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In the latest round in a long-running legal saga over a private power supplier contracted by Electricité de Guinée (EDG), the Abuja-based Ecowas Court of Justice has ordered the Guinean government to pay $47.5m in compensation to K Energie SA for violation of the company’s property rights in depriving it of the use of its assets. Delivering judgment on 9 July, the court also ordered the government to return all the assets of the company, including its offices and power production and distribution equipment.

Following the defection of National Oil Corporation (NOC) chairman Shukri Ghanem, former utilities minister and General Electric Company of Libya (Gecol) chairman Omran Abu Kraa has been appointed to head the Libyan state company. NOC board member Azzam Al-Messalati was appointed general manager, taking over from Ali Al-Sogher Mohammed Saleh, whose whereabouts and affiliation is not known.

Ghana launched its first upstream oil licensing round on 15 October, offering six offshore blocks with the aim of bringing fresh exploration and development impetus to West Africa’s newest oil exporter. At a time of rising crude prices and ongoing uncertainty over the direction of new petroleum policy in regional oil superpower Nigeria, the round’s timing could not have been better, but rather than the usual upbeat bid round launch message stressing Ghana’s upstream potential and generous fiscal terms, President Nana Akufo-Addo used the launch event to warn existing licenceholders that they needed to step up the pace of exploration.

Abdelaziz Bouteflika’s announcement that he will not seek a fifth term as Algerian president has once again raised questions of gerontocracy and failed governance in Africa. Tunisian head of state Béji Caïd Essebsi benefits from a degree of popular legitimacy but many citizens are concerned that the spry ‘BCE’ at 92 is too old to stand again when presidential elections are held in December. Before that, his fractured Nidaa Tounès (NT) will come under a strong challenge from the Islamist Ennahda party, now the two major parties’ alliance has broken down, and from other rivals, when parliamentary elections are held in October.

President Muhammadu Buhari has been preoccupied with fighting Boko Haram. In line with his inaugural pledge to reform the armed forces, the chiefs of the army, air force and navy were sacked on 13 July. A seven-month offensive by the militaries of Nigeria, Niger, Cameroon and Chad has notched up a number of successes against the Islamist insurgent group, marked by the retaking of significant amounts of territory and increasing speculation surrounding the fate of Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau, who has not been heard from since March.

South Africa is under pressure like never before to reform its power sector. The financial situation at Eskom, which has a balance sheet big enough to cause the government to default, continues to cause serious concern, while following the public consultation on South Africa’s draft Integrated Resource Plan (IRP), the government will now review comments with a view to publishing a final version by end-March 2019.

Angola has announced details of a forthcoming licensing round offering blocks in the Namibe and Benguela basins. The round is the first outing for the new Agência Nacional de Petróleo, Gás e Biocombustíveis (ANPG), created from splitting Sonangol’s roles as concessionaire and equity holder, and a first test for whether last year’s reforms to the country’s oil and gas laws can attract new licensing interest. The blocks on offer are Block 10 in the southern Benguela Basin and blocks 11, 12, 13, 27, 28, 29, 41, 42 and 43 further south in the Namibe Basin.

The government has lifted the suspension of 22 advocacy groups that had spoken out about the use of state resources. The groups included members of Publish What You Pay Gabon, which has played a leading role in campaigning for the responsible management of oil and mining revenues

Plans to develop an iron ore joint venture are in doubt, Legend Mining Ltd said on 29 October, after the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX)-listed junior’s South Korean partner Posco Africa (Pty) Ltd said it would not proceed due to global market conditions.

The discovery of the body of former National Oil Corporation (NOC) chairman Shukri Ghanem in the River Danube in Vienna early on the morning of Sunday 29 April has inevitably provoked much speculation.

New prime minister Aminata Touré has named a cabinet, including Maîmouna Ndoye Seck, head of the electricity regulator, as energy minister. The appointment of veteran human rights advocate Sidiki Kaba as justice minister suggests the crackdown on high-profile corruption is set to remain a priority.

South Sudan is proud of its ability to survive so far without oil income, but the strategy is by no means sustainable and the assumptions about non-oil revenues in the government’s new austerity budget may not be realised, writes Richard Nield, recently in Juba

The aftershocks will be felt across Algeria’s economy and society after the tremors caused by the 13 September departure from the Département du Renseignement et de la Sécurité (DRS) of Lieutenant General Mohamed ‘Tewfik’ Mediene. After more than 25 years of running military intelligence, Mediene had become a near legendary representation of the opaque powers that dominate Algerian politics. His agency was critical in prosecuting high-level corruption cases against Sonatrach and other major players, as well as countering radical Islam across the region.

The cabinet reshuffle announced on 25 May contained considerably more surprises that the legislative elections held three weeks before, as Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal – expected to stay on in office and regularly cited abroad as a potential successor to President Abdelaziz Bouteflika – was replaced by housing minister and acting commerce minister Abdelmadjid Tebboune.

Abdelhamid Zerguine was sacked as chairman and chief executive of Sonatrach on 26 July in a move confirmed by Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal. In Algiers, the sacking was widely linked to a further round of faction fighting surrounding the Algerian energy giant, but it may also have much to say about years of paralysis within Sonatrach, which has slowed its project pipeline to an extent that threatens exports in the latter part of this decade. Vice-president for upstream Saïd Sahnoun has been appointed interim president director-general (PDG). Director of associations Kamel Chikhi has taken over Sahnoun’s old job.