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The US Exim Bank has re-approved a $4.7bn loan to operator TotalEnergies for the Mozambique LNG project in Cabo Delgado. Seen as a vital step for resuming the megaproject, which has been under force majeure for four years, the decision is also likely a fillip for the neighbouring, ExxonMobil-operated Rovuma LNG play.

Uganda has earmarked $43m for early-stage exploration at two new Great Rift Valley sites thought to be prospective for geothermal power.  The Kampala government has said it is keen to diversify its energy portfolio and reduce its reliance on hydroelectric power (HEP) resources.

Africa Power Services (APS) has provided African Energy with an update on the progress of the HFO-fired plant it is building for Mauritanian parastatal Société Nationale Industrielle et Minière de Mauritanie (Snim)’s iron ore operations in Zouérate. Snim operates its own regional grid, supplying power for its industrial needs and retail customers, and is also working on a 12MWp solar PV plant nearby.

Nigerian independent Seplat Energy has announced $320m of new investment this year as it bids to double production to 140,000 b/d, following its acquisition of ExxonMobil’s Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited (MPNU). Previously an onshore operator, Seplat, which posted an almost doubling of profits in 2024, has gained significant offshore capacity through the completion of the MPNU deal.

The new NDC administration is promising a radical shake-up of Ghanaian institutions and spending, including another stab at electricity sector privatisation – in an attempt to carry through what John Mahama promised when he was last president, a decade ago. Delivering meaningful reform will provide an even greater challenge now than it did for his last government, writes Jon Marks.

Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation (TPDC) is expected to shortly announce the winner of the EPC tender for the 30km Ntorya- Madimba spur pipeline that will take gas from the Ruvuma PSA to the existing processing and pumping station.

Empower New Energy has signed a 12-year PPA for two rooftop solar PV plants that will supply manufacturing and logistics firm Saray Immo.

With a presidential election due in which ‘transition president’ Brigadier General Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema now says he will stand, oil and gas players are keeping a close watch on political developments – not least after last year’s pre-emption of 48,000 b/d of producing assets by the state-owned GOC – but indies are nonetheless optimistic, with large new capital commitments going into new discoveries, infrastructure and major new gas plays, writes James Gavin.

Climate Fund Managers has invested $3.1m in a 30MW waste-to-energy IPP in Freetown that it will co-develop with Infinitum Energy Group. The project would generate renewable dispatchable energy while helping tackle the capital’s waste management difficulties.

The 5 March arrest of petroleum minister Puot Kang Chol, along with other senior allies of First Vice President Riek Macha, has raised tensions in Juba and provoked questions about the country’s seven-year peace settlement.

The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) licensed 143 private power projects totalling 1.1GW in capacity during the third quarter of 2024. Nersa said that the quarterly statistics demonstrated “the ongoing transition towards commercial energy generation” in South Africa.

The Pastef party was handed a thumping parliamentary majority by Senegalese voters late last year, to add to its control of the presidency. Many see 2025 as the year that President Bassirou Diomaye Faye and Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko must make good on their reforming promises, writes Wale Dione Faye in Dakar.

Output at the Chinese-built 183MW Isimbi hydroelectric power plant has returned to full capacity after emergency repairs. But outstanding structural defects could cost a further $150m to remedy and has led to strains between Kampala and contractor China International Water and Electric Corporation, writes Our Kampala Correspondent.

With the full takeover of Nigeria’s Prime Oil & Gas, Vancouver-headquartered Africa Oil Corporation is looking to accrue strategic benefits from an enhanced position in West Africa, at a time when its exposure to offshore assets in Namibia has been pared back.

The Emerging Africa & Asia Infrastructure Fund (Eaaif) has agreed to provide $45m of debt to CrossBoundary Energy (CBE). It forms part of a wider $300m debt raise by the pan-African C&I power specialist, which hopes to develop a $500m portfolio by 2027.