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Southern Africa leaders have made a joint appeal at COP27 for nearly $20bn from investors to complete electricity transmission interconnectors and fund new renewable energy projects, in part to increase energy capacity in the Southern African Power Pool (SAPP).

ExxonMobil announced on 7 November a discovery at the Bavuca South-1 exploration well in Block 15. The well, 65km northwest off the coast, encountered 30 meters of high-quality, hydrocarbon-bearing sandstone.

A consortium of TotalEnergies, Angola Environment Technology (Greentech) and state-owned Sonangol is expected to sign a power purchase agreement (PPA) for the Quilemba solar PV plant by November, according to TotalEnergies project manager Gonçalo Anacoreta.

The recent election win for President João Lourenço and the MPLA has prompted renewed talk about a campaign to privatise national oil company Sociedade Nacional de Combustíveis de Angola (Grupo Sonangol). While a wide ranging programme may yet be some years off, would-be purchasers of businesses owned by Sonangol will likely be concerned over reputational issues associated with the company’s management under former Angolan Vice President Manuel Vicente, the late president José Eduardo dos Santos’ daughter Isabel dos Santos and other senior officials.

The Indian government and parastatals are discussing taking liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Algeria and Angola under long-term supply agreements in response to the energy crisis. The African countries are not alone, as New Delhi has also said it has reached out to other big producers including the United States, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Iraq, as the government seeks to reassure anxious markets.

President João Lourenço and his MPLA government are promising more reforms following their return to power, but a big privatisation campaign headlined by Angola’s state oil giant Sonangol will likely take years to come into effect.

Construction of the 189MW Biópio and the 96MW Baía Farta solar PV plants in Benguela province was completed on 20 July. The two plants have a combined installed capacity of 285MW, enough to supply power to 1.8m people. Construction began in March 2021.

President João Lourenço and his ruling Movimento Popular de Libertação de Angola (MPLA) were declared the winners in Angola’s 24 August general election. Equally predictably, the opposition led by the União Nacional para a Independência Total de Angola (Unita) has contested the result, which was announced on 29 August by the National Electoral Commission (CNE).

Considerable attention is being paid to Angola’s 24 August general election, as President João Lourenço and his ruling Movimento Popular de Libertação de Angola (MPLA) party line up against a strong challenge from a revitalised União Nacional para a Independência Total de Angola (Unita).

Angola’s ambitions to develop its gas resources took a step forward in late July when the partners in the New Gas Consortium said they had reached a final investment decision (FID) on the Quiluma and Maboqueiro gas project.

An additional production unit was inaugurated at the Luanda refinery on 7 July, completing Italian major Eni’s expansion and modernisation programme, which has increased gasoline production capacity fourfold to 450,000 t/yr.

London Stock Exchange-listed Afentra has agreed to pay $33m to increase its stake in one offshore block in Angola and take a minority stake in an adjoining area. In a 19 July statement, the company said its wholly-owned subsidiary Afentra (Angola) had signed an agreement with the local Industrija Nafte (INA) to acquire a 4% non-operated interest in Block 3/05 and a 5.33% stake in Block 3/05A.

Aksa Enerji sees opportunities in African GTP markets for the conversion of open cycle gas turbine (OCGT) plants to combined cycle (CCGT). In March it was gazetted that Aksa had been awarded a four-year provisional independent power producer (IPP) licence by the Republic of Congo government, which may indicate the Turkish firm will develop its own IPPs too.

TotalEnergies and its partners in Block 17 offshore Angola are to invest $850m in the third phase of the Clov oil development, following a final investment decision (FID) announced this month by Angola’s upstream regulator the National Oil, Gas and Biofuels Agency (ANPG).

Nigeria and Angola are responsible for the vast majority of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) supply shortfall that is helping to sustain high global oil prices. Above-ground issues including theft and sabotage continue to contribute to a large deficit from the two sub-Saharan oil giants.