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The multi-donor Universal Energy Facility has issued a Wave 2 tender for mini-grid projects in Democratic Republic of Congo, while results are awaited on its call for bids in Madagascar and Sierra Leone.

Uganda-based developer Equatorial Power (EP) has secured grant finance from two multilateral finance institutions to scale up its mini-grid business in Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

Uganda is planning an oil licensing round in 2023, as it seeks to develop its petroleum sector, mineral development and energy minister Ruth Nankabirwa Ssentamu told an oil and gas conference in Kampala on 27 September. African Energy examines this news and provides a roundup of other bid rounds across Africa.

Agence Nationale de l’Electrification et des Services Energétiques en Milieux Rural et Périurbain (Anser) has issued an invitation to tender for 14 projects, including three hydroelectric power (HEP) plants, to be implemented under the local development programme for the Grand Kasaï 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.

A confidential United Nations Group of Experts report, leaked on 4 August, included apparent evidence that the Rwandan military had been operating in Democratic Republic of Congo since last November, supporting the re-emergence of the Tutsi-led M23 militia.

FMO has signed a $750,000 ‘repayable development contribution’ for AEE Power Ventures, drawn from the Dutch development finance institution’s Access to Energy Fund.

The Ministry of Hydrocarbons has significantly expanded Democratic Republic of Congo’s oil and gas licensing round, which is due to start in late July, with 27 oil blocks and three gas concessions now included.

Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have awarded a consultancy contract to Aecom for a power interconnection line between the two countries.

Africa’s top copper producers have announced plans to revive joint power projects that had remained largely abandoned for over ten years.

Aksa Enerji sees opportunities in African GTP markets for the conversion of open cycle gas turbine (OCGT) plants to combined cycle (CCGT). In March it was gazetted that Aksa had been awarded a four-year provisional independent power producer (IPP) licence by the Republic of Congo government, which may indicate the Turkish firm will develop its own IPPs too.

Mini-grid financing facility CrossBoundary Energy Access has raised a $25m senior debt facility. CrossBoundary is looking to raise $150m in total to finance a portfolio of mini-grids primarily in Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Madagascar, Nigeria, Uganda and Zambia.

The Ugandan government has signed an agreement with Gridworks that will see the British government-owned developer and financier provide up to $90m of equity funding to upgrade four key substations. A key goal of the upgrades is to increase the grid’s ability to supply large industrial offtakers and export power to Kenya and DR Congo. Gridworks said the project was “one of the only privately financed” transmission developments in sub-Saharan Africa so far.

It is more than a whisper: international institutions and private equity (PE) investors are again exploring major hydroelectric power (HEP) deals, after years during which environmental, social and governance (ESG) concerns made big dams a problematic issue for development finance institutions (DFI) and other potential investors.

As the post-Kabila Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) slowly opens up to investment, a new cast of characters is emerging with the promise of helping to make up the country’s dramatic infrastructure shortfalls.