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The Saudi Fund for Development has signed an agreement to provide a $220m loan to Tunisia, of which $114m will go towards developing a fourth power plant in Sousse. Another $81m will go towards expanding Tunisia’s domestic gas network, and the remainder towards professional training in poorer areas.

A decision by the African Development Bank (AfDB) board of governors to prepare for the bank’s return to its statutory headquarters in Abidjan, following the end of conflict in Côte d’Ivoire, was discussed at the first formal meeting between AfDB president Donald Kaberuka and Tunisian interim Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali on 3 July

ANGOLA: End-August election date; EQUATORIAL GUINEA: Nguema Lima promoted; TUNISIA: Ennahda-led government to implement EITI

Reports that Qatar plans to build a 120,000 b/d refinery at La Skhira on Tunisia’s Gulf of Gabes coast, to refine Libyan and other crude, revives a project that was first discussed in the 1990s as Tunis sought to add to domestic capacity beyond its ageing 35,000 b/d Bizerte refinery and develop its potential as an export hub

Cooper Energy Tunisia Bargou has given AGR a well-management contract for planning, execution and post-drilling activities for the planned Hammamet West-3 well on the Bargou permit in the Gulf of Hammamet in Q4 this year

The multilateral created to pull former communist economies into the global market is gearing up to provide significant support for North Africa, but like other elements of the so-called Deauville Partnership, things are not moving as quickly as supporters of the ‘Arab Spring’ would like, writes Jon Marks

Boosted by the prospect of developing export-oriented solar projects, the new government is making a clear commitment to renewables as it seeks to improve job prospects and attract investment from its neighbours to the north. 

Algeria’s council of ministers has approved the sale of an 18.375% interest in the Isarene production-sharing contract (PSC) to Enel Trade SpA (Enel); Doris Engineering has given UK-based Jee a contract for specialist subsea and riser engineering for the deep-water Kaombo pipeline system on Total’s Block 32; Operator SOCO International has encountered non-commercial hydrocarbons in the Makouala Marine-1 exploration well on the Marine XIV licence; Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) has extended the deadline for its licensing round to 29 March; Golden Crescent Investments, a Citadel Capital opportunity-specific fund, has agreed to sell its interest in National Petroleum Company Egypt Limited (NPC Egypt) to Canada’s Sea Dragon Energy; Hess has issued a letter of award to Seadrill to enter into an eight-well drilling contract for the semi-tender rig West Esperanza; Australia’s Tangiers Petroleum plans to list on London’s Alternative Investment Market on 3 February and has begun a 677km2 3D seismic acquisition programme in its offshore Tarfaya Block; Circle Oil has completed the construction phase of the new Sebou-Kenitra 8-inch pipeline; TVI Pacific has opted not to take part in the second exploration phase for the Tenere Block with China National Petroleum Corporation; PA Resources has sold its stakes in the Ezzaouia and El Bibane oil-producing fields to Candax Energy for $4m

Multilaterals lined up to voice support for Masen’s ground-breaking CSP scheme at Ouarzazate, ahead of the global climate conference in Durban. With other solar schemes also reporting progress, Morocco’s aspirations to become a leading renewables producer are moving ahead, writes Jon Marks

Norway’s DNO International has joined a spate of new arrivals in Tunisia, signing an agreement for the Fkirine exploration licence in the centre of the country. The company will fund the exploration phase

Dubai-based Dragon Oil has signed a farm-in agreement with Australia’s Cooper Energy to earn a 55% interest in the Bargou exploration permit in the Gulf of Hammamet.

State utility Société Tunisienne de l’Electricité et du Gaz (Steg), the African Development Bank (AfDB) and World Bank are working on a Clean Technology Fund (CTF) scheme, the Concentrated Solar Power scale-up investment plan, to develop a 100MW CSP unit.

There is speculation that Rachid Ghannouchi’s Islamist Ennahda (Renaissance) party will gain a big slice of the vote when Tunisia goes to the polls on 23 October to elect the constituent assembly that will draw up a new constitution, and that polling will be followed by significant changes in the interim government ahead of an elected administration emerging by H2 2012.

Tunisia appears to have abandoned hopes of launching independent power projects (IPPs) during the current period of political reform and economic uncertainty. The much-needed expansion of its power generation capacity

Operator ADX Energy spudded the Sidi Dhaher well on the Chorbane permit near Sfax on 26 August.