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Nearly all of South Africa’s climate finance is being provided from local sources, while inflows from international funders remain very low, a new Presidential Climate Commission report shows. While more funds have flowed into Africa’s largest greenhouse gas emitter in recent years, these resources remain insufficient compared to the extent of the actions required to adapt and mitigate the impacts of climate change.

Rio Tinto said it expects first production from the Simandou iron ore development in 2025 and that regulatory approvals are “imminent”, as it revealed details of the $11.6bn costs its Simfer joint venture has committed to develop blocks 3 and 4 and the joint Simandou infrastructure development. The mining major also confirmed what markets knew: that China’s Baowu had taken a big stake in Simandou blocks 1 and 2.

The UAE has had to deal with some unwelcome scrutiny of its energy strategy after the COP28 climate conference opened in Dubai on 30 November. Observers had long warned that holding such an event in the world’s seventh largest oil producer was likely to lead to friction and so it has proved. African Energy’s sister publication Gulf States Newsletter (GSN) gives a view from the region, including a roundup of the big pledges made in a ‘transactional’ first week.

Although Zambian consumers take up the bulk of locally-generated power, state utility Zesco is looking to maintain a ‘healthy’ relationship with external electricity buyers, which include Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe and mineral-rich Democratic Republic of Congo.

State-owned utility Zesco is looking for a new renewable energy contractor, having put on hold a 2.4GW solar PV development with China’s CiEG. Work on other projects is continuing, but this is a difficult period for Zambia, which has still to implement its multilateral debt deal amid a lack of foreign currency and financing, writes Chiwoyu Sinyangwe in Lusaka.

In a recent conversation, an independent power producer (IPP) told African Energy that its southern African utility client has been paying for its electricity “more or less on time”. The problem was those payments were being made in a local currency that cannot be exchanged as “the central bank has no money”. The IPP could turn to international arbitration to try and enforce its contract terms, “but what’s the use of that,” the executive asks, “when there’s nothing to be had?”

At a COP28 signing ceremony, Dubai-headquartered Amea Power announced what promises to be the Horn of Africa’s largest ever wind development – in a country where private project development has proved highly problematic.

Golar LNG has been bullish in outlining its regional expectations for floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG), saying on 21 November that West Africa’s estimated 240tcf gas reserves and “proximity to all major demand centres” gave it a competitive advantage over other gas-exporting regions.

War-torn but entrepreneurial Somalia is edging back towards normality, at last securing membership of the East African Community and reporting some progress in tackling Al-Shabaab militants. The government also has longer-term ambitions to exploit ample renewable energy potential and offshore oil and gas resources, writes Dominic Dudley.

Kenya Electricity Generation Company (KenGen) has invited expressions of interest (EoIs) from consultancy firms to carry out detailed feasibility studies on setting up a plant to manufacture distribution transformers and motors.

The funding provided by the United Arab Emirates for the 3.5MW Bosaso solar plant is the latest element in a long engagement in the area by the Gulf power.

Angola's President João Lourenço travelled to Washington on 30 November to meet his American counterpart Joe Biden, in a meeting described by the White House as advancing the development of the 1,290km Lobito Corridor rail project.

As COP28 opens in Dubai, African Energy leads with an examination of climate finance, an area where the continent is being left behind as a result of poor infrastructure, weak governance and other issues. African Energy assesses the data and what needs to change if Africa is to hit its climate change targets. COP coverage continues with a look at the likely themes and opening moves, which included the inaugural $420m capitalisation of the Loss and Damage Fund and the leak of COP28 president Sultan Al-Jaber's briefing notes . African Energy takes a closer look at Somalia, which is edging back towards normality with membership of the East African Community and reported progress in tackling Al-Shabaab militants. Power coverage leads with Zambia, where state-owned utility Zesco is looking for a new renewable energy contractor, having put on hold a 2.4GW solar PV development with China’s CiEG, while the government has yet to implement its multilateral debt deal amid a lack of foreign currency and financing. African Energy also looks at eSwatini, which is working to increase the contribution of renewable energy to the energy mix and end years of dependence on imported electricity. The issue also examines the latest twist in the DRC’s Grand Inga saga, with the World Bank Group back in the game, more than seven years after it suspended funding for the first phase of the mega-scheme. Oil and gas coverage leads with a focuses on Mauritania and Senegal where the GTA and Sangomar projects are advancing after ship-related issues, while much-anticipated results from Shell’s wildcat well in Mauritania’s Block C10 have disappointed. There are also updates on Equatorial Guinea’s offshore, Angola's latest bid round and exploration in Namibia's Orange Basin. The African Energy View focuses on a return of currency crises, which are making it difficult for international firms to repatriate profits and causing projects to stall.  

A series of increasingly high-profile and commercialised UN climate change summits has driven a global boom in climate finance, but Africa is being left behind as a result of poor infrastructure, weak governance and other issues. As discussions start at COP28 in Dubai, African Energy assesses the data and what needs to change if Africa is to hit its climate change targets.

Kenya Electricity Generation Company (KenGen)’s plans to set up a Green Energy Park at its 800MW geothermal power generation hub at Olkaria in Naivasha county are gathering pace, with the state-owned firm issuing a call for proposals from local and international investors interested in leasing land and setting up operations at the site.