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New energy minister Ben Martins has taken up the portfolio vacated by Elizabeth Dipuo Peters, who has swapped to take up his post as transport minister in President Jacob Zuma’s government. As has been the case for several recent ministers, Martins does not have a background in energy issues. An African National Congress (ANC) member, he is a qualified lawyer and also an artist, writer and poet, whose posts include deputy chair of the Robben Island Museum Council

President Filipe Nyusi has been working to raise Mozambique’s attractiveness to investors during a period when growth rates have dipped, and currency and political risks have risen. Promising signs have included a welcome easing of visa procedures and a more sympathetic ear given to major investors. The macroeconomic picture is improving: growth, which halved from its strong performance of recent years to 3.5% in 2016, will rise to 4.5% in 2017, with further improvement after that, Electricidade de Moçambique (EDM) chairman and chief executive Mateus Magala told the Africa Energy Forum (AEF) in Copenhagen.

ANADARKO: Côte d’Ivoire, Sierra Leone setbacks; NIGERIA: Providence completes Aje sale to Jacka

Tullow Kenya has given Wood and WorleyParsons front-end engineering design (FEED) contracts for the initial phase of the Lokichar to Lamu crude oil pipeline project. Wood will provide the first phase of FEED services for the pipeline, setting the technical requirements and estimating the installed cost, while WorleyParsons will carry out FEED for the central processing facility. The government invited engineering design bids in January for the $2bn pipeline project.

Tullow Oil said on 19 November it agreed to issue 224,955 ordinary shares to Petrolin Trading Limited to settle a $5m debt of its subsidiary, Tullow Gabon Limited. Tullow Gabon had agreed to pay Petrolin the amount in exchange for the termination of agreements giving Petrolin the right to market part of Tullow’s West Africa crude oil production.

Kenya Power’s board of directors has named Ken Tarus as managing director and chief executive with effect from 1 August. Tarus had been acting managing director and chief executive since 4 January, when he was appointed following the departure of Ben Chumo at the end of his contract period. Tarus was previously the company’s general manager in charge of finance and had been a member of the executive management team for two years.

The Center for Studies and Initiatives for the Development of Equatorial Guinea (CEID) has protested against an Interior Ministry resolution ordering that the NGO should be dissolved. The decision was dated 11 April but delivered on 3 July. The CEID said the authorities had delayed making the decision public to avoid unwelcome publicity while Malabo was pursuing its application to re-join the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), hosting the African Development Bank annual meetings, receiving visits from delegations of the German parliament and Community of Lusophone Countries, and negotiating with the International Monetary Fund.

London Stock Exchange and Irish Stock Exchange-listed Aminex plc has reached agreement with East African Exploration Ltd (EAX) to increase its interest in the Nyuni production-sharing agreement and the 40m ft3/d gas discovery at Kiliwani North by 10%.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) is appraising a E150m ($204m) loan to the Moroccan Agency for Solar Energy (Masen) for the third phase of the Ouarzazate solar power complex. The loan, under appraisal since 18 June, will help fund the construction and operation of a 150MW concentrated solar power plant with a total cost of E850m. The third phase will consist of a tower plant with three hours’ solar energy storage capacity. The loan is the EIB’s third for the project. Last December, the EIB approved a E250m loan to Masen for the construction and operation of a 200MW concentrated solar power parabolic plant, representing the second phase, whose total cost is estimated at E1.06bn.

As Mozambique chalks up ever greater gas reserves, hopes are rising that the southern Rovuma Basin may also contain oil. Total has taken 40% in Petronas’ Areas 3 and 6, after Tullow Oil took 25% in Statoil’s Areas 2 and 5, specifically to look for oil.

The government published oil sales figures on 23 July showing that its share of marketed oil was 1m barrels in June, 2.2m barrels in July and a projected 3.2m barrels in August. Assuming an average government share in sales of 60%, that puts total sales at an average of about 55,000 b/d in June, 118,000 b/d in July and 172,000 b/d in August. The pipeline shutdown will not affect August oil sales because the linefill will be sufficient to meet commitments.

Sonatrach is in crisis, with the authorities investigating corruption allegations against chief executive Mohammed Meziane and other senior managers. Fortunately, big decisions have already been made on a number of major gas schemes, writes a Special Correspondent

South Sudan President Salva Kiir has shaken up the board of directors at state oil company Nilepet in a move that reinforces his personal influence over the company. Kiir issued a presidential decree in August making several new appointments to the board, including reinstating Benjamin Bol Mel, a business partner of the president, promoting current managing director Joseph Cleto Deng, Kiir’s former office manager, and appointing General Akol Kur Kuch, currently national security director.

Jon Marks reports from Kinshasa that major new power projects and an oil and gas licensing round are planned, but investors will need watertight guarantees to persuade them Congo really is open for business

A consortium of InfraCo Africa and Smart Energies International signed a 25-year power purchase agreement (PPA) on 9 August with the Ministry of Energy and Société Nationale d’Electricité (SNE) for the 60MWp Djermaya Solar project. “The PPA marks a key milestone in the development of Djermaya Solar, enabling the project to raise construction financing and demonstrating the joint commitment of all parties to developing renewable energy in Chad,” InfraCo said.