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.
Chinese telecoms company’s palm oil scheme gives substance to DRC biofuels ambitions
International and local investors are planning a range of projects to harness DRC’s palm oil potential, writes François Misser. Issue 128, 14 December 2007.more
EU funds Ruzizi River studies
The European Union has agreed to provide E2.8m ($4m) to finance studies of the proposed 82MW Ruzizi 3 and 205MW Ruzizi 4 hydropower projects on the Ruzizi River between Rwanda and Democratic Republic of Congo. Issue 127, 30 November 2007.more
Australian giant offers commitment to Inga III as mining ventures lead DRC developments
BHP has confirmed it needs 2,000MW for its planned aluminium smelter, and will pay for Inga III studies and potentially more to get it, but Snel can boast power projects of all sides being supported by international mining companies. Issue 125, 2 November 2007.more
Surestream seeks Ndunda partner
Surestream Petroleum has retained US financial house Nanes Delorme Capital Management as its advisor for the selection of a partner to take up to 40% in the onshore Ndunda block. Issue 125, 2 November 2007.more
Chinese ‘Marshall plan’ taps into DR Congo’s resource base
China’s $5.5bn roads-for-minerals deal seems to offer a lifeline to Joseph Kabila’s cash-strapped government, and the shock news is that there will be much more to come as Beijing takes over the DRC president’s ‘cinq chantiers’, writes Jon Marks in Kinshasa. Issue 124, 19 October 2007.more
MagIndustries lines up Congo-B financing, Inga II refurb
TSX Venture Exchange-listed MagIndustries Corporation is finalising a syndicated loan package for its $600m Kouilou potash project in Republic of Congo (Brazzaville), part of the ambitious Canadian firm’s plans to become a player in Central African resources industries, which have also seen it taking a high-profile role in rehabilitating Democratic Republic of Congo’s archaic Inga Falls generation equipment (AE 118/10). Issue 124, 19 October 2007.more
Snel sets out HPP stall
Société Nationale de l’Electricité’s new management, under Yengo Massampu, is keen to get more hydropower projects off the ground, with the Inga I and II generation units on their last legs and most of Democratic Republic of Congo’s other power infrastructure working either gravely below capacity or out of action altogether (AE 116/10). Issue 124, 19 October 2007.more
Banro studies HDP projects
Canadian gold miner Banro Corporation has completed a preliminary economic assessment of its Namoya gold project, which would include a proposed hydropower project, sited in the eastern province of Maniema. Issue 119, 27 July 2007.more
Mag sees end-year for Busanga studies, 2008 for Zongo II
MagEnergy, which has grabbed a leading role in the Inga I and II redevelopment projects and has plans for other schemes in DRC, expects that a bankable feasibility and environmental impact studies for its potential 300MW Busanga hydroelectric site in the Katanga region. Issue 118, 13 July 2007.more
Snel CEO sent packing
The parastatal sector is getting to grips with new senior management following the sackings of senior management by the new government, which included the heads of DRC’s water and electricity companies, Regideso and Société Nationale d’Electricité (Snel). Issue 116, 15 June 2007.more
DRC/Angola: Infrastructure plans
DR Congo Planning Minister Olivier Kamitatu Etsu and Angolan Public Works Minister General Higino Lopes Carneiro held talks on 23 May in the Angolan town of Soyo on a wish-list of infrastructure projects envisaged by Luanda, as President José Eduardo dos Santos’ regime seeks to get closer to DRC and its resources, while also securing its northern regions. Issue 115, 1 June 2007.more
World Bank approves $296.7m grant for Inga rehab, grid work
The World Bank board on 29 May approved a grant of $296.7m for rehabilitation of the Inga 1 and 2 power plants, construction of a second transmission line to Kinshasa and the rehabilitation and extension of the distribution network in the capital. Issue 115, 1 June 2007.more
Transmission tender for SAPP
The government has issued tenders for rehabilitation and construction work under the Southern African Power Market Project. The government has obtained $178m from the World Bank to finance its part of the project, which aims to increase the capacity of the transmission corridor from the DRC to the Southern African Power Pool (AE 81/10). Issue 114, 18 May 2007.more
EC tenders for Ruzizi III study
The European Commission is inviting bids for preliminary studies on development of the Ruzizi III hydro site on the Ruzizi River and further development of regional energy potential in the Economic Community of the Great Lakes Countries. Issue 113, 4 May 2007.more
It’s not easy going as DRC investors look to peace dividend, but IOCs could yet make progress
The defeat of Jean-Pierre Bemba has strengthened President Joseph Kabila’s position, but has done little to boost business confidence. Investors are looking to see how the government will handle the minerals contracts concluded under previous administrations, but at least hydrocarbons agreements seem less controversial than mining deals, writes François Misser. Issue 113, 4 May 2007.more
MagEnergy wins option to develop Zongo II HDP
Little known outside Central Africa, Canada’s MagEnergy Corporation has added another DRC project to its portfolio by signing an agreement to develop the Zongo II hydroelectric site on the Inkisi River, 80km south-west of Kinshasa. The site – the subject of previous technical studies – is thought able to produce 100MW-130MW, adjacent to the existing but outdated 80MW Zongo I HDP facility. Issue 110, 8 March 2007.more
Inga Falls: so close to the SAPP, so far from rehabilitation
Multilaterals are keen to fund the mega-hydropower resource, but DRC officials complain that their interest is not yet being converted into concrete help for Inga’s rehabilitation, François Misser reports from Kinshasa. Issue 109, 23 February 2007.more
The new DRC government’s energy agenda
President Joseph Kabila’s new government, formed on 5 February, must address a host of urgent issues, including reviving the energy sector. The Ministry of Energy has been divided into two portfolios – Energy and Hydrocarbons – in a reshuffle where plenty of other portfolios were split up to create a 60-member government under far-from-sprightly octogenarian Antoine Gizenga. Issue 109, 23 February 2007.more
Ruzizi I contract
The government is seeking bids for the rehabilitation of the Ruzizi I hydro plant at Bukavu, to improve supply to the eastern towns of Bukavu and Goma. Issue 106, January 2007.more
Tullow Oil plc has signed a production-sharing agreement for Blocks 1 and 2 in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, which together with the takeover of Hardman Resources will put it in control of exploration throughout the Albertine Rift basin. Issue 103, October 2006.more
Alstom bids for Inga, sees wider hydro potential
The lure of DR Congo’s giant Inga project is becoming stronger for major players. Alstom is among the companies planning to bid for the rehabilitation of four 178MW turbines at the Inga II power station, when tenders are launched – which is expected within the next few weeks, so the first rehabilitated turbine can come onstream in Q1 2008. Issue 100, July 2006.more
MagEnergy digs in
The TSX Venture Exchange-listed MagIndustries Corporation is spreading its net ever wider in the Congo region. In May, it announced the signing of an agreement with the DRC’s Ministry of Energy to develop the Busanga hydroelectric site on the Lualaba river in Katanga province. Issue 100, July 2006.more
Report urges gas extraction to prevent fatal eruption
A report on the stability of Lake Kivu from a committee of US academics and Danish engineers gives a compelling new argument for exploiting the lake’s methane by arguing that otherwise it could cause a catastrophic eruption. Issue 100, July 2006.more
Pre-election DRC remembers rural electrification
Snel’s new masterplan focuses on rural electrification, as well as Inga’s development, but regulation and financial hurdles remain before the DRC can come anywhere near fulfilling its ambitions, writes François Misser. Issue 99, June 2006.more
West coast oil update – Angola-DR Congo
Eni’s offer of $902m for the relinquished parts of Block 15 shows that offshore Angola and other choice spots still have plenty of potential a decade after the start of the Gulf of Guinea oil boom. The areas in this table are long-established oil provinces, but they are still attracting strong interest, both from established majors and from a new generation of ambitious juniors and powerful national oil companies. There is also the prospect of an upturn in the E&P fortunes of mineral-rich Democratic Republic of Congo. Issue 98, May 2006.more
Inga and beyond: it’s time to think again about Congo
The politics remain difficult and the social situation catastrophic for millions of Congolese, but so richly endowed with resources, including the massive Inga hydro asset, DRC remains a lure for the mining and energy companies looking for a new institutional framework to create a more stable, investor-friendly environment, writes François Misser. Issue 97, April 2006.more
Mining projects add credibility of Inga’s rehab and expansion
Given the problems that several of its government shareholders would have in raising finance, implementation of the 3,500MW Western Corridor (Inga III) project was never going to be easy – and such problems will be magnified tenfold if the ‘holy grail’ of African energy, the estimated 40,000MW Grand Inga scheme, is ever to go ahead. But the likelihood of mega-projects in Democratic Republic of Congo gets ever greater as more potential offtakers are lined up, in a Southern African Power Pool (SAPP) region facing shortfalls in supply as South Africa focuses on meeting its fast-growing domestic demand (AE 93/8, 92/1). Issue 96, March 2006.more
EU funding for power and gas projects sends positive signal
The European Development Fund (EDF) is to finance a E50m ($60.5m) programme of support to the Economic Community of the Great Lakes States, better known under its French acronym CEPGL. The EDF funding’s energy component aims to help Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda to address their electricity supply problems and reduce the risk to life from earthquakes or the escape of methane gas from Lake Kivu. Issue 95, February 2006.more
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