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David Ngaira has taken over as chairman of the Kenya Electricity Transmission Company (Ketraco), succeeding Joe Mutambu. Ngaira is expected to oversee the commissioning of a number of new transmission lines.

The European Union-funded Electrification Finance Initiative (EDFI ElectriFI) has extended a $3.1m loan to German C&I solar power provider Redavia to enable it to expand its business in Ghana and Kenya.

The African Development Bank (AfDB) and its partners are planning to create what they call the world’s largest mini-grid market in Nigeria, using the new Leveraging Energy Access Finance (Leaf) financing model to support the Rural Electrification Agency (REA)’s Nigeria Electrification Programme (NEP).

Kenya Electricity Generating Company (KenGen) has announced that  it has finished construction work on the 83MW Olkaria I unit VI and will now begin reliability tests.

Off-grid energy company Bboxx is launching a cheaper product range to target poorer customers, amid a fall in incomes across Africa for the first time in a decade and supply chain issues with China.

Italian major Eni has declined to comment on speculation that the Milma-1 exploration well in the Lamu Basin has not yielded any hydrocarbons. If the ultra-deep-water wildcat well had been successful, it would have opened up a new East African basin for crude production.

Tullow Oil is continuing with talks to bring in a strategic partner for its South Lokichar oil development in Kenya, as the authorities in Nairobi move closer to approving a revised field development plan (FDP) submitted in late 2021.

Textile exporter United Aryan said it had connected its 1.8MW rooftop solar PV project in Nairobi.

Generation companies will be able to start supplying electricity directly to large customers through the national network, under regulation guidelines which the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) has drafted and is due to publish in the near future.

Nairobi-based Camco Clean Energy’s new specialised finance company Spark Energy Services is looking to fund solar PV and wind plants, plus energy efficiency initiatives for commercial and industrial (C&I) developers. Spark’s ‘impact-led’ approach intends to enable local developers in sub-Saharan markets to build scale and their balance sheets, in turn creating sustainable C&I businesses

Announcements of big funding commitments and project completions in the last three months point to the commercial and industrial market continuing to grow at a rapid pace, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa’s larger economies.

The African Development Bank (AfDB) has approved a commitment of up to $165m for the Leveraging Energy Access Finance Framework (Leaf) programme, which promotes solar home systems, green mini-grids and solar PV systems for commercial and industrial offtakers.

On 1 February Bamburi Cement, a subsidiary of Switzerland’s Holcim, said it had signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) with Momnai Energy for the development of two solar PV plants that will meet up to 40% of its energy needs.

Bboxx Kenya agreed in January a KSh1.6bn ($15m) debt package with local commercial bank SBM Bank Kenya. The Private Infrastructure Development Group’s GuarantCo is underwriting the deal with a KSh1.2bn partial credit guarantee.

The Private Infrastructure Development Group’s Emerging Africa Infrastructure Fund (EAIF) said on 7 February that it had agreed a $35m loan to supporting Spanish developer Alten’s $87m 40MW Kesses solar PV project in Kenya. The first drawdown on the 15-year loan took place in late December.