Search results

Africa-focused downstream giant Vivo Energy has finalised the acquisition of Indian Ocean liquid petroleum gas (LPG) player, Société Industrielle et Gazière de Mayotte (Somagaz). The move follows Vivo’s 2023 purchase of stakes in African LPG businesses in Namibia and Réunion.

Abu Dhabi’s perceived support for General Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo (Hemedti)’s RSF rebels led the Burhan regime to order 15 UAE embassy staff to leave Khartoum, posing further questions about the Gulf state’s role in the Sudanese civil war, while Hemedti makes significant diplomatic gains abroad and military advances in tortured Sudan.

Miners have intensified uranium extraction and prospecting in Africa over the past two years as market prices surged after a decade of post-Fukushima lows.

Renewed momentum for nuclear energy was underlined by a COP28 climate summit pledge to triple global capacity by 2050 – although huge capital costs pose daunting obstacles to the several African countries who are looking at potential atomic power developments. A new generation of small reactors, while not yet commercially viable, may offer a solution for some to add significant capacity, writes Marc Howard.

Following several gas discoveries at the Mukuyu-2 well on the ambitious Australian minnow’s Cabora Bassa project, Invictus Energy and local partner One Gas Resources have revised a 2019 gas memorandum with local developers planning to build a 500MW gas-fired power plant.

National Energy Regulator of South Africa’s approval of an electricity trading licence for the ambitious Anglo-American/EDF joint venture Envusa Energy highlights the growing role of traders in the electricity supply market.

Saudi developer Acwa Power has signed a power purchase agreement for its Dao hybrid project under South Africa’s long-delayed risk mitigation independent power producer procurement (RMIPPP) programme.

French utility Engie has concluded the purchase of BTE Renewables’ South African assets from private equity investor Actis, six months after the deal was announced. It is the second significant South Africa development for Engie in recent weeks, following financial close on the Grootspruit and Graspan solar PV plants on 30 November.

According to a number of people close to the project, the final delivery cost for the 750MW Kafue Gorge Lower hydroelectric power (HEP) station is now expected to be some $300m less than the previously expected, after refinancing by Zambian state utility Zesco and the main contractor. Zesco managing director Victor Mapani outlined to African Energy the expected impact on the final tariff that Kafue Gorge Lower Power Development Corporation (KGLPDC) charges to Zesco.    

Italian major Eni has blazed a trail back into Libya that numerous international oil companies are now following. Even if the risks on re-entry remain severe at many levels, the lure of unprecedented, if controversial, opportunities may be impossible to resist.

Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation (TPDC) is set to double its stake in the Mnazi Bay gas development from 20% to 40%, under a new agreement signed with Maurel & Prom (M&P).

Copperbelt Energy Corporation (CEC) has launched a $54m ‘green’ bond, as part of a larger $200m programme of issuance to fund an expansion of its solar photovoltaic generation capacity to 300MW.

Project sources have told African Energy that the liquefaction plant for the estimated $42bn Tanzania Liquefied Natural Gas development will have a larger than expected capacity.

Equinor’s proposed sale of its Nigerian operations to a local buyer adds to a growing trend for IOCs to withdraw from the  upstream sector, allowing domestic players to step in, even if access to finance and other obstacles may still need to be overcome, writes James Gavin.

Petralon Energy founder and chief executive Ahonsi Unuigbe has told African Energy he is on a mission to boost the role of indigenous companies in an oil and gas sector that accounts for 90% of Nigeria’s exports.