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Control over African mineral reserves means governments now hold a lot of the cards in negotiating with corporations and political leaders, during a period of rising global demand and shifting power balances. Industry players now argue that more equitable partnerships may finally be on the table.

Lagos-headquartered multilateral the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) has set out its stall as a financier and partner for the continent’s energy transition, with a strategy to support renewable energy and critical minerals projects around the continent, as well as the development of battery manufacturing supply chains. The AFC also plans to continue supporting short- to medium-term energy needs by backing upstream and midstream gas projects and gas-to-power (GTP) developments. Marc Howard spoke to AFC executive director and chief investment officer Sameh Shenouda during the recent Africa Energy Forum in Nairobi.

US player West Africa LNG has a $300m deal to build a liquefied natural gas import and distribution terminal to supply gas to power-hungry miners and to-be-developed alumina processing facilities in a country where previous efforts to expand the grid have faltered and significant additional generation capacity will be required to develop alumina processing at scale. Chaired by a former US ambassador to Guinea, WALNG has yet to expand on financing and other critical details.

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.

The Council of Ministers has called for work to be undertaken as soon as possible at the 1.65MW capacity Tinkisso hydroelectric power (HEP) dam, which was built in the early 1970s to serve the Dabola and Faranah region.

Rio Tinto and China Baowu Steel Group have agreed the terms for developing the rail and port infrastructure that will deliver Simandou’s iron ore to market.

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

National power utilities from Guinea, Guinea Bissau and Senegal have expressed interest in buying electricity from a planned 150MW solar park in Gambia, using the West Africa Power Pool (Wapp). The project is one of nine solar park projects envisaged in an Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) power masterplan.

State-owned China Baowu Steel Group has signed an agreement with Winning Consortium Simandou (WCS) to help develop blocks 1 and 2 of the giant iron ore project. WCS said Baowu would work “as a potential investor in close collaboration with its partners”.

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 three core Mano River Union countries are confronted by major decisions that will shape their future direction, from potential progress on major resources plays led by Guinea’s huge Simandou iron ore mining and infrastructure development and Liberia’s struggles with major investor Arcelor Mittal to Sierra Leone’s political crisis. All three have searching questions of governance and equity for their populations, writes Jon Marks with correspondents in Freetown, Conakry and Monrovia.

Norgold Group has commissioned a 33MW heavy fuel oil (HFO) power plant at its Lefa gold mine project in Guinea. The $30m project will cut the mine’s fuel consumption electricity production by 15% and engine oil by 30% and result in a 17,000-ton reduction in annual greenhouse gas emissions.

The West African Transco CLSG transmission network is working to build a second 243MW line, begin energy trade with indebted Liberia and integrate C&I customers and renewable energy sources into the sub-regional network that covers Cote d’Ivoire, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.

Australian junior Arrow Minerals has made a bold play to position itself in Guinea’s major iron ore region, agreeing with Singapore-based Amalgamated Minerals to buy into a project called Simandou North, which could piggy-back onto much bigger Simandou projects’ long-anticipated infrastructure mega-developments.

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.