo II hydroelectric power project represents a significant step forward in implementing Beijing’s commitments to install infrastructure in return for access to natural resources. The deal presents a new challenge to developer MagEnergy, which has withdrawn Zongo II from its list of planned projects in DRC, write François Misser and Jon Marks. Issue 161, 24 April 2009.more
Mag battles on with Inga and Busanga, bullish on Congo-B
Its MagEnergy Inc subsidiary has “found the Democratic Republic of Congo to be a very challenging investment environment,” TSX Venture Exchange-listed MagIndustries Corporation president and chief executive William Burton told the ambitious Canadian company’s first ever investor conference call, on 17 April. But Mag is pushing on with its Inga II refurbishment work, talks to finalise contracts – originally initialled in September 2005 – for work on four more Inga II generators and plans to build a 250MW hydropower dam at Busanga in Katanga (AE 146/5-9). Issue 161, 24 April 2009.more
Minister says Tullow will get Lake Albert stakes
New oil minister Rene Isekemanga Nkeka has said Tullow Oil will get a stake in two blocks on the Congolese side of Lake Albert. Issue 160, 3 April 2009.more
DRC focus for donors-vs-PRC standoff
Democratic Republic of Congo is at the centre of an increasing and uneasy stand-off that ostensibly pits the People’s Republic of China’s $9bn minerals-for-infrastructure contract against the IMF-led donor community’s estimated $7bn Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative deal. Issue 157, 20 February 2009.more
EnerGulf signs JOA for Lotshi
Houston and Vancouver-based EnerGulf Resources says it has signed a joint operating agreement with the state Congolaise des Hydrocarbures (Cohydro), setting out the terms for EnerGulf, as operator, to manage exploration activities on the onshore Lotshi Block. Issue 157, 20 February 2009.more
Snel’s export earnings the target as US ‘vulture fund’ seeks out accommodating jurisdictions
A US ‘vulture fund’ is targeting Eskom’s payments to Snel for its power supply in another bid to recover 20-year-old debt from the beleaguered Congolese parastatal. Issue 155, 23 January 2009.more
IDA grant heralds utility reform
The World Bank Group has approved a $190m International Development Association grant for an urban water supply project, paving the way for major reforms at water utility Regideso, which from H2 09 could be operated by a private contractor under a management contract. The settlement of outstanding obligations in Regideso’s restructuring could also help troubled state power company Société Nationale d’Electricité (Snel) to balance its books. Issue 154, 9 January 2009. more
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