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For Interim President Mamady Doumbouya, progress on the Simandou iron ore megaproject may show his transitional regime is capable of effective governance in Guinea, as he courts a range of international leaders –  as the colonel underlined by his attendance in New York at the late September United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) – and tries to control the calendar for political transition.

Guinea’s military government has received a significant fillip as mining giant Rio Tinto and Chinese steelmaker Baowu made further commitments to the Simandou megaproject – in the process offering hope to Interim President Mamady Doumbouya that exports could eventually start from the long-stalled scheme, as his regime moves slowly on the promised transition back to democracy, write Marc Howard and Our Conakry Correspondent.

The long-awaited signing of the Simandou iron ore development infrastructure agreement is a watershed moment for Conakry, which has also set in motion ambitious plans for domestic alumina processing. Both industries will require significant investment in gigawatts of energy and power capacity, write Marc Howard and a Special Correspondent in Conakry.

 Guinea has substantial reserves of bauxite, the world’s main source of aluminium, yet lags far behind in turning bauxite into alumina. African Energy understands two new refinery projects are under development –  final investment decisions are expected within two years – that will require hundreds of megawatts of power generation capacity.

Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) Venture-listed SRG Mining has said it expects to soon meet the conditions of its $12.7m private placement with China’s Carbon One New Energy Group (C-One).

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.

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.

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”.