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Plagued by frequent load-shedding throughout February and March, Botswana’s government is looking to external consultants to streamline management of state utility Botswana Power Corporation (BPC). In late April, The Irish Times reported that the international consultancy arm of Ireland’s state-owned Electricity Supply Board, ESB International, had been awarded a three-year contract to manage BPC. An ESB spokeswoman told African Energy that the company was “in discussions for the project”, but that an agreement had yet to be finalised. Botswana has long relied on imported power, mainly from South Africa’s Eskom, Electricidade de Moçambique and Namibia’s Nampower, to meet demand, but supply has failed to keep pace with growing demand throughout the Southern African Power Pool.

Kibo Mining has announced an agreement to acquire an 85% interest in the Mabesekwa coal to power project in Botswana from Sechaba Natural Resources, a 100% subsidiary of Shumba Energy.

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.

Contracts have been awarded for the hybridisation of 13 diesel plants in Niger using solar PV. The projects are part of the Niger Solar Electricity Access Project, which is backed by the World Bank Group’s International Development Association.

The Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries (DEFF) launched a public consultation on the long-awaited Renewable Energy Development Zones at the end of July. The zones were intended to put in place fast-track environmental permiting for renewable power projects in areas that are both conducive to generation and close to Eskom’s grid.

The African Union Commission has received 17 expressions of interest (EoIs) for the Geothermal Risk Mitigation Facility’s sixth application round. The EoIs, for projects in Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya,Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia, consisted of ten surface studies and seven drilling programmes, and were submitted by both private and public entities. Bid opening took place on 3 August.

Kenya Electricity Generating Company (KenGen) has issued a request for proposals from consultants to oversee the rehabilitation of units I, II and III of the Olkaria I geothermal plant near Naivasha.

The US government’s Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) signed a $450m compact agreement on 13 August focusing on the power sector. In addition to the $450m pledged by MCC for this second compact with Burkina Faso, the Burkinabè government has pledged to invest $50m in the compact’s projects. The compact aims to benefit 8m people through strengthening regulations and institutions, improving energy infrastructure, increasing generation capacity, and source diversification.This will include improved access to electricity for the two largest cities, Ouagadougou and Bobo-Dioulasso.

Sweden’s Swedfund has committed $12m to SunFunder’s Solar Energy Transformation (SET) Fund, bringing commitments to the fund to $60m. Other investors include the US International Development Finance Corporation – which invested $25m in 2018 – Calvert Impact Capital, Ceniarth, and Ikea Foundation. SunFunder said the fund’s junior layer, which is usually occupied by development finance institutions and philanthropic investors, is now fully committed, but $10m remains available to senior investors.

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.