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The Luena solar PV plant in Angola’s Moxico province has been commissioned. The plant is the fourth of seven being developed by MCA Group and Sun Africa.

Petra Diamonds has signed power purchase agreements with electricity trader Etana Energy to supply its Cullinan and Finsch mines in South Africa.

The potential of Morocco’s ‘southern provinces’ to generate large amounts of solar and wind power does little for the main consumption centres much further north if the kingdom’s transmission systems can’t handle the electrons. As geopolitical perceptions shift, projects in the disputed Western Sahara to develop these renewables and transport the electricity northwards could offer opportunities for foreign investors – and France seems to have taken the bait, with an apparently significant change of policy that could lead to a major investment in HVDC connections between Dakhla and Casablanca.

Nigeria’s 19-block licensing round announced in May includes seven blocks that were last on offer in the aborted 2022 mini-bid round. The round aims to attract both local and international interest to what is mostly offshore acreage, writes James Gavin.

Senegal President Bassirou Diomaye Faye’s administration has made its inaugural round of senior energy sector appointments, following the 24 March election. The new appointments have a technocrat tinge that may reassure investors – and, indeed, underline the technocratic backgrounds of Faye and his influential Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko, both of whom were tax inspectors prior to entering politics.

A stronger sense is emerging that the federal government in Abuja is finally prioritising asset transfers, despite state-owned Nigeria National Petroleum Company (NNPC)’s opposition to key deals – notably ExxonMobil’s proposed sale of shallow water assets to Seplat Energy.

The long-awaited arrival of the Greater Tortue Ahmeyim scheme’s FPSO vessel  is welcome news for the LNG megaproject, having twice been delayed by external events.

Eco has bought a 75% stake in the offshore Block 1 acreage, which it says is on trend with other major finds including Shell's Graff discovery, but the London AIM-listed explorer has also relinquished its interest in Block 2B, where it failed to find commercial resources.

Future supply of feedstock for the 300MW West African Energy (WAE) Cap des Biches plant and the other new gas-to-power (GTP) capacity planned by state utility Société Nationale d’Electricité du Sénégal (Senelec) remains contingent on infrastructure development. The most promising source of gas is the offshore 25tcf Yakaar-Teranga (Y-T) project, now operated by US independent Kosmos Energy following BP’s exit last year.

First gas is expected next year for Tanzania’s strategic Ntorya onshore play, which should significantly boost gas supply amid surging local demand, while operator APT is bullish, pointing to the huge gas resources being developed in adjacent acreage across the Mozambican border.

The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission said international oil companies will be pressed to supply the privately-owned Dangote refinery, rather than just focusing on the export market.

The main attraction for ConocoPhillips in its $22.5bn all-share deal to buy Marathon Oil Corporation is some 2bn barrels of US oil resources, but profitable interests in natural gas fields and processing plants in Equatorial Guinea are also in play.

Yet another grid collapse in early June underscored the perilous state of Nigeria’s electricity supply industry, but the 2023 Electricity Act, the recent creation of an unbundled independent system operator and other reforms from President Tinubu’s government may augur for better days ahead, writes Marc Howard.

Voters are going to the polls earlier than expected, on 7 September, with incumbent President Abdelmadjid Tebboune as the ruling establishment’s candidate, having overcome some powerful décideur (decision-maker) factions’ doubts about his credentials to drive Algeria forwards in a second term. Able to pull the levers of presidential power, Tebboune will seek to present a record of solid first term achievement, although many of his electorate know that results have been mixed, at best, especially given the buffer of higher oil and gas prices his administration has enjoyed. Tebboune has much to prove.

Informed sources have told African Energy that West African Energy’s gas-to-power plant is expected to be commissioned around the turn of the year, but questions remain over when the natural gas feedstock will be available and whether the new Pastef administration may reassess details of the directly-awarded contract, write Waly Dione Faye and Marc Howard.