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The board of the African Development Bank (AfDB) has approved a $50m framework financing for projects with combined capacity of around 100MW selected through the Global Energy Transfer Feed-in Tariff (Get FiT) programme. The financing will mainly target solar projects, which will be bid into a reverse auction process overseen by German development bank KfW, with a maximum combined capacity of 100MW and maximum project capacity of 20MW.

The acquisition of Copperbelt Energy Corporation (CEC) by the UK’s CDC Group and investment fund AP Møller Capital has collapsed after conditions could not be met within the regulatory timeframe. The pair had offered $380m for the company, which is listed on the Lusaka Stock Exchange, and the transaction was believed to have received support from President Edgar Lungu.

Zesco and senior officials are determined to press ahead with tariff increases despite the stalling of a cost-of-service study that was intended to form the basis of a new multi-year tariff determination. Negotiations have been under way since last year with large consumers, mostly mines, which are still in the process of agreeing an interim tariff. However, failure to complete the study could have implications for negotiations with the miners, who have used Zesco’s governance and performance to resist tariff increases in the past.

An announcement by finance minister Margaret Mwanakatwe on 6 July that the government had completed a three-week investigation into its debt sustainability and “we know what debt we have and also we have shared the facts and figures with the [International Monetary Fund] IMF” illustrates how perilous its debt situation has become. A combination of inept governance and ugly politics means that President Edgar Lungu’s administration has lost credibility to the point that investors are sceptical of both its figures – the government claims to have $9.3bn of external debt – and its ability to get control of its finances.

The governments of Tanzania and Zambia are planning to privatise the Tanzania-Zambia Railway Authority (Tazara) to improve management of the 1,860km route from Dar es Salaam in Tanzania to New Kapiri Mposhi in Zambia. Tazara said in 2016 that it needed around $250m of short-term investments and about $1.2bn in the long term to bring the railway back to peak performance.

The Global Energy Transfer Feed-in Tariff (Get FiT) Zambia programme has shortlisted ten companies or consortia for a 100MW solar photovoltaic (PV) tender following a request for qualification process launched on 9 April. The Get FiT Zambia secretariat said it reviewed 41 project submissions from 24 solar power developers and investors. The ten shortlisted bidders will be invited to submit full technical and financial proposals.

Project company Virunga Sarl is seeking bids for the supply of medium and low-voltage equipment to build a distribution network for the 12.18MW Lubero hydroelectric project in North Kivu province. Lubero, scheduled for completion next year, is one of several small hydro plants being developed in the Virunga National Park, run by a partnership between UK-based charity Virunga Foundation and national parks authority Institut Congolais pour la Conservation de la Nature.

The Zambezi River Authority (ZRA) has shortlisted three international contractors for the spillway rehabilitation of the Kariba dam – China Gezhouba Group Company Limited, GE Hydro France and an Italian joint venture of CMC di Ravenna and ATB Riva Calzoni.The prequalified companies will be invited to bid for the works tender, marking the final lap of the spillway rehabilitation procurement process. The tender closes on 21 June, and the contract is expected to be awarded by Q4 2018.

The energy ministers of Zambia and Democratic Republic of Congo signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in Kinshasa on 5 April setting out a new timetable for a joint 1,000MW-1,400MW hydroelectric project involving several sites on the Luapula River.The MoU sets 2021 as the date for finalisation of the feasibility study and environmental and social impact assessment (ESIA), the launch of construction tenders and the award of the contract. The previous deadline was end-2018.

The Global Energy Transfer Feed-in Tariff (Get FiT) Zambia programme issued a request for qualification on 9 April for 100MW of solar photovoltaic (PV) power. Get FiT became the official implementation programme for the government’s renewable energy feed-in tariff (Refit) strategy in December 2017 and launched on 7 February. The strategy was approved by cabinet in October 2017 and aims to procure up to 100MW of hydropower and 100MW of solar by 2020. Get FiT projects must be 20MW or smaller.

The African Development Bank (AfDB) announced on 7 March that its proposal for a $50m loan and $2.5m grant to support renewable energy in Zambia has been approved by the board of the Green Climate Fund (GCF). The funds will be used to finance renewable energy projects with total capacity of up to 100MW approved under the renewable energy feed-in tariff (ReFiT), which applies to projects smaller than 20MW. The AfDB said it expected to back primarily solar projects to help Zambia diversify away from hydropower.

A bid by UK development finance institution CDC Group and AP Møller Capital (APMC) to acquire the Zambian operations of Copperbelt Energy Corporation (CEC) is moving ahead, although recent government changes have slowed progress and financial close is still awaited. President Edgar Lungu is said to be very supportive of the deal under which London Stock Exchange-listed CDC and Danish fund manager APMC would acquire a majority stake in Lusaka-listed CEC, offering a $380m capital injection.

The Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (Pida) plans to float a diaspora bond in Zimbabwe and Zambia to raise part of the funding required for the construction of the 2,400MW Batoka Gorge hydroelectric power plant in the Zambezi River Basin. The Zambezi River Authority (ZRA) will visit Ethiopia in March to study and replicate how the country has used the bonds to fund the construction of its 6,000MW Grand Renaissance Dam. ZRA is a statutory company jointly owned by Zimbabwe and Zambia.

The Zambia Development Agency has invited prequalification bids for the sale of a majority stake in Indeni Petroleum Refinery Company Limited. The sale process will be implemented in two stages. According to the tender notice, the prequalification stage aims to assess applicants’ suitability in terms of financial and technical capacity and experience in the management of an oil refinery business. This will be followed by a request for proposal stage, during which the prequalified applicants will be asked to propose turnaround strategies to ensure the refinery’s future viability.

Finnish consulting and engineering company Pöyry plc announced on 23 January that it has been appointed by national utility Zesco to carry out further environmental and social studies for the long-delayed 750MW Kafue Gorge Lower hydropower project, which is located 60km south of Lusaka on the Kafue River.Construction of the plant is under way, with President Edgar Lungu attending a ceremony marking the diversion of the river in October last year.