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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.

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.

Amidst political instability and heightened tensions with France, Mali has commissioned the  140MW Gouina hydroelectric power project, spurring transitional premier Colonel Abdoulaye Maïga to encourage more effort towards completing other OMVS projects.

Global Alliance for People and Planet and the Norwegian government have pledged more funding to support the development of solar power in Sahel countries.

Increased jihadist activity has displaced populations and affected business across the region, as armed groups seek to generate income by attacking mines and other revenue generators. The failure of the Lieutenant Colonel Paul-Henri Damiba regime in Burkina Faso to protect artisanal gold miners in the north was one of many security concerns that served as a pretext for his overthrow; mines are being attacked by the same insurgent groups in Mali.

The Sahel region’s multi-faceted crises have deepened further with junior officers replacing their seniors in Burkina Faso’s latest coup d’état, a move which now threatens sanctions and other retaliation from Ecowas states, increases diplomatic tensions with western governments – while Russia helps to fan the flames – and undermines business initiatives and efforts to make economies more sustainable. African Energy analyses the latest developments in Burkina Faso, Chad, Guinea and Mali, along with their G5 Sahel partner Niger and other big stakeholders in the region.

Bboxx has concluded its acquisition of PEG Africa, giving the ­London-based firm access to four more African markets – Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana and Mali – while it is also tying up with more major corporates, creating ventures with Orange in Democratic Republic of Congo and Unilever in Kenya.

Colonel Assimi Goïta’s Conseil National de Transition (CNT) junta is creating a company to manage Mali’s mineral resources, the Council of Ministers announced on 24 August – adding to its efforts to control the mining industry.

Vivo Energy has completed the Nampala mine solar and battery plant project in Mali for Robex Resources and has signed an agreement for work at the Kiniéro goal mine in Guinea, operated by Sycamore Mining, which Robex is taking over.

Brave efforts are being made to continue with business as usual in the Sahel, despite an apparently never-ending security crisis, which has been further aggravated by a split in the western-backed G5 Sahel (G5S) alliance of Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger, as the military-led regime in Bamako seeks to distance itself from France and its allies.

Despite problems with the Malian regime following the military coups of August 2020 and May 2021, energy sector work continues. A World Bank Implementation Status and Results Report for the Mali Electricity Sector Improvement Project (Mesip), dated 27 June, listed progress as “moderately satisfactory” on the scheme to support state utility Energie du Mali (EDM) and improve transmission and access.

The four-nation Organisation for the Development of the Senegal River (OMVS) has issued a tender seeking an operator to raise financing, conduct studies and build a 225kV transmission line, as part of the Manantali II project to supply Mauritania with electricity from hydroelectric power (HEP) plants in Mali.

Energy and mines minister Lamine Seydou launched construction of the Goulamina lithium development on 3 June. Work is expected to take two years at the $250m project, which reached its final investment decision in January. It is estimated the mine will make Mali the world’s third-largest producer of lithium.

Several off-grid mini-grid projects which stalled during the pandemic due to the rising cost of equipment and logistics are now struggling with the impact of sanctions on Colonel Assimi Goïta’s military regime.

Mali’s economy and finance minister Aloussény Sanou has told other government departments their expected funding has been blocked. The move comes after the World Bank suspended its International Development Association (IDA) credits and other facilities to the country.