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The phase three expansion of Amea Power’s Blitta solar PV and battery energy storage plant in Togo was formally launched by President Faure Gnassingbé on 22 March. Blitta – officially named the Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Solar Power Plant – was Amea’s first African project to be commissioned, in June 2021

Legal protests are under way, but in all likelihood president-elect Bola Ahmed Tinubu will take over the Aso Rock Presidential Villa following their inauguration, scheduled for 29 May.

In a move its principals said would create Africa’s largest renewable energy (RE) company, Amsterdam-headquartered Lekela Power BV on 20 March announced the completion of its acquisition by the Infinity Power Holding BV joint venture of Cairo-based Infinity Power and United Arab Emirates state-owned Masdar (Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company).

National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) on 10 March approved an 18.65% increase in Eskom’s electricity tariffs for standard customers from 1 April and an 18.49% increase for municipalities from 1 July.

Rabat has pushed ahead with legal reforms that could open up the electricity supply industry and encourage more self-generation, but observers fear the entrenched interests of state utility Onee and regional utilities will continue to delay meaningful change, writes John Hamilton.

Analysis of the latest information on the African Energy Live Data platform shows generation capacity in the Central African region should expand by 2.4GW by 2027, almost all of it built by private developers. And while hydroelectric power provides the bulk of 4.3GW existing capacity, other sources of renewable power are starting to gain a stronger foothold.

Published March 2023, this graphic consists of three trend charts illustrating Central Africa's installed and pipeline power generation capacity and a map showing the location of generation projects where partial or full commercial operations are scheduled to begin over the 2023-2027 period. Data for the charts and map is drawn from African Energy Live Data, a power database with detailed profiles of more than 7,000 power generation plants and projects across Africa and the entities behind them.

Almost half of Africa’s hydroelectric power (HEP) plants are more than 40 years old and many are in need of refurbishment and modernisation. The International Hydropower Association (IHA) estimates that some 2.4GW of power could be tapped by restoring idle plants and upgrading others – and at a much lower cost than building new capacity.

A new administration is coming to Abuja, with some familiar faces and the same old daunting problems to fix. An uncomfortably small proportion of Nigeria’s 220m-plus population voted in an election that could have a big impact, but only if Bola Tinubu surprises his detractors by driving forward with a diverse package of reforms and reconciliation measures that have defied previous governments, writes Jon Marks.

Published March 2023, this graphic illustrates the results of Nigeria's 2023 elections. Two maps show the presidential election result by state and geopolitical zone, with a small box showing national average voter turnout for elections from 1999 to 2023. A pie chart illustrates the national position for the presidential election, showing the number (and percentage) of votes received by each of the candidates (Bola Tinbu, Aitku Abubakar, Peter Obi and Rabiu Kwankwaso. Two pie charts show the distribution of seats between parties in the Senate and House of Representatives.

In the run up to elections, president-elect Bola Ahmed Tinubu sought to burnish his pro-business credentials by offering everything from taking Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Ltd (NNPCL) beyond corporatisation to privatisation, to cutting fuel subsidies in reforms that would bring greater coherence to public finances.

While imposing macroeconomic problems continue to weigh on developers, Zimbabwe is seeking ways to attract investment to independent power producers and commercial and industrial (C&I) projects. And among recent schemes to overcome being ostracised by international capital markets Zimbabwe is looking to use its wealthier C&I power consumers to provide corporate guarantees to raise capital for new projects.

The Opec Fund for International Development (Ofid) is providing $25m for the Niger Solar Plant Development and Electricity Access Improvement Project (Ranaa), which is supporting 40MW of solar-hybrid capacity across three developments.

Belgian construction firm BESIX said on 9 March that the first two cofferdams in the spillway openings of the 420MW Nachtigal hydroelectric power (HEP) plant have been lowered.

The issue leads with Libya where NOC has launched its growth-oriented upstream strategy and there is political, social and legal opposition to Eni’s multi-billion-dollar upstream gas development deal. The Focus section includes an examination of the results of Nigeria's presidential election and what it means for the country's energy industries. Power coverage leads with an analysis of the latest information on the African Energy Live Data platform that shows power generation capacity in Central Africa should expand by 2.4GW by 2027. Oil and gas coverage leads with Algeria, where Sonatrach is courting IOCs to capitalise on the potential to ramp up deliveries to Europe. The issue also looks at Tunisia following the World Bank’s decision to suspend new projects in response to President Kaïs Saïed’s anti-immigrant stance. The African Energy View focuses on Green hydrogen (GH2) and examines European ambitions of using GH2 to reach net zero and the role Africa might be asked to play. Coverage includes a map of proposed projects across the continent.