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Eskom’s board of directors has named former company executive Dan Marokane as the troubled power utility’s new chief executive, eliciting the usual expressions of hope and doubt depending on how industry observers see South Africa’s direction of travel.

National tea producer Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA) is close to completing construction work on three hydroelectric power stations, which it plans to switch on in 2024, as the smallholders’ corporation prepares for more HEP and solar schemes to supply its huge operations.

A consortium led by TotalEnergies has signed agreements for the 75MW Mulilo solar PV and battery storage project in Northern Cape, under the much-delayed Risk Mitigation IPP Procurement Programme, while another RMIPPP project has reached commercial close and other schemes are expected to make decisions soon.

Casablanca-based infrastructure financier Africa50 has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with state power company Electricidade de Moçambique (EDM) to develop three solar photovoltaic plants and a series of transmission projects. Africa50 said it planned to develop the projects under the $4.5bn ($236m) Africa Green Investment (AGI) initiative announced on 11 December at the COP28 climate change summit in Dubai.

Danish investor and developer Frontier Energy has announced a co-investment with three European development finance agencies for the 50MWp, under-construction, multi-site Planet Solar independent power producer (IPP) plant. Planet Solar will be Sierra Leone’s first large grid-connected IPP, the funders said.

UK independent Afentra said on 8 December it had completed the acquisition of a 14% interest in Block 3/05 and a 40% interest in Block 23 from national oil company Sonangol.

State utility Namibia Power Corporation (NamPower) has called for expressions of interest (EoI) from consultants to provide transaction advisory services for the World Bank Group’s Namibia Renewable Energy Scale-Up Support Project (NRESUSP).

The World Bank Group’s soft lending International Development Association (IDA) has called for expressions of interest (EoI) from consulting engineering firms to advise on the procurement of solar PV and storage as part of its Comoros solar energy access project (Paesc).

UAE-based players have used COP28 to commit – and recommit – to projects that could supply over 12GW of renewables capacity across Africa. Emiratis argue this displays a willingness to push projects forward and shoulder risk, while others have failed to deliver – and if critics complain they are also prominent in the oil lobby, Abu Dhabi can counter that the UAE has assumed a leading role in enabling Africa’s energy transition.

Published December 2023, this map shows the location of Guinea's Simandou iron ore projects and proposed rail and port infrastructure. The Simandou projects are shown in the wider context of Guinea's power infrastructure including generation sites that are operating, under construction or planned and actual and planned power transmission infrastructure.

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.

ExxonMobil has provided an update on the expected start date for front-end engineering and design (Feed) work on the 18m t/yr Rovuma liquefied natural gas (RLNG) development in Cabo Delgado. The United States supermajor also said it was undertaking a security assessment in partnership with TotalEnergies, as it targets an exit from force majeure.

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.

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.