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Independent power producer Solgas Energy has begun work to expand the Hwange-based Cross Mabale solar PV plant by 10MW.

Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) secretary-general Mohammad Sanusi Barkindo fell victim to a heart attack in his native Nigeria on 5 July, aged 63, shortly before he was due to leave the post he had held with some skill and grace since August 2016.

South32’s Hillside Aluminium and renewables provider Solana Energy have partnered to develop solar PV projects to add 2-2.5MW of electricity to the grid in Richards Bay.

InnoSun Energy will develop a 5MW solar plant at the Trekkopje site north-east of Swakopmund, to supply power to Orano Mining Namibia’s Erongo desalination plant.

Norway’s Aker Energy has been granted more time to submit a development plan for its Pecan oil field in the Deepwater Tano Cape Three Points (DWT/CTP) concession. A company statement said the delay was due to uncertainties about supplier commitments, triggered by the war in Ukraine.

London Stock Exchange-listed Afentra has agreed to pay $33m to increase its stake in one offshore block in Angola and take a minority stake in an adjoining area. In a 19 July statement, the company said its wholly-owned subsidiary Afentra (Angola) had signed an agreement with the local Industrija Nafte (INA) to acquire a 4% non-operated interest in Block 3/05 and a 5.33% stake in Block 3/05A.

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.

Namibia has yet to meet the expectations of those who believe its geology holds hydrocarbons riches, from the Kudu gas field to potential offshore oil fields. Now there are hopes that Petrobras’ arrival as farm-in partner on Chariot’s offshore acreage will transform the country’s search for oil and gas, writes Eleanor Gillespie.

As presidential and congressional elections approach in Brazil, observers say the potential for a change in leadership is raising the possibility of a return by Brazilian industrial giants to Africa after a difficult period of governance crises and restructuring.

President Abdelmadjid Tebboune on 14 July named a new finance minister to replace Abderrahmane Raouya, who was sacked.

Progress in Kenya's energy sector has been mixed under President Uhuru Kenyatta. His successor will inherit an electricity supply industry (ESI) lacking strong unifying leadership at troubled utility Kenya Power – which is part-way through a turnaround – and at the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA), as well as strained relations with many private investors. Other items in the next government’s in-tray will be the long-delayed auctions for renewable energy (RE) projects, as well as power market deregulation and implementation of the net-metering policy.

Algerian leaders have been enjoying the extent to which markets have shifted since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, allowing Sonatrach to deflect any downside from the Maghreb-Europe Gas Pipeline (GME)’s closure as it redirects gas away from Spain to other more favoured European partners – all the while maintaining the regime’s traditionally strong strategic relationship with Russia. As widely predicted, Italy is the major initial beneficiary.

Morocco is to develop a legally-binding framework to exchange carbon credits with Singapore. The deal falls under Article 6.2 of the United Nations Framework on Climate Change’s Paris Agreement which permits countries to exchange carbon credits bilaterally.

Kenya Electricity Generating Company (KenGen) has contracted Italian specialist Steam to conduct tests and set up a facility for extracting minerals such as silica and lithium from geothermal fluids, in a revenue diversification bid.

Angola’s ambitions to develop its gas resources took a step forward in late July when the partners in the New Gas Consortium said they had reached a final investment decision (FID) on the Quiluma and Maboqueiro gas project.