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The International Monetary Fund (IMF)’s latest World Economic Outlook (WEO) Update, issued at the end of January, underlines China’s importance both globally and for an African continent where it has made considerable efforts to build political relations and infrastructure, in order to secure resources vital to its domestic growth.

Nigeria’s industry regulator is leading another effort to sell marginal oil and gas blocks – the first under the Petroleum Industry Act. As Abuja looks for new impetus in its hydrocarbons industry, African Energy has updated its maps.

The Kano state government has announced the completion of construction work at the Tiga hydroelectric power (HEP) project following years of delays.

Off-grid liquid generation remains a costly default option for retail customers in countries with unreliable grids. Half-a-dozen grid collapses this year in Nigeria have demonstrated how unreliable and underpowered the grid is, with diesel and other small genset backups estimated to comprise as much as 12GW of off-grid liquid capacity.

A realignment of global alliances is ever more apparent as the first anniversary of Russia’s attempted conquest of Ukraine approaches and global power and wealth seem to concentrate in ever fewer hands. This has been seen in the solidarity among members of the Opec+ oil exporters’ alliance, in which long western-aligned Saudi Arabia and President Vladimir Putin’s Russia remain the driving forces.

Elections in February will set the direction for Africa’s most populous country for the next five years, with the likelihood that a ‘business as usual’ candidate will win. As security and economic crises pose ever more challenges, it would be a good time for Nigeria to unleash its more positive forces to avoid an even worse malaise, write Jon Marks, Marc Howard and Adaora Elemide.

Although some of Nigeria’s insecurity is intersecting, analysts frequently highlight four particular areas of chronic conflict.

Nigeria’s chronic security crises show no signs of abating, with the state battling insurgents and banditry on at least four fronts. Although the military has had some success in tackling Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province (Iswap) insurgents in the north-east and militia in the north-west, the wider security situation remains extremely difficult.

The ground-breaking power purchase agreement signed by independent power producer Azura Power in 2013 is again being targeted by a National Assembly probe. Azura has been widely seen as a model for private investment in the electricity supply industry, but pressure continues as politicians seek a way out of a deal they see as too costly, writes Adaora Elemide in Abuja.

Five more memoranda of understanding (MoUs) were signed in Rabat on 5 December, bringing more partners into the Nigeria-Morocco Gas Pipeline (NMGP) project.

Nigerian independent Green Energy International (Geil) says it could invest up to $750m over the next three years to boost output at the Otakikpo field to 25,000 b/d. Geil is also due to commission a 6MW gas-to-power (GTP) plant and a 12m cf/d modular liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) extraction plant.

Governors of the country’s 36 states have taken legal action to stop the federal government privatising five of the ten power plants developed under the Nigerian Integrated Power Projects (NIPP) initiative.

Ahead of elections next year, the team that has pushed reforms to the electricity supply industry is working to ensure international financial commitments for electrification and the National Mass Metering Programme (NMMP) are secured, and the broad lines of the All Progressive Congress (APC) administration’s policy continue, a senior source told African Energy. A particular focus is making sure that World Bank Group (WBG) commitments are implemented.

Renewable energy developer Darway Coast Nigeria has raised a seven-year, fixed-rate local currency debt facility for a mini-grid programme in southern Nigeria, in the first transaction backed by the Infrastructure Credit Guarantee Company (Infracredit)’s Clean Energy Funding Programme (CEFP).

After years of futile exploration, President Muhammadu Buhari has announced the discovery of oil in Bauchi and Gombe states in north-eastern Nigeria, just as his administration enters its final period in office. However, there is considerable scepticism about an announcement that could allow fragile northern states to tap into additional federal funding, writes Adaora Elemide in Abuja.