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Climate Fund Managers and Microsoft’s Climate Innovation Fund have invested $18m in UK-based Konexa to finance the launch of its renewable energy trading platform, with Nigerian Breweries the first customer. Konexa initially plans to wheel power across the national grid to two Nigerian Breweries’ facilities.

Privately-held United States junior Liberty Petroleum has signed three production-sharing agreements (PSAs) with the Somali federal government for offshore blocks 131, 190, and 206.

Eni has closed the sale of some of its Republic of Congo (RoC) upstream assets to indie Perenco. No specifics of the acreage acquired were detailed. Sale of the assets did not detract from RoC being “at the core” of its strategy, Eni said, but instead reflected a ‘refocus’ on major developments.

An onshore exploration block awarded on 8 February has already generated controversy after campaigning environmental group Greenpeace said Brazzaville’s award of rights in the Conkouati-Douli National Park was a violation of a 1999 presidential decree that forbade oil activity in the area.

Swedfund International (Swedfund) and the European Union (EU) have offered finance to carry out environmental and technical feasibility studies for the Malawi-Zambia interconnector, a 330/400kV cross-border transmission line that spans about 184km between Zambia and Malawi.

The Zanzibari Ministry of Blue Economy and Fisheries launched its first oil and gas licensing round on 20 March. Bidders are being sought for eight offshore blocks to the east of Unguja and Pemba islands.

Prospects are improving for the introduction of carbon capture and storage into gas production projects as the Egyptian authorities have shifted to a more positive stance on CCS technology, encouraged by their financial backers in the Gulf.

As Djibouti wakes up to the potential of geothermal and wind, and looks to the P2X potential of green hydrogen, its small and fossil-fuel dependent power sector could be on the brink of major change. An update of planned generation projects by African Energy Live Data identifies the most important plants and raises questions about how the government’s ambitious net zero ambitions can be achieved, write Camilla Nytun and John Hamilton.

The issue leads with a focus on African gas, with slow progress at some of sub-Saharan Africa’s most high-profile LNG developments coming as exporters from other parts of the world race to sign new long-term deals with buyers from Asia and Europe. African Energy's coverage includes a new map of African gas projects and a closer look at the fortunes of North Africa's gas producers. African Energy also focuses on Niger where crude is now flowing through the Niger-Benin Export Pipeline, amid signs that Niamey is emerging from post-coup isolation and has mended ties with Ecowas and the US. Power coverage leads with Tanzania, where the first unit of the Julius Nyerere hydroelectric power project has been commissioned but grid questions linger. African Energy examines a new scheme in Zimbabwe to offer  bankability support to IPPs and looks at how drought has forced Zambian state-owned power utility Zesco to start rationing electricity  to Zambia and Zimbabwe. African Energy also takes a closer look at Djibouti, which is waking up to the domestic generation potential of geothermal and wind power, while also eyeing up the P2X possibilities of green hydrogen production. Analysis of projects tracked by African Energy Live Data raises questions about how the government’s net zero ambitions can be achieved. Oil and gas coverage includes an examination of how wealthy Gulf national oil companies are actively seeking potentially highly lucrative lower-carbon expansion opportunities across Africa. Transition minerals coverage leads with Zimbabwe, which is aiming to consolidate its position as a leading lithium producer. President Emerson Mnangagwa’s administration is pushing miners to invest in local processing and has threatened to levy export duties on those who fail to add value. Critics, meanwhile, are calling for more transparency in how the industry is run. African Energy also looks at Mauritania, where Chariot and TotalEnergies have completed a 10GW green hydrogen feasibility study. The African Energy View focuses on African leaders' plans for major changes to the global financial and political architecture.

Shortfalls in financial flows, failures to deal with debt and a lack of voice in global decision-making arenas are longstanding issues that African leaders are now seeking to address, with leaders from Ghana, Kenya and Zambia setting out a blueprint for reform covering everything from UN Security Council seats to the reallocation of $100bn-worth of assets held by the IMF. The extent to which these ambitious goals can be achieved could prove critical to Africa’s ability to finance and structure the energy transition on its terms – but the continent’s governments also need to accelerate their own reforms.

A deal between Abu Dhabi giant Adnoc and UK major BP to coinvest in Egyptian gas assets highlights how wealthy Gulf national oil companies are actively seeking potentially highly lucrative lower-carbon expansion opportunities across Africa, where NOCs from Qatar and Kuwait are among those also exploring opportunities, writes James Gavin.

While Gulf national oil companies like QatarEnergy and Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) have focused most of their attention on Africa's upstream oil and gas opportunities there are still openings for investors in Africa’s refining sector.

With lithium output rising, the Zimbabwe government is pushing mining companies to carry out more local processing and value additions, as the Mnangagwa administration seeks to maximise the benefits of a new minerals extraction boom driven by Chinese demand.

Following a recent maritime defence agreement, Ankara has further increased its commitment to Somalia by signing an intergovernmental agreement covering offshore oil and gas exploration as Türkiye makes further inroads into the region.

First exported in 1964 from a then Royal Dutch/Shell project in Algerian hub Arzew, liquefied natural gas (LNG) was sometimes thought a marginal product during oil’s heyday. But over the past two decades it has come to be seen as an increasingly important energy transition fuel; its consumption produces around half the CO2 emissions of coal.