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Nearly all of South Africa’s climate finance is being provided from local sources, while inflows from international funders remain very low, a new Presidential Climate Commission report shows. While more funds have flowed into Africa’s largest greenhouse gas emitter in recent years, these resources remain insufficient compared to the extent of the actions required to adapt and mitigate the impacts of climate change.

Work has begun on the construction of a solar PV plant that will supply power to Glencore’s Rhovan vanadium mine and processing facility in South Africa’s Northern West province.

President Macky Sall’s decision to postpone the 25 February presidential election until 15 December exacerbated an already poisonous atmosphere in Senegal. His 19 February decision to reverse that decision should lead to an election being held very soon, but political tensions will persist. African Energy’s Risk Management Report focuses on political risk indicators in a country that has long been favoured by donors and investors, and whose natural resources industries are booming as offshore oil and natural gas exports beckon. With attention firmly directed towards gas-to-power development, most other aspects of electricity industry reform, such as the unbundling of utility Senelec and introduction of wheeling have been left on hold – and further delays are likely.

German developer ABO Wind remains optimistic that it can develop two Tunisian projects it secured in 2019 but is having to switch one from wind to solar and is also battling with the commercial framework.

Azito developer Globeleq is keen to invest further in Côte d’Ivoire’s power sector with “particular emphasis on renewable energy projects”, chief executive Mike Scholey told African Energy.

Sasol South Africa and Air Liquide have signed a third power purchase agreement (PPA) with Enel Green Power RSA for wind power supply to their site in Mpumalanga province.

Weighed down by financial and geopolitical risks, President Abdel Fattah El Sisi’s administration continues to push its green hydrogen (GH2) agenda - including the signing of seven new agreements. It is a risky proposition but, if schemes can be proved bankable, tens of billions of dollars of investment could transform Egypt’s economic prospects. John Hamilton looks at who is involved and where GH2 megaprojects have got to so far.

Having reached financial close on its three Koruson II projects, Anglo American/EDF JV Envusa Energy expects to start construction in H1 2024, to install combined wind and solar capacity of 520MW in South Africa’s Northern Cape.

Chinese firm Shanxi Construction is to develop a rare Eritrean utility-scale project, funded by the African Development Bank’s first energy investment in the country.

As Djibouti wakes up to the potential of geothermal and wind, and looks to the P2X potential of green hydrogen, its small and fossil-fuel dependent power sector could be on the brink of major change. An update of planned generation projects by African Energy Live Data identifies the most important plants and raises questions about how the government’s ambitious net zero ambitions can be achieved, write Camilla Nytun and John Hamilton.

Climate Fund Managers has provided capital for waste-to-energy developer Bio2Watt Energy Holdings’ biogas projects in South Africa, including expansion of the 4.8MW Bronkhorstspruit plant.

Finland’s Wärtsilä Corporation on 20 March announced the completion of a 15MWp solar photovoltaic (PV) plant at the Iamgold Essakane mine in north-east Burkina Faso. The inauguration on 16 March was overseen by President Roch Marc Christian Kaboré.Comprising nearly 130,000 solar PV panels, the plant will add to an existing 55MW heavy fuel oil plant to create what the developers describe as the largest hybrid PV-diesel plant in the world, and one of the largest solar facilities in sub-Saharan Africa.

The addition of 3GW of solar power generation capacity over the next two years will be the first substantial shift in Algeria’s gas-dependent energy mix in decades – and is intended as the first step in a programme to add 15GW of solar capacity by 2035 – but coming after years of false dawns, the government’s track record raises significant doubts about whether the new vision is achievable, writes John Hamilton.

Low rainfall in Guinea has led to yet another round of loadshedding and, in turn, widespread protests and deadly violence. Interim President Mamady Doumbouya is keen to end loadshedding and stoke the economy before holding delayed elections in 2025, but a small pipeline of projects raises questions about how soon new capacity can be brought online, writes Marc Howard.