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Savannah Energy has signed share purchase agreements (SPAs) with Sinopec and its local partner Jagal to acquire the 49% remaining interest in Sinopec International Petroleum Exploration and Production Company Nigeria Ltd (Sipec). Sipec’s principal asset is a 49% non-operated stake in the Stubb Creek oil and gas field in Akwa Ibom state.

Privately-held United States junior Liberty Petroleum has signed three production-sharing agreements (PSAs) with the Somali federal government for offshore blocks 131, 190, and 206.

Sinomine Resource Group has made deals to purchase controlling interests in a copper mine in Zambia and a copper smelter in Namibia, as the Chinese mining group steps up efforts to increase the production of copper and other critical minerals in southern Africa.

The hydrocarbons-focused Africa Energy Bank’s promoters Afreximbank and the African Petroleum Producers Organisation are looking to a start-up this year for an institution with an initial capital base of $5bn.

The Zanzibari Ministry of Blue Economy and Fisheries launched its first oil and gas licensing round on 20 March. Bidders are being sought for eight offshore blocks to the east of Unguja and Pemba islands.

Eni has closed the sale of some of its Republic of Congo (RoC) upstream assets to indie Perenco. No specifics of the acreage acquired were detailed. Sale of the assets did not detract from RoC being “at the core” of its strategy, Eni said, but instead reflected a ‘refocus’ on major developments.

Climate Fund Managers has provided capital for waste-to-energy developer Bio2Watt Energy Holdings’ biogas projects in South Africa, including expansion of the 4.8MW Bronkhorstspruit plant.

The addition of 3GW of solar power generation capacity over the next two years will be the first substantial shift in Algeria’s gas-dependent energy mix in decades – and is intended as the first step in a programme to add 15GW of solar capacity by 2035 – but coming after years of false dawns, the government’s track record raises significant doubts about whether the new vision is achievable, writes John Hamilton.

The estimated $1bn EPC deal for the Banda and Tevet fields, which hold combined estimated reserves of 2.2tcf, is the first involvement by Egyptian players in Mauritania’s upstream and marks the revival of Nouakchott’s long-held plans to supply gas to its flagship Banda Duale power plant.

Some headline elements of the now ruling Parti Africain du Sénégal, pour l’Ethique et la Fraternité (Pastef les Patriotes)’s policy were presented during the election campaign, which included the following commitments:

The issue leads with Senegal, where making the most of hydrocarbon resources and tackling perceived governance abuses are among the hot dossiers at the top of incoming President Bassirou Diomaye Faye and Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko’s agenda. Policy-makers and investors need to be acutely aware that Senegal is waiting on radical change from its new Pastef government, write Waly Dione Faye and Jon Marks. African Energy also takes a closer look at Benin, where a proposal to add 300MW of solar PV would reshape the power sector if implemented. Analysis of the African Energy Live Data platform suggests a more incremental approach will be necessary given Benin’s rocky record of project implementation, alternative GTP ambitions and the sheer size of what is proposed compared to operating capacity. Power coverage includes a focus on Algeria, where the planned addition of 3GW of solar power over the next two years will be the first substantial shift in Algeria’s gas-dependent energy mix in decades – and is intended as the first step in a programme to add 15GW of solar capacity by 2035. The government’s track record, however, raises significant doubts about whether the new vision is achievable. African Energy also takes a closer look at Ghana, where the start of arrears payments by Electricity Company of Ghana has brought welcome relief for local power producers. Although Ghana’s economic recovery still hinges on the conclusion of an IMF programme and wider debt restructuring, private investors have been able to win better terms for their power projects. Upstream coverage includes analysis of Mauritania’s $1bn deal with an Egyptian consortium to develop offshore gas. African Energy’s downstream coverage and African Energy View focus on the Sudan civil war. A year after Hemedti’s RSF militia launched its campaign against the Sudan Armed Forces, there seems little incentive for either faction to back down, despite having unleashed a global-scale humanitarian crisis and destroying Khartoum. Sudan potentially faces a de facto split in a conflict that is also economically ruinous, damaging the Sudan and South Sudan oil industries, with vital work on export pipelines now impossible.

An onshore exploration block awarded on 8 February has already generated controversy after campaigning environmental group Greenpeace said Brazzaville’s award of rights in the Conkouati-Douli National Park was a violation of a 1999 presidential decree that forbade oil activity in the area.

The 14MWp Arsenal solar PV plant has been commissioned, according to French developer GreenYellow, which signed a deal with the Central Electricity Board (CEB) to develop the plant in March 2022.

Kinross’ huge solar-storage C&I project will be Mauritania’s second-largest installed PV plant when commissioned in the coming weeks.

Sudan may be on the verge of a de facto split, its infrastructure is in ruins and populations are struggling to survive a global-scale humanitarian crisis, but there is little incentive for either side to back down one year after militia leader Hemedti launched his RSF’s campaign against erstwhile ally the Sudan Armed Forces regime. While attention is focused on conflicts elsewhere, a major African country is being destroyed for personal advantage in a conflict marked by significant intervention from the wider region.