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The government and state distributor Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) say a dispute over debts of some $1.6bn owed to the country’s independent power producers (IPPs) has been settled; the Independent Power Generators, Ghana (IPGG) group seems to have grudgingly agreed. But the devil is in the detail, and many of the finer elements have yet to be finalised.

Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) is facing a domestic political backlash against a proposal to reduce its stake in the offshore Jubilee field by offloading part of its equity to Petroleum Oil and Gas Corporation of South Africa (PetroSA) – whose credentials as an investor are questioned.

China’s involvement in a wide-ranging debt restructuring and refinancing deal with other bilateral and multilateral creditors, headlined by a $3bn IMF facility, could set a precedent for other debt-distressed countries around the continent, but some devilish detail remains to be negotiated, writes Jon Marks.

The Greater Pecan offshore oil project seems revived after Africa Finance Corporation took a 50% stake in the field with its acquisition of Aker Energy, in a move that underlined AFC’s policy of supporting hydrocarbons projects with positive economic impacts even while many others have stepped back from backing oil and gas, especially upstream deals, write James Gavin and Jon Marks.

The African Development Bank (AfDB) has approved a $28.49m grant for an $85.18m project to increase the use of renewable energy (RE) infrastructure to 10% of national demand by 2030.

London AIM- and Australian Securities Exchange (ASX)-listed Atlantic Lithium expects to receive official approval for Ghana’s first lithium mine in the coming months, despite some investor-driven controversy over its project.

President Nana Akufo-Addo’s cash-strapped government is mired in disputes with power producers, oil companies and other big investors, amid creditors’ concerns over its refinancing plans and a build-up of payment arrears. This is complicating the finalisation of an expected $3bn IMF facility and efforts to relaunch Ghana’s investment drive, write Jon Marks and AE staff.

The Ghanaian government is making another effort to renegotiate state electricity distributor Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG)’s supply deals with independent power producers (IPPs), in a bid to replace take-or-pay agreements that have left the state liable for unused electricity while amassing large debts.

Recourse to arbitration by Tullow Oil – Ghana’s largest crude producer, along with Dallas-based Kosmos Energy, through their equity stakes in the Jubilee and Tweneboa-Enyenra-Ntomme (Ten) fields – underlines a number of difficult issues facing the London (LSE)- and Ghana Stock Exchange-listed company.

 London-listed Tullow Oil reported a rise in revenues and profits in its full-year results issued in early March and sought to focus attention on its prospects in Ghana and Kenya instead of its high levels of debt and ongoing litigation issues. African Energy takes a closer look at Tullow’s prospects for 2023 and beyond.

West Africa’s total installed generation capacity could reach 43GW by 2027 from 31GW at end-2021, according to African Energy Live Data’s latest analysis, with thermal, hydropower and other renewable projects lining up. But many of these capacity additions are planned for Nigeria, where results may be patchy, as it is already hard to dispatch power from existing plants to an inadequate grid.

London Stock Exchange-listed Tullow Oil has appointed Roald Goethe as an independent non-executive director. Goethe is an oil and gas veteran with expertise in West Africa. Tullow remains the target of considerable industry speculation.

Tullow Oil’s Ghana unit has filed for arbitration in the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) over two tax bills amounting to $387m received from the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), the London AIM-listed independent said on 14 February. This is in addition to a separate existing tax dispute between Tullow and the authorities in Accra.

There was confirmation of the depth of Ghana’s debt problems when the Ministry of Finance on 19 December halted service payments on most of its international debt and said it would seek “an orderly restructuring of the affected obligations”.

The African Development Bank (AfDB) has approved $1m in funding through the Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa (Sefa) to conduct feasibility studies for hybrid biomass power plants in Ghana and Sierra Leone.