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Prospects for the regional electricity supply industry and West African power trading took a huge leap forward when two major networks interconnected at Linsan in Guinea. Much work remains to be done after the 2 April link-up, but the OMVG-CLSG interconnection points to a more positive direction of travel for a West African Power Pool that is starting to excite market interest.

The strongmen in charge of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger plan to quit the regional Ecowas bloc, as Russia further enhances its military/business relationship with the Sahel troika and Central African Republic. While Niger believes its oil production could increase fivefold as its export pipeline to Benin starts up, and the Sahel states made significant progress in developing solar generation capacity in 2023, shifting political sands mean the largely western-funded PV boom is unlikely to be repeated, and the focus of China and others on resources plays leaves a big gap in international support for other sectors, writes Marc Howard.

Security is swiftly deteriorating in Mali, with security forces and their allies from the Russian Wagner mercenary group struggling to contain the jihadist insurgency and renewed attacks from a coalition of Tuareg-dominated northern separatist groups. The rapid escalation is reflected in Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (Acled) data, which shows 206 fatalities from armed conflict or political violence from 1-20 October alone.

Russian state-owned nuclear power company Rosatom has signed an agreement with the Malian government to cooperate on “peaceful uses of atomic energy”. Following Colonel Assimi Goïta’s seizure of power in August 2020, Moscow has been a strong backer of the regime, as demonstrated by its scuppering of an United Nations Security Council resolution in August that would have renewed sanctions on Bamako.

Australian Securities Exchange (ASX)-listed Leo Lithium said on 14 September it had agreed a deal that will see China’s Ganfeng Lithium Group fund $137.2m of costs at the Goulamina joint venture (JV) in exchange for an extra 5% stake in project vehicle Mali Lithium BV (MLBV).

The National Assembly on 8 August approved a revised mining code that allows the government to take a 10% free carried interest in projects and a further 20% within two years of commercial operations starting.

London AIM-listed Kodal Minerals said on 3 August that it had received a $3.5m prepayment for its Bougouni lithium project from China’s Hainan Mining.

Russia has strongly backed the anti-western, populist regimes in Mali and Burkina Faso through its mercenary Wagner Group, which has also established itself as a force in Central African Republic (CAR) and Sudan.

Wagner Group head Yevgeny Prigozhin was reported telling his fighters in Belarus on 19 July that they would take no further part in Moscow’s war in Ukraine, but they must ready themselves for “a new journey to Africa”. A consequence for the Russian militia’s operations from Prigozhin’s failed march on Moscow in June would seem to be that President Vladimir Putin’s useful, if volatile proxy, does a pivot to Africa, where it is already a substantial force.

Gulf governments have proved among President Vladimir Putin’s most enthusiastic friends, undermining western efforts to isolate Moscow in a relationship that goes beyond energy and business links. With the mercenary Wagner Group active across the Sahel, several dozen cargo flights between Abu Dhabi and a remote air strip in eastern Chad have provoked renewed speculation about the UAE’s ties with Moscow and its proxies, Gulf States Newsletter staff* report.

Leo Lithium requested a voluntary ASX suspension on 20 July, as it waited for correspondence from the Malian government over exports from its Goulamina project, amid speculation over a possible block on direct shipping ore, write Waly Dione Faye and Marc Howard.

Australia Securities Exchange (ASX)-listed Leo Lithium has produced its first direct shipping ore (DSO) from its Goulamina lithium joint venture with China’s Ganfeng Lithium Group.

The 100MW Sirakoro heavy fuel oil (HFO) plant has been connected to Energie du Mali (EdM)’s grid, according to Lebanese engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contractor Matelec.

Australian-listed Leo Lithium and joint venture partner China’s Ganfeng Lithium have acquired two further licence areas adjacent to their Goulamina project’s existing concession. The project's initial definitive feasibility study envisaged a 15MW on-site diesel or liquefied natural gas (LNG) power plant under a build-own-operate structure. In April, Leo said a tender for power supply had been released by the JV.

A 600kW gas-fired power plant developed by Genesis Energy has started operating at the Malian Cashew Corporation’s factory in Diatoula, south of the capital Bamako.