Search results

London AIM-listed Chariot is carrying out a strategic review of its Transitional Power division, which could lead to the sale of its stakes in four renewable energy projects, as well as its shareholding in South African electricity trader Etana Energy.

Sinomine Resource Group has made deals to purchase controlling interests in a copper mine in Zambia and a copper smelter in Namibia, as the Chinese mining group steps up efforts to increase the production of copper and other critical minerals in southern Africa.

Swedfund International (Swedfund) and the European Union (EU) have offered finance to carry out environmental and technical feasibility studies for the Malawi-Zambia interconnector, a 330/400kV cross-border transmission line that spans about 184km between Zambia and Malawi.

Shortfalls in financial flows, failures to deal with debt and a lack of voice in global decision-making arenas are longstanding issues that African leaders are now seeking to address, with leaders from Ghana, Kenya and Zambia setting out a blueprint for reform covering everything from UN Security Council seats to the reallocation of $100bn-worth of assets held by the IMF. The extent to which these ambitious goals can be achieved could prove critical to Africa’s ability to finance and structure the energy transition on its terms – but the continent’s governments also need to accelerate their own reforms.

A drought has sharply reduced electricity generation in Zambia, prompting state-owned power utility Zesco to start rationing electricity. An eight-hour daily electricity rationing programme started on 11 March, in response to a reduced level of generation from Zesco’s drought hit hydroelectric power (HEP) plants.

CFM’s appointment to manage the Southern African Power Pool ’s $1.3bn Regional Transmission Infrastructure Financing Facility could free up a decades-long blockage in the development of cross-border transmission infrastructure. How quickly this happens depends on the success of fundraising efforts in the coming months, and the willingness of utilities and finance ministries to make the RTIFF scheme work.

7YRDS Energy Zambia is seeking a partnership with the Lusaka-based Industrial Development Corporation to build two solar PV projects in Kafue and Sesheke districts with combined 100MW capacity.

Rivalry between the world’s two most powerful nations is driving a rush to build strategic export-focused railway infrastructure in Africa on a scale not seen since the height of the Cold War. Washington’s $500m commitment to the minerals export-focused Lobito Corridor has been countered by a $1bn Chinese proposal to rehabilitate the creaking Tazara line. The two megaprojects will have terminals close together in the Copperbelt, but geopolitical considerations are likely to prevent any interconnection, writes Marc Howard.

The Copperbelt Energy Corporation (CEC) raised $145m in an investment round led by private equity investor Affirma Capital in early January, quickly followed by the listing of a debut $54m ‘green bond’ on the Lusaka Securities Exchange. The bond is the first part of a planned $200m issuance programme, which was launched in December to fund an expansion of the company’s solar PV generation capacity. Managing director Owen Silavwe, gave African Energy an update on the progress of the 60MW solar PV project at Itimpi, which will take CEC’s solar capacity to 96MW.

Miners have intensified uranium extraction and prospecting in Africa over the past two years as market prices surged after a decade of post-Fukushima lows.

According to a number of people close to the project, the final delivery cost for the 750MW Kafue Gorge Lower hydroelectric power (HEP) station is now expected to be some $300m less than the previously expected, after refinancing by Zambian state utility Zesco and the main contractor. Zesco managing director Victor Mapani outlined to African Energy the expected impact on the final tariff that Kafue Gorge Lower Power Development Corporation (KGLPDC) charges to Zesco.    

Copperbelt Energy Corporation (CEC) has launched a $54m ‘green’ bond, as part of a larger $200m programme of issuance to fund an expansion of its solar photovoltaic generation capacity to 300MW.

The announcement that a unit of United Arab Emirates national security adviser Sheikh Tahnoun Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan’s International Holding Company was winning bidder for a stake in loss-making Mopani Copper Mines points to the emergence of ‘middle powers’ in strategic African resources plays and a hoped-for revival in Zambia’s mining ambitions.

A PPA for the 25MW Ilute independent power project fits into Zambia’s wider plan to use open access to become a regional hub for electricity trading. Offtaker Africa GreenCo will sell Ilute’s power to a variety of customers by wheeling across national utility Zesco’s transmission network and the Southern African Power Pool (Sapp)

UAE-based players have used COP28 to commit – and recommit – to projects that could supply over 12GW of renewables capacity across Africa. Emiratis argue this displays a willingness to push projects forward and shoulder risk, while others have failed to deliver – and if critics complain they are also prominent in the oil lobby, Abu Dhabi can counter that the UAE has assumed a leading role in enabling Africa’s energy transition.