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Energy officials have warned of power cuts following a breakdown at the 150MW Azito thermal plant. Ministry of Mines and Energy director general of energy Simon Eddy, told business representatives Azito had been out of action since 22 December and was unlikely to be fixed before late April or early May.

Democratic Republic of Congo catches the imagination of those who see its potential to drive Africa’s future through its mineral wealth, resourceful population and the Inga Falls hydroelectric resource. But grandiose visions tend to founder on rocky realities in this vast, extravagantly diverse country, where power politics and the global commodities price crash – which in early May forced the government to cut 2016 spending by some 22% – have deeply unsettled much of what remains of international business. In May, major investor Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Cobalt announced it was selling up.

The West African Development Bank (BOAD) has agreed a loan of FCFA20bn ($41m) to the Niger government to fund the expansion of the capital’s main power plant. Capacity at the Goudel plant will be expanded to 65MW from 35MW to improve supply to the Niamey region. Most of Niger’s power comes from the Kandji dam in Nigeria, which supplies towns in the south and centre-east. Northern Niger is supplied through local production by Niger coal company Sonichar, which also supplies power to Areva’s uranium mines.

Competition is believed to be intense as bidding closes to take over Sasol’s 50% stake in the Rompco pipeline, which runs 865km from the Temane gas field in Mozambique to Sasol’s Secunda complex in Mpumalanga.

Engie Africa launched a pilot project earlier this month to provide purified water, power and Wi-Fi to off-grid communities in Kigali, Rwanda.

Gambia’s National Water and Electricity Company Ltd (Nawec) on 4 November issued a request for qualification from independent power producers to develop, finance, build, operate and maintain a 30MW dual fuel power plant in Kotu, Gambia.

The Zambian government’s refusal to make a $42.5m interest payment by its 13 November deadline – thereby triggering a sovereign debt default – was hardly a surprise. The investor appetite that persuaded lenders to pile into $3bn-worth of Eurobonds has waned on President Edgar Lungu’s watch, while Covid-19 and falling commodity prices have affected sub-Saharan Africa as a whole. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) predicts the region’s economy will contract by 3% in 2020 and its forecast 3.1% growth in 2021 will be “a smaller expansion than expected in much of the rest of the world”.