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Slow progress at some of sub-Saharan Africa’s most high-profile LNG developments come as exporters from other parts of the world race to sign new long-term deals with buyers from Asia and Europe. The risk for African producers is that they could miss out on lucrative opportunities, costing governments large amounts in lost foreign earnings, writes Marc Howard*.

The $2.9bn Julius Nyerere dam’s first 235MW turbine has started dispatching power, and a second unit is expected online very soon, as the much-delayed 2.1GW megaproject starts to fulfil its potential to supply national and regional demand – provided long-standing questions around the transmission infrastructure can be overcome, writes Marc Howard.

Rivalry between the world’s two most powerful nations is driving a rush to build strategic export-focused railway infrastructure in Africa on a scale not seen since the height of the Cold War. Washington’s $500m commitment to the minerals export-focused Lobito Corridor has been countered by a $1bn Chinese proposal to rehabilitate the creaking Tazara line. The two megaprojects will have terminals close together in the Copperbelt, but geopolitical considerations are likely to prevent any interconnection, writes Marc Howard.

The World Bank Group has approved a $202m finance facility to help address grid constraints and enable regional interconnections – opening the way for a doubling of hydropower imports from Ethiopia – under the second phase of its ten-year green energy programme for Kenya.

It is unlikely electric cars will come to dominate African roads for decades, but in the likes of Kenya and Benin battery-powered buses, motorbikes and industrial vehicles could have a radical impact on urban environments and commercial operations. Investors are lining up to support e-mobility projects in the most attractive markets, but in many jurisdictions the lack of capital, infrastructure and policy support and the high cost of vehicles are holding back what could be a revolution, write Tonderayi Mukeredzi and Jon Marks.

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.

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).

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.

State utility Tanzania Electric Supply Company (Tanesco) has started work to connect the 2.1GW Julius Nyerere hydroelectric power (HEP) plant to Chalinze substation in Pwani district, via a 400kV power transmission line built by India’s Larsen & Toubro (L&T).

London AIM-listed Helium One has said it will spud the Itumbula well in early January 2024, marking the start of a 30-day drilling programme.

Australian Securities Exchange (ASX)-listed AuKing Mining has raised $1.25m to fund drilling at the Mkuju uranium project in Namtumbo district.  

Dodoma and Kampala have signed a bilateral agreement to jointly fund a feasibility study for a new pipeline to send gas from southern Tanzania to Uganda.

With first oil expected from Lake Albert by early 2026, an array of associated infrastructure is under development, including the controversial Eacop pipeline. Shunned by western financiers, Chinese debt is expected to rescue Eacop, with a financing package due to be finalised in the coming weeks. Kampala has also signalled its appetite to intervene in energy markets by taking a majority stake in the Kabalega refinery, writes Marc Howard in Hoima.

Ara Petroleum Tanzania (APT) has confirmed the completion of its acquisition of an additional 25% interest in the Ruvuma production-sharing agreement (PSA) from London AIM-listed Scirocco Energy.

Dubai-based port operator DP World has signed a 30-year concession with Tanzania Ports Authority (TPA) to operate and modernise Dar es Salaam Port.