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Pipeline Investments Company (Rompco) to a consortium of Reatile Group and private equity fund manager African Infrastructure Investment Managers (AIIM). Pending he consortium will pay up to R5.145bn ($375m) for the stake, comprising an initial R4.145bn and a deferred payment of up to R1bn which is dependent on agreed milestones being achieved by 30 June 2024.

President Emmanuel Macron’s planned 18 May get-together of African leaders in Paris is intended to lead support for economies badly affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. On the formal agenda will be putting together major new financial support, including through International Monetary Fund special drawing rights and, possibly, a new round of debt cancellation.

Environmental advocacy group Friends of the Earth (Fote) received High Court permission on 22 April to take the British government to court over its financial support via UK Export Finance (Ukef) for the Total-operated Mozambique Liquefied Natural Gas (MLNG) scheme. Legal proceedings are another complication for MLNG, which has been badly affected by the conflict in the Rovuma Basin, prompting Total to declare force majeure in recent days.

In addition to its Senegal project, Karpowership has two other floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) vessels destined for other African markets. A 125,470m3 capacity FSRU has been built for the Karpowership/Mitsui OSK Lines Karmol joint venture by Sembcorp Marine. It will be deployed to Karpowership’s 126MW Mehmet Bey powership in Nacala, Mozambique.

 The Islamist uprising in Mozambique’s northern Cabo Delgado province reached a new level of intensity when hundreds of militants attacked Palma on 24 March; the insurgents occupied the town for over a week. The Mozambique Armed Defense Forces (FADM) said on 4 April it had retaken control, but the state’s inability to protect its citizens and its largest foreign investor was plain to see as the jihadists carried out a swift, complex attack in which all its security forces were either killed or deserted.

As the Cabo Delgado insurgency unfolds, Total’s MLNG project in Area 1 is the most exposed to the violence of the three northern liquefied natural gas schemes. However, ExxonMobil again delayed its final investment decision on the Rovuma LNG scheme in 2020 and there is no word on when FID will now come. ExxonMobil in early March postponed making an FID for the third consecutive year.

Belgium’s Enabel has invited expressions of interest (EoIs) for the design, procurement and construction of five hybrid mini-grids in Zambézia and Nampula provinces. The mini-grids are part of the second phase of Enabel’s Renewable Energy for Rural Development project, which was launched in mid-2018 and which will run until 2024.

LNG projects have faced a buffeting amid the security crisis in Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado region. While the timeline for Eni’s 3.4m t/yr Coral South floating LNG project looks robust, bigger schemes face further delays as a shaken gas sector takes account of an insurgency that can no longer be ignored – and which also poses questions about stability in southern Tanzania as a new leadership there makes soothing noises about investment, write James Gavin and Marc Howard.

As African Energy editor Thalia Griffiths leaves to explore new opportunities, colleagues asked for her take on developments after 23 years leading the publication. For all the tragedies like the current Ethiopian conflict, she sees real hope for a better future on a continent where, in many places, governance has improved and previously marginalised populations are becoming empowered to enact positive change.

The Beyond the Grid Fund for Africa (BGFA) will launch a call for proposals from micro-grid developers in Mozambique later this month. BGFA will provide total funding of €6.7m ($8m) to projects over a four-year period. The projects will be developed under a pilot licensing framework developed by Mozambique’s Energy Fund.

Policymakers agree more action is needed to counter debt distress and unlock funds for the energy transition, but there are few signs that a more effective financial architecture will emerge any time soon. Meanwhile concerns over rising sovereign debt are feeding into hesitancy over new lending, writes Jon Marks.

Brazilian miner Vale has announced plans to restructure the ownership of the loss-making Moatize coal mine as a first step towards exiting the coal business. Vale said on 20 January it had signed a heads of agreement with Japanese trading house Mitsui, allowing both parties to structure Mitsui’s exit from the Moatize coal mine and the Nacala Logistics Corridor (NLC) port and rail project. Vale will acquire Mitsui’s stake in the mine and logistics assets for $1 each, then seek a buyer for the assets, which could interest Indian or Chinese investors.

Sasol announced on 21 December that it had signed a sale securities purchase agreement with Azura Power Limited for its 49% shareholding in the 175MW Central Termica de Ressano Garcia (CTRG) plant. Azura will pay approximately $145m, and the transaction is subject to regulatory approval and the waiver of pre-emption rights held by utility Electricidade de Moçambique, Sasol said.

While most work has been suspended at Total’s Mozambique LNG project site, drilling is set to resume at Eni’s offshore Coral South development in Area 4. The National Petroleum Institute (INP) announced the arrival of the Saipem 12000 drillship at Pemba on 5 January, ready to resume drilling and completion operations. Drilling started in September 2019 but was suspended in April 2020 due to coronavirus restrictions.

Australia’s Syrah Resources Ltd has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with SolarCentury Africa Ltd to develop an 11.2MW solar PV and 8.5MW battery system to operate alongside an existing 15MW diesel plant at Syrah’s Balama graphite mine. Syrah said it had carried out technical design and pricing analyses with SolarCentury in 2020. The MoU sets the terms for further development, with the aim of installing the plant on a build, own, operate and transfer basis.