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Wood Group subsidiary SgurrEnergy has won funding from the Scottish government to design and implement a hydroelectric scheme to supply renewable energy to an off-grid community without a reliable source of power. The Glasgow-based renewable energy consultancy will manage the design and installation of a 100kW run-of-river scheme in Mulanje, on the border with Mozambique in southern Malawi, as well as a community training programme for the operation and maintenance of the plant. The project will reduce the use of costly diesel generators firing on imported fuel and will enable the local medical clinic to use refrigerators and sterilisers and administer medical care after sunset.

Construction will begin this year on some elements of a $350.7m power project funded by the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), project consultant Fichtner has announced. “Each sub-project is currently in its design phase and Fichtner will follow international tendering procedures in the award of the supply and construction contracts as well as supervise their implementation,” said project manager Roland Neifer. Fichtner signed a five year contract with the Millennium Challenge Account-Malawi (MCA) in October to develop project designs, prepare tender documents, and supervise contractors. Design work on all sub-projects commenced in November.

The audit, funded by the UK’s Department for International Development, was contracted following revelations of the so-called “cashgate” scandal that caused President Joyce Banda to sack her cabinet in October and led to the suspension of $150m of aid by major donors, including the UK and European Union. The first three of some 70 people who have been charged appeared in court in late January. The scandal has dealt a substantial blow to Banda, who had sought to depict herself as a “new broom” sweeping out the corruption and poor governance of her predecessor Bingu wa Mutharika.

The trial of those accused in the ‘cashgate’ corruption affair started in late January with the first three of 70 defendants appearing in court. Some $100m was allegedly stolen from government funds, leading to the suspension of aid to Malawi by several donors. In October, President Joyce Banda sacked and replaced her cabinet. The first defendants, Caroline Savala, Agnes Katengeza and Leonard Kalonga, were charged with theft and money laundering for receiving payment from the government for services that their construction company did not provide.

On 10 October, President Joyce Banda sacked her cabinet amid allegations – dubbed the Capital Hill cash-gate scandal – of widespread government corruption. The scandal appears to have been sparked by the early September attempted assassination of Ministry of Finance budget director Paul Mphwiyo. At first, criminal elements were blamed for the shooting, but most Malawi observers now agree it was linked to a falling-out among corrupt officials who had been exploiting government accounting system loopholes to steal money. Some cabinet members were reinstated but, in mid-October, Banda named former World Bank economist Maxwell Mkwezalamba as finance minister, replacing the sacked Ken Lipenga. 


The Ministry of Energy is seeking bids from consultants interested in conducting a feasibility study for the 100MW Kholombidzo hydroelectric power plant on the Shire River. The study, financed by the African Development Bank, will look at the technical and economic feasibility of the project, social and environmental impacts, investigate options for damming or diverting water flow, and prepare preliminary engineering designs and cost estimates.

President Joyce Banda signed two energy agreements with China during a visit to Beijing in early June. China’s TBEA will build and upgrade power transmission lines, while China Gezhouba Group will build a coal-fired power station at Kammwamba in Neno District, southern Malawi.

The Kudu gas-to-power scheme is one of a number of strategic projects for which the Southern African Development Community (SADC) has been attempting to drum up investment. Ten energy projects were included in a report detailing progress on selected infrastructure projects in the SADC Regional Infrastructure Development Master Plan Short-Term Action Plan, presented to the SADC-UK 2013 Prosperity Event in London on 13 March. The report was put together from interviews with project managers.

President Joyce Banda’s efforts to woo private investors and repair ties with neighbouring countries are revitalising Malawi’s power sector, with a new coal-fired plant on the cards and the revival of plans for an interconnection with Mozambique, writes Thalia Griffiths. Australian private power developer Intra Energy has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the government for a 120MW coal-fired power station at Chipoka, east of Lilongwe. Electricity generated will be sold to the Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (Escom) and other third parties under separate power purchase agreements and transmitted and distributed by Escom under a wheeling agreement.

Negotiations over the disputed lake border between Tanzania and Malawi have broken down, with Malawian officials telling their Tanzanian counterparts that they will pursue their cause before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) rather than continue talks to resolve the dispute.

The presidents of Mozambique and Malawi have agreed to revive a plan for Malawi to receive electricity from the Cahora Bassa dam. The two leaders signed a memorandum of understanding on power supply during a visit by new Malawian President Joyce Banda to Maputo on 12 May.

The SAPP is putting on a brave face about prospects for the region’s electricity supply industry and its own performance, looking to inflows of investment to install more generation capacity across southern Africa and for the pool’s trading mechanisms to gain momentum

The race for the few spots of remaining unclaimed territory in the East African Rift System is gathering pace, but environmental, operational and sovereignty issues could delay progress, writes Adrian J Browne

Soaring crude prices – coupled with more realistic expectations – have improved conditions for African biofuels projects, writes François Misser

South Africa-based Engen has concluded its purchase of two more country operations from Chevron, in Mauritius and Tanzania, bringing to five the number of sales completed out of a package of seven agreed in August 2010 (AE 202/21).