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.
The African Energy Atlas 2011 is a 60-page book, featuring more than 45 maps and charts drawn with expert care by journalist cartographer David Burles.
Having established itself among energy industry professionals as an indispensable resource, Atlas 2011 contains expanded coverage of the sector, with more maps, detailed power and renewables sections and closer scrutiny of financial trends and environmental pressures.
Readers of the 2010 Atlas included senior government officials as well as executives at oil and gas companies, power utilities, engineering firms, universities, consultants, law firms and energy regulatory bodies.
The new government of President Alpha Condé has received a good report from an International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission that visited on 10-22 November. Mission head Harry Snoek said Guinea had made good progress under its 2011 staff-monitored programme, which involves close supervision but no funding, and could move to an extended credit facility next year. more
SENEGAL
DP World opens container port extension
Dakar port has opened a new container terminal, described by Dubai-based developer DP World as West Africa’s largest and most modern. more
ANGOLA
New term at Sonangol for Vicente
The cabinet has appointed Manuel Vicente to a new three-year term as head of Sonangol, apparently putting an end to speculation that he could be about to succeed President José Eduardo dos Santos. more
LIBYA
NOC probes IOCs, blocks PSC
Post-Qadhafi Libya’s oil sector will focus on enhanced oil recovery, environmental protection and community support, National Oil Corporation (NOC) chairman Nuri Berouin has told recent visitors. more
EGYPT
Delayed BP project might not bode well for Egypt’s upcoming gas bidding round
Failure to address local environmental concerns and RWE’s divestment programme are hampering the development of gas in the West Nile Delta concessions, writes Nadine Marroushi in Cairo more
NIGERIA
Dear Goodluck, Please surprise us with a PIB that rebuilds NNPC
Will 2012 be the year when malfunctioning giant Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) is restructured as the cornerstone of an all-embracing overhaul of financing, licensing, regulation and operations in the Nigerian hydrocarbons industry? Co-ordinating minister of the economy and finance minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala believes a workable Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) can be drawn up to be re-presented to the National Assembly “soon” (AE 217/1). But “soon” in Nigerian parlance too usually means “we don’t know when” and, although President Goodluck Jonathan’s 13 December budget speech contained another call for official bodies and industry stakeholders to bring closure to the PIB (the first draft of which appeared in 2008), he did not say when and how. (Jonathan also failed to mention efforts to tackle the fuel subsidy, whose eradication is supposed to be another cornerstone of the Nigerian reform team’s platform.) more
Issue 221 - 2 December 2011
REGION
Payments perceptions in franc zone weather initial euro storms, but pressure is mounting
The escalation of the euro crisis has added to concerns about Francophone African risk, although risk perceptions and pricing remain stable for now. There has already been an impact on trade finance availability and, as the Eurozone crisis unfolds, it may become harder still to source bilateral and commercial finance, writes Kevin Godier more
African politics should not be left to the politicians
News that Grammy award-winning Senegalese musician Youssou N’Dour is formally entering politics may come as a blow to his many fans but seems like good news for Senegal’s political scene. While N’Dour has not said he will run for president next February, he is keen to step up the challenge to the status quo. President Abdoulaye Wade, officially 85 but possibly older, spent a lifetime in opposition before winning elections in 2000 and shows no inclination to step down now, while his opponents in the Parti Socialiste, the former single party, do not represent an attractive alternative, and N’Dour could offer Senegal a way of moving on from the bipolar politics of the post-independence era. more
GHANA
Oil flows boost election-year budget, but Ghana faces longer wait for gas
With oil production well under way, Ghanaians are looking to see what benefits will reach them in terms of gas supply and local content. The need for gas infrastructure is increasingly pressing, but the government’s pledge to have a processing plant up and running by end-2012 looks unlikely, writes Thalia Griffiths in Accra more
ALGERIA
‘New dawn’ beckons as Zerguine replaces Cherouati as head of Algerian hydrocarbons giant
Employees, other Algerian and international industry players are waiting to see if the new PDG can restore morale and speed up decision-making at Sonatrach, writes Jon Marks in Algiers, with John Hamilton and Oualid Khelifi more
LIBYA
Ghanem cautions against rush to new institutions
The current managers of Libya’s oil sector should not make hasty decisions about its structure, says former National Oil Corporation chairman Dr Shukri Ghanem more
DR CONGO/SOUTH AFRICA
Presidents sign Inga deal
South Africa and the Democratic Republic of Congo signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on the 40-50GW Grand Inga hydro project during a 12 November visit to Lubumbashi by President Jacob Zuma. An official statement said the MoU was signed “in the spirit of enhancing bilateral relations… with a view to contribute to alleviating energy deficit facing the two countries and the region”. more
MOROCCO
With Ouarzazate lending in place, momentum builds behind Moroccan solar breakthrough
Multilaterals lined up to voice support for Masen’s ground-breaking CSP scheme at Ouarzazate, ahead of the global climate conference in Durban. With other solar schemes also reporting progress, Morocco’s aspirations to become a leading renewables producer are moving ahead, writes Jon Marks more
SOUTH AFRICA
Another setback for South Africa refinery plans
Proposals for a refinery at Coega in the Eastern Cape have been thrown into doubt by the National Planning Commission’s lack of enthusiasm for a new refinery, writes Adrian J Browne more
Issue 220 - 18 November 2011
GOVERNANCE
EU follows Dodd-Frank with transparency proposals
The European Commission has proposed new disclosure requirements along the lines of the US Dodd-Frank Act for companies based in the European Union. The new rules would require large extractive and logging companies to report payments they make to governments, with the aim of strengthening the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), which is currently voluntary. more
ZAMBIA
Government plans $500m bond
Zambia’s new government plans to capitalise on its B+ credit rating by issuing a $500m ten-year sovereign bond next year. Presenting the 2012 budget to parliament, finance minister Alexander Chikwanda said the rating from Standard & Poor’s and Fitch “has opened up the opportunity for Zambia to diversify its external financing sources to support our commitment to improve infrastructure, particularly in the road and energy sectors. more
SOUTH AFRICA
Decision time for SA renewables bids
There have been too many false dawns as South Africa realities have failed to live up to the rhetoric of electricity supply industry liberalisation or diversification into renewables, but the 53 bids received by the Department of Energy (DoE) in the first round of bidding to build renewable power plants have raised hopes that major privately financed wind and solar projects will finally go ahead (AE 215/24, 214/7). DoE director-general Nelisiwe Magubane has emphasised that projects must be completed by 2016. more
ALGERIA
Cherouati fights for job in Algiers
There is intense speculation that further change will follow at Sonatrach, with former pipelines vice president (VP) Abdelhamid Zerguine – who now heads the Algerian state energy giant’s subsidiary in Lugano, Switzerland, said to be in line to replace unpopular president director-general (PDG) Nordine Cherouati. Sources said Cherouati had been dismissing the story as a rumour and telling people not to believe it. more
MOZAMBIQUE
Eni ‘to invest $50bn’ in Mozambique gas
It has drilled only one well, but the extent of Eni’s ambitions for its gas find in Mozambique’s Offshore Area 4 are becoming apparent, with the Italian major’s chief executive, Paolo Scaroni, telling one interviewer it could invest $50bn in developing the discovery and building infrastructure to export the gas to Asia (AE 219/15). more
Weeks ahead of DRC’s presidential election, the Senate Special Commission of Inquiry’s damning report shows the appalling extent of mismanagement at Snel since the utility’s creation, writes François Misser more
CAMEROON
WBG commits to backing Kribi GTP project
The World Bank Group (WBG) on 11 November committed $168m in loans and grants for the estimated $350m Kribi Gas Power Project, which it said was “expected to supply reliable electricity to over 160,000 households”, as well as helping to maintain operations at the Alucam smelter at Edea. more
AfDB funding for Lom Pangar
In another co-financing operation to support Cameroon’s power sector, the African Development Bank has approved a $71.1m loan to finance the Lom Pangar hydroelectric project. . more
LIBERIA
Exploration failure, election violence: Liberia faces curse of Nobel
The Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award the 2011 Peace Prize to President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, just four days before the first round of Liberia’s presidential elections, was a controversial one. In her first term, Johnson Sirleaf did a remarkable job of launching the revival of a country emerging from civil war and economic chaos, but her decision to seek a second term was controversial as she had pledged to serve just one term. more
Issue 219 - 4 November 2011
ALGERIA
Signs of a thaw as Algiers plans better terms for IOCs, moots major gas development measures
After five years of resource nationalism and three unsuccessful licensing rounds, the Algerian government may be preparing to improve commercial terms for conventional oil and gas exploration, and is looking to promote non-conventional projects, writes John Hamilton in Madrid with African Energy correspondents in Algiers. more
COTE D'IVOIRE/GHANA
Côte d’Ivoire escalates Ghana border row
Côte d’Ivoire has escalated a simmering border row with Ghana by demarcating new blocks that overlap with Ghana’s western acreage. more
NIGERIA
Nigeria seeks $50bn in foreign investment to reactivate power sector
With generation capacity finally creeping upwards, the federal government is turning to foreign investors to provide the huge sums needed to overcome crippling power shortages. But targets still remain both ambitious and insufficient, writes David Slater in Abuja more
CBN supports naira to reassure nervous investors
Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor Sanusi Lamido Sanusi used The Economist’s 20 October Nigeria Summit in Abuja to stress that the naira would not be devalued – in a move to reassure investors worried about continued instability. more
SOUTH AFRICA
World Bank funding for renewables
The World Bank board has approved $250m in funding for the Eskom Renewables Energy Support Project, to help implement the Upington concentrating solar power and Sere wind power plants. more
MOZAMBIQUE
Plans for further licensing
Mozambique is preparing a bidding round for licences on its side of Lake Niassa, and is bringing in geophysical survey specialists to assist in preparations to offer other areas, according to Instituto Nacional de Petróleo (INP) exploration manager Carlos Zacarias. more
ZAMBIA
Zambia’s populist new president targets fuel costs
President Michael Sata has made a number of promises but looks unlikely to unsettle major investors with big policy changes, though he has bravely pledged to tackle the fuel supply conundrum, writes Chiwoyu Sinyangwe in Lusaka more
EGYPT
Ministry faces payment squeeze
Economic pressures created by the ‘Arab Spring’ uprisings have squeezed payments by the Ministry of Petroleum. President Hosni Mubarak’s fall and the establishment of interim authority under the Supreme Council for the Armed Forces (SCAF) has not had a major long-term impact on production, which has returned to pre-crisis levels. more
REGIONAL
AEIF placed on hold in difficult climate
The fundraising process for the African Energy Infrastructure Fund (AEIF) has been suspended due to the global difficulties in putting together funding vehicles since the 2008 financial crisis. more
Issue 218 - 21 October 2011
UGANDA
Museveni’s opponents seize on oil issue to press for genuine change in Ugandan business
Uganda’s dynamic new parliament has hit out at the perceived lack of transparency in the oil sector, demanding full disclosure of contracts seen as controlled by the president’s inner circle. With everything from local land rights to military aircraft sales under scrutiny, the veteran president is under pressure ahead of crude production coming on stream, write Adrian J Browne and Thalia Griffiths more
Land rights controversy adds to potent mix in Uganda
The issue of land ownership is a major factor in the Ugandan oil and politics equation. During the grilling of National Resistance Movement grandees in parliament on 12 October, Buliisa MP Stephen Biraahwa Mukitale named a senior agent of the government’s Internal Security Organisation, Major Herbert Asiimwe Muramagi, as one of those accused by locals of attempting to illegally acquire land near the Taitai well in Kigorobya. more
IMF relations back on track
Normally good relations with the International Monetary Fund have been restored after a brief hiatus. The IMF had announced in February, in language dry even by its standards, that Uganda “did not complete the first review under the three-year Policy Support Instrument (PSI)”. more
LIBYA
Billions sought in Libya reparations
Hundreds of businesses, including many oil service providers, engineering and construction companies, are preparing to make billions of dollars-worth of claims against the new Libyan government for losses and damage sustained during the six-month revolution. more
ALGERIA
Authorities grind out Sonatrach affair
An Algiers court has reduced some of the remaining charges against state energy giant Sonatrach’s former president director-general (PDG) and vice presidents (VPs), suggesting that the dramatic corruption crisis is being wound down. more
GOVERNANCE
BOTSWANA: Presidential brother joins A-Cap board
Anthony Khama, son of founding president Sir Seretse Khama and younger brother of President Ian Khama, has joined the board of Australian miner A-Cap Resources’ local subsidiary A-Cap Resources Botswana more
RENEWABLES
ALGERIA: Change of tune on Desertec
Having rejected joining major cross-border initiatives to develop solar power and other renewables industries, Algiers has signalled an apparent shift in policy, with state utility Sonelgaz Holding president director-general Noureddine Bouterfa on 10 October announcing the signing of a convention with the Desertec Industrial Initiative (DII), “which defines the work process”. more
Issue 217 - 8 October 2011
MALAWI
Malawi celebrates explorer’s arrival, but challenges lie ahead
The race for the few spots of remaining unclaimed territory in the East African Rift System is gathering pace, but environmental, operational and sovereignty issues could delay progress, writes Adrian J Browne more
KENYA
Opic approves loan for Olkaria expansion
The US’ Overseas Private Investment Corporation (Opic) has approved a loan of up to $310m for Ormat Technologies to finance a project to double the generating capacity of the Olkaria III geothermal power plant. more
UGANDA
Leaked US cables reveal discussion of alleged oil corruption in Uganda
Fresh details of the machinations surrounding the sale of Heritage’s Ugandan oil acreage have emerged in the latest batch of WikiLeaks releases, writes Adrian J Browne more
NIGERIA
Nigerian government battles to push through PIB, bring oil sector finances under control
There will be opposition from across Nigerian society, but key measures to restructure the hydrocarbons industry and channel windfall oil earnings are among a raft of measures the Jonathan government expects to push through in the coming months, the country’s senior economic minister told Jon Marks in Washington more
Power projects lead infrastructure drive
Critical to better use of Nigeria’s hydrocarbons wealth are efforts to tackle infrastructure bottlenecks in power and transportation by implementing key projects. Government and Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) promises of large-scale additions to electricity generation and transmission infrastructure have consistently foundered in the face of lack of implementation, co-ordinating minister of the economy and finance minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala told African Energy. more
GUINEA
Condé looks to China to ease power woes
China is once again wooing the new Guinean government, offering badly needed power investment and a major bauxite project, writes Our Conakry Correspondent more
SOUTH AFRICA
AfDB funds Eskom renewables plan
Eskom and the African Development Bank (AfDB) signed two loan agreements totalling $365m in Washington on 25 September for the first large-scale implementation of renewable wind and solar generation in Eskom’s history. more
TUNISIA
The revolution (in transition) will be liberalised
There is speculation that Rachid Ghannouchi’s Islamist Ennahda (Renaissance) party will gain a big slice of the vote when Tunisia goes to the polls on 23 October to elect the constituent assembly that will draw up a new constitution, and that polling will be followed by significant changes in the interim government ahead of an elected administration emerging by H2 2012. more
GOVERNANCE
MALI: EITI compliant
The international board of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) has designated Mali as EITI compliant, bringing the total number of EITI compliant countries to 12, including five others in Africa. more
INVESTMENT
LIBERIA: Iron ore production
ArcelorMittal, the world’s largest steel and mining company, on 27 September started commercial iron ore production in Liberia. more
Issue 216 - 23 September 2011
NIGERIA
Muddling through is not enough if Jonathan is to win over north
Following his controversial election victory in April, Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan faces unprecedented pressure to tackle the policy failings and lapses of implementation that so many of his predecessors failed to address. more
MOROCCO
EIB considers solar funding
The European Investment Bank (EIB) is considering E300m ($410m) of financing for the Moroccan Agency for Solar Energy’s planned 500MW solar power plant at Ouarzazate. more
COTE D’IVOIRE
World Bank grants $150m post-conflict aid
The World Bank on 15 September approved a $150m International Development Association (IDA) grant to provide a rapid response to the financial crisis faced by the Ivoirian government. more
EAST AFRICA
Piracy spreads down the East African coast
The Swahili coast’s upstream petroleum industry is taking shape as pirates step up their activity in an ever wider area. The US military is playing an active role, but new offshore infrastructure is vulnerable, writes Adrian J Browne more
Namibia’s new entrants have some strange allies
In Namibia’s highly politicised resource economy, forming joint ventures with the right local partners is critical to accessing licences – but local partners can pose reputational risks. This is illustrated by the case of recent entrants Australia’s Pancontinental Oil & Gas and Texan outfit Hydrocarb Corporation, writes Our Windhoek correspondent
Libya’s interim energy administration assesses likely production
As the new regime in Tripoli establishes its authority, Libya urgently needs to restart oil production. A potentially divisive mix of old and new faces is emerging to take charge of the sector, writes John Hamilton more
NIGERIA
Shell remains committed to Nigeria following legal action and damning UN report
The environmental disaster in Ogoniland could take up to 30 years and $1bn to repair, but Royal Dutch Shell says it remains committed to its Nigerian operations despite accepting liability for its part in oil spills, writes David Slater more
Abeokuta plant gets EAIF funding
The Emerging Africa Infrastructure Fund, managed by Frontier Market Fund Managers, has provided $15m of senior secured debt to project company Tower Power Abeokuta for a 12MW gas-fired combined heat and power plant in Abeokuta, Ogun State. more
ANGOLA
Sonangol taps milestone ten-year loan
Angola’s oil parastatal has raised a $1bn ten-year loan facility backed by South Korea, marking an unprecedented tenor for one of the most regular African users of international syndicated loan markets, writes Kevin Godier more
TANZANIA
Infrastructure funding breaks new ground
Tanzania has tapped a seven-year commercial $250m loan to fund new infrastructure projects, signing off on the deal on 8 August with a consortium of local and global banks led by Stanbic Bank Tanzania and parent company Standard Bank Group of South Africa. Finance minister Mustafa Mkulo said the loan would be deployed “especially in the areas of power and roads”, but did not give details. more
RWANDA
ContourGlobal signs KivuWatt loan facility
US power developer ContourGlobal has signed agreements for a $91.25m loan facility for phase I of the KivuWatt project to turn Lake Kivu’s methane into power (AE 209/8). more
DR CONGO
Power cuts trigger Snel reshuffle
President Joseph Kabila ordered a complete reshuffle at the top of Société Nationale d’Electricité (Snel) on 20 August, following power cuts caused by the lowest water levels for a century in the Congo River. more
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