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African Energy's 500th issue leads with an examination of the growing competition for African minerals, which is heating up with rivalry between US and China driving a rush to build strategic export-focused railway infrastructure on a scale not seen since the height of the Cold War. Washington’s $500m commitment to the minerals export-focused Lobito Corridor has been countered by a $1bn Chinese proposal to rehabilitate the creaking Tazara line. African Energy also takes a closer look at the planned ‘Liberty Corridor’ rail link. High Power Exploration (HPX) plans to develop a rail line to take iron ore from its Nimba licence in south-eastern Guinea to a deep-water port at Didia in Liberia. The ‘Liberty Corridor’ also promises to increase demand for electricity from Côte d’Ivoire’s hydroelectric plants. Power coverage leads with Tunisia, where Scatec’s decision to scrap its largest solar scheme, while renegotiating two smaller projects, provides a glimmer of hope to legions of other developers with stalled project. African Energy’s analysis points to a narrow commercial window through which more projects might advance, but more fundamental change is needed before several gigawatts of wind and solar in other stranded schemes can succeed. Oil and gas coverage includes a focus on Mozambique, where construction is expected to restart in mid-2024 at Mozambique LNG. African Energy's second Risk Management Report focuses on Senegal. The African Energy View reflects on what has and hasn't changed since African Energy's first Issue in 1998, including a focus on the impact of Africa’s growing populations on the SDG7 goal of achieving universal energy access by 2030.  

Rivalry between the world’s two most powerful nations is driving a rush to build strategic export-focused railway infrastructure in Africa on a scale not seen since the height of the Cold War. Washington’s $500m commitment to the minerals export-focused Lobito Corridor has been countered by a $1bn Chinese proposal to rehabilitate the creaking Tazara line. The two megaprojects will have terminals close together in the Copperbelt, but geopolitical considerations are likely to prevent any interconnection, writes Marc Howard.

Publication of the 500th issue provides an opportunity to look back at a few triumphs and many missed opportunities in the industries African Energy has covered since it was launched in 1998. Industry and financial trends have evolved, and sometimes returned to haunt stakeholders years after they were thought to be history. One constant has been the huge increase in the continent’s population, which means the UN target of universal clean energy access is constantly pushed into the distance.

Italy’s Eni and London- and Tel Aviv-listed Energean may get the first results from their Orion well in the North East Hap’y offshore block within a month, it what could be a transformative discovery for Energean, while also providing an early indicator of Egypt’s future as a gas producer.

Published February 2024, this map provides an overview of energy infrastructure across Senegal. Oil and gas blocks that are open and licensed are shown, with block operators and oil and gas fields marked, alongside associated mid- and downstream infrastructure such as pipelines, tanker terminals, refineries and LNG facilities. Power generation facilities that are operating, under construction or planned are shown by type – including liquid fuels, gas and liquid fuels, natural gas, coal, hybrid, hydroelectricity, solar PV, wind, battery and biomass/biogas. Generation sites are marked with different sized circles to show sites of 1-9MW, 10-99MW and 100-499MW. Existing and future transmission and distribution lines are shown ranging from 99kV to 225kV. Actual and planned cross-border interconnectors are also shown including lines to Mauritania, Mali, Gambia, Guinea and Guinea-Bissau. An inset provides a more detailed look at infrastructure in the region around Dakar. Power generation data was drawn from our African Energy Live Data platform, which contains project level detail on power plants and projects across Africa. The map is presented as a PDF file using eps graphics, meaning that there is no loss of resolution as the file is enlarged.  

Published February 2024, this graphic presents two maps showing regional rail lines and infrastructure corridors. The main map shows railway lines across Angola, DR Congo Tanzania and Zambia, with a focus on the route of the Lobito Corridor railway lines from the Angolan coast to Tenke in DR Congo and the proposed Zambian spur from Luacano. It also shows the route of the Tazara railway from Dar es Salaam to Zambia. A second, smaller map shows the proposed Liberty Corridor and railway line linking the Liberian coast to the Nimba iron ore project in Guinea. The maps also shows the route of the under construction Trans-Guinean railway, which will connect to the Simandou iso ore projects in Guinea plus the route of the Côte d’Ivoire- Liberia-Sierra Leone-Guinea (CLSG) interconnector that could allow hydropower plants in Côte d’Ivoire to export power to mining projects in Liberia and Guinea.

Robert Friedland’s High Power Exploration (HPX) plans to develop a rail line to take iron ore from its Nimba licence in south-eastern Guinea to a deep-water port at Didia in Liberia. It is the second major Mano River region iron ore rail announcement in recent months following the giant Simandou scheme, and promises to increase demand for electricity from Côte d’Ivoire’s hydroelectric plants.

London AIM-listed indie Chariot is planning an initial two-well exploration drilling campaign, but has approval for 17 other candidate well locations and re-entry of an existing gas discovery.

Primera Gold, a joint venture between the Democratic Republic of Congo and United Arab Emirates, aims to more than quadruple the amount of gold it exports from DRC this year, despite criticism from a UN panel.

Scatec’s decision to scrap its largest solar scheme, while renegotiating two smaller projects, provides a glimmer of hope to legions of other developers with stalled projects in Tunisia. African Energy’s analysis points to a narrow commercial window through which more projects might advance, but more fundamental change is needed before several gigawatts of wind and solar in other stranded schemes can succeed.

President Kaïs Saïed’s appointment of former EBRD executive Ouael Chouchane as secretary of state for energy transition is a rare optimistic sign for the Tunisian renewable power sector, following years of drift.

Malawian generator Egenco is seeking a contractor to install 4.5MW of additional turbine capacity and carry out all associated works at run-of-river plant on the Shire River.

KenGen is seeking contractors to supply runners for the Seven Forks hydroelectric power (HEP) plant. The five HEP plant cascade provides over a fifth of the country’s electricity and is the site of a major solar PV programme.

German developer ABO Wind remains optimistic that it can develop two Tunisian projects it secured in 2019 but is having to switch one from wind to solar and is also battling with the commercial framework.

The wave of coups across the Sahel region over the past three years appears to have prompted a surge in defence spending across Africa – as newly-installed military regimes pour money into their own fiefdoms and other governments seek to bolster their security. International Institute for Strategic Studies data show total spending rose by more than one-fifth in 2023, but more money for soldiers and armaments means there is less to spend on social and infrastructure improvements.