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Tullow has risen first to lead the front rank of independents operating in sub-Saharan Africa, in the process pioneering oil production in several jurisdictions. Its ambition is to become the “biggest pure exploration business around”, chief executive Aidan Heavey told Thalia Griffiths in Cape Town.

Ugandan and Ghanaian government plans for rigorous local content regimes reflect politicians’ concerns that the fruits of oil production will neither be enjoyed by sufficient numbers of voters nor create sustainable national industries. Implementation may add to the burden on IOCs but is in the interests of all parties, writes Hugh Boylan

As debate intensifies about what form East Africa’s oil infrastructure should take, Uganda’s government has made its intentions clear by issuing tenders in support of its controversial refinery plans

In a ceremony timed to coincide with celebrations marking the 50th anniversary of Uganda’s independence, President Yoweri Museveni and the Aga Khan formally inaugurated the Bujagali dam on 8 October.

Of all the assorted regional infrastructure projects jostling for supremacy in East Africa, the growing credibility of the Lamu Corridor project raises the possibility of a new East African power axis of Kenya and an emergent Ethiopia.

The 3.5MW Nyagak hydroelectric power station was inaugurated on 14 September by President Yoweri Museveni. The long-delayed facility was built as part of the West Nile rural electrification project, the first African project to be financed in part by the World Bank’s Prototype Carbon Fund.

Germany’s Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW), the European Union and the African Union Commission’s Regional Geothermal Coordination Unit are gearing up to select the first projects from their new €50m Geothermal Risk Mitigation Facility (GRMF), to support developments in Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda.

The selection of a construction contractor for the delayed Karuma dam has run into trouble over claims of irregularities in the tender process. Cornelia Sabiti, executive director of the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Authority, wrote to the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development on 5 September seeking an administrative review of the 600MW project.

Power distributor Umeme plans a minority listing of its shares on the Uganda Securities Exchange and Nairobi Securities Exchange this year, subject to approval from market regulators. The company is 100% owned by emerging markets private equity firm Actis. Reuters said some 20% was expected to be floated

While there is still much more exploration work to be done, Kenya’s discovery of oil is important for more than just national pride. The find, announced in April by Block 10BB operator Tullow Oil, is a significant stabilising factor for regional development as it enables the East African Community (EAC)’s main economic and political power to take a seat at the table alongside its hitherto luckier neighbours.

Tower Resources has named Sterling Energy co-founder Graeme Thomson as its new chief executive. Tower pulled out of Ugandan block EA5 after three dry wells but still has three blocks in Namibia, as well as interests in the disputed Western Sahara

Kenya’s onshore promise has prompted Tullow Oil to accelerate its drilling programme, and results could prove decisive in settling long-standing disputes over development plans for neighbouring Uganda, but international boundary disputes between Kenya and Ethiopia could pose a risk down the line, writes Adrian J Browne

Tullow Oil expects to start small-scale production from its Ugandan fields in late Q4 12 and will drill 20 wells there this year

Tullow Oil’s Kenya Block 10BB well results have potentially huge implications for exploration in adjacent blocks 10BA, 12A, 13T, and also across the border in Ethiopia’s South Omo Block

The former president of Africa Oil and Black Marlin is back in East Africa with a new company looking to farm into some of Ophir Energy’s more politically challenging assets