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Tunisia has a big new nuclear co-operation agreement with France, but its medium-term strategy still hinges on developing combined cycle plants that tap gas fields now under development. The Moroccan government is also pushing private investment, hoping potential gas finds will feed into power projects. Senior officials from both countries talked to African Energy about their shifting attitudes to investment.

The long-awaited Petroleum Industry Bill is no closer to becoming law as the various industry stakeholders expose the gulf in opinions over key areas such as tax rates and sanctity of contracts. And there are fears of further delays as the legislative process slows in the run-up to the 2015 presidential election, writes David Slater in Abuja.

National Oil Corporation (NOC) chairman Mustafa Sanalla has intensified his conflict with Presidency Council head Fayez Al-Sarraj, alleging that German oil company Wintershall has formed an alliance with the UNbacked Government of National Accord (GNA) and succeeded in influencing the drafting of legislation for its commercial benefit.

Drilling planned for this year could revive Mauritanias fortunes by testing deeper targets, writes Thalia Grifths

Energy executives and their financiers are visiting Algiers to an unprecedented extent, tempted by new opportunities across the industry. The potential is great as Algeria liberalises after a decade of civil conflict, but the countrys poisoned politics may yet deter investors, write Jon Marks and Martin Clark.

The official launch of the $850m Western Corridor Gas Infrastructure Development Project is now scheduled for October, once the overhaul of the Aboadze thermal plant is complete. The state Ghana National Gas Company (GNGC) is overseeing development and implementation of the three main aspects of the project: a processing plant in Atuabo, an offshore pipeline from the Jubilee field to Atuabo, and an onshore pipeline to transport processed gas from Atuabo to Aboadze.

The breakdown of talks on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (Gerd) on 18 June – after nine days of discussions held remotely over video because of Covid-19 restrictions – left both Ethiopia and Egypt holding on firmly to mutually incompatible maximalist positions. On 19 June, Ethiopian foreign minister Gedu Andargachew told Associated Press that filling the dam would advance whatever happened. “For us it is not mandatory to reach an agreement before starting filling the dam, hence we will commence the filling process in the coming rainy season,” he said. “We are working hard to reach a deal, but still we will go ahead with our schedule whatever the outcome is. If we have to wait for others’ blessing, then the dam may remain idle for years, which we won’t allow to happen.”

Senior officials have kept their counsel during a difficult period when coronavirus and the oil price slump have laid low the Nigerian economy, but there are signs that reformists in Abuja are trying to use the crisis to their advantage – reflected in action to end fuel subsidies and accelerate power sector reforms. But despite some potentially important steps forward, the outlook is extremely difficult in a humanitarian crisis where social distancing is all but impossible for the majority of the population.

Morocco, having set the pace for independent power projects in North Africa with the Jorf Lasfar scheme, is looking to mobilise relationships with European governments and utilities to build its latest thermal power plant for the cheapest possible cost. This will involve significantly modifying the lPP formula - and when a prequalification tender is issued, probably this month, for the international company to build and operate the new Tahaddart plant in northern Morocco, the shape of the project will look very different from Jorf Lasfar, the ground-breaking lPP led by ABB Energy Ventures and CMS Energy.

Guinea has been almost left out of the West African exploration boom, but the arrival of Tullow Oil could change that, write Thalia Griffiths and Our Conakry Correspondent

Flooding on a Biblical scale means that Mozambique is often pictured as being aid-dependent, but years of cultivating investors means that commercial funds now play a key role in developing infrastructure.

Drilling next year will test whether north-west Africa’s previously unfashionable deep offshore could produce an equivalent of Ghana’s Jubilee field. A declaration of commerciality for the Banda gas field off Mauritania could add to the industry’s interest in lesser-known Atlantic Margin plays, write John Hamilton and Thalia Griffiths

The end of a crippling drought, appointment of a new management team and a $235m syndication to clean up its debts may help Tanesco make a fresh start, with the Tanzanian state still playing a leading role in the countrys economic recovery, writes Thalia Griffiths in Dar es Salaam.

Civil war has done nothing to dent Cte dIvoires long-held ambition to be the Rotterdam of Africa, with an offshore licensing round promising to reverse a negative investment trend, write Paul Melly and Thalia Grifths.

Nigeria and So Tom & Prncipe are sparring over their joint development zone as the stakes rise in a region that is becoming ever more interesting to US lobby groups and strategic planners. Martin Clark and Jon Marks examine the storm in the JDZ, while on page 3 defence analyst Michael Knights asks whether the US military really plans to set up shop in the Gulf of Guinea.