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A solar PV and battery energy storage plant has been commissioned at Danzi, 18km north-west of the capital Bangui, according to the World Bank Group. The plant is a significant addition to CAR’s under-developed grid, which had a total of 49.65MW online prior to Danzi’s commissioning, according to African Energy Live Data. During the Danzi commissioning ceremony, President Faustin Archange Touadera lamented “the lack of investment over the past 40 years” in CAR’s electricity industry. The lack of interest among private and foreign investors is not surprising, given CAR’s long-running civil war and poor governance.

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.

The continent’s main crude grades are finding themselves priced out of the largest Asian markets including China and India, although in the longer term there may be a way for African players to benefit from the advent of cheaper Russian supplies.

The World Bank Group (WBG) has tendered for a consultant to carry out preliminary studies for a 15MW solar PV plant in Danzi. The work – scheduled to take four months – is funded by the WBG’s concessional International Development Association through the Avance de Préparation du Projet d’Amélioration et de Renforcement du Secteur de l’Electricité (Parse). The power will be sold to the capital Bangui. For further details visit the WBG website.

Work has started at the 25MWp Bangui solar PV and battery plant, the World Bank Group (WBG)’s Boris Ngouagouni told African Energy.

The 10MW Bangui Diesel II plant was completed this month, Tunisia’s Tragedel told African Energy. The plant was proposed in 2015 as part of the Ministry of Economy, Planning and Co-operation's medium-term 2016-30 investment programme as an additional plant to supplement the existing 6MW Bangui Diesel I.

Construction will start at the 25MWp Bangui Solar PV plant, which includes 25MWh of battery storage, in April, and commercial operations are expected in June 2022, the World Bank Group (WBG)’s Boris Ngouagouni told African Energy. Ngouagouni said Covid-19 had not significantly delayed the project. The WBG signed an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract with China’s Shanxi Construction Investment Group Company in December.

Construction will begin this month at the 25MWp Bangui solar PV plant, which includes a 25MWh battery system, in the Central African Republic

Tunis-based power engineering group Tragedel has contracted UK-based Clarke Energy to supply four 2.5MW heavy-duty diesel generators for a 10MW plant in Bangui. The four Kohler-SDMO KD3500-F gensets will provide baseload or peaking power to Energie Centrafricaine, Clarke Energy said on 29 November.

The Ministry of Public Works and Road Maintenance is seeking expressions of interest from consultants for a rural electrification study and development of an investment plan.

Procurement for a contractor to design, supply and install a 25MW solar power plant with 25MWh battery storage in the Central African Republic is under way and construction is expected to begin during Q4 2019, the World Bank Group (WBG) has confirmed to African Energy. The Bangui solar photovoltaic (PV) project is being fully funded by a $48m grant from the WBG’s International Development Association.

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is seeking a consultant to prepare a feasibility study, detailed preliminary design and technical documents for the development of four micro-hydropower plants to supply mini-grids. Proposals are due by 12 June. The projects are located at Mbeko in Mbaïki and Gbassem in Boda, both in the Lobaye prefecture; Gamboula-Kadéi in Gamboula, in the Mambéré Kadei prefecture, and Baïdou in Bambari, in the Ouaka prefecture.

One region seems above all others to stubbornly buck the positive political and economic trends recorded over two decades by African Energy: it comprises the six Communauté Economique et Monétaire de l’Afrique Centrale (Cemac) countries and Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Events in the last month, including a failed coup in Gabon and contested elections in DRC, underline Central Africa’s chronic crisis of leadership. Such political behaviours are increasingly seen as an anachronism in a world structured by social media, as well as by older social bonds and traditional patterns of coercion by elites.