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Pancontinental Oil & Gas has agreed to pay a disputed cash call to Tullow Oil to avoid a default, but continues to contest the payment. The company said in December that it had received a cash call for $552,897 for administration and other “non-exploration” costs in Walvis Basin PEL 37 for 2014 to 2016 (AE 337/15). Pancontinental said it believed the sums were covered under the free carry agreed when Tullow farmed into the licence, but the joint operating agreement stipulated payment to avoid a possible default situation, and then resolution of any disputes later.

Authorities in Portugal are investigating accusations of tax fraud and money laundering against three Angolan officials close to President José Eduardo dos Santos. Those involved are minister of state General Hélder Vieira Dias, known as Kopelipa, his adviser Leopoldino Nascimento, and vice-president Manuel Vicente, often cited as a potential successor to dos Santos.

The World Bank is considering $42m of funding for a capacity-building project in the nascent gas and oil sector.

A grand jury has indicted Sable Mining chief executive Andrew Groves and seven other people following a damning report from Global Witness outlining the business model followed by Groves and his business partner, former England cricketer Phil Edmonds.President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf ordered an inquiry in May into Sable’s unsuccessful attempt to acquire an iron ore concession in northern Liberia after the report accused the company of bribing public officials.

The US Senate has passed a new bill on resource transparency that will require oil, gas and mining companies registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to publicly disclose their tax and revenue payments to governments around the world.

The World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA) has approved a loan of $178.5m, alongside a grant of $24.5m from its Scaling-up Renewable Energy Program Trust Fund, to boost development of geothermal resources. The bank said the funding would be administered in two phases, with the first intended to confirm geothermal resources and boost capacity development, and the second aimed at developing the resource for power generation. The project is targeting two geothermal sites, Aluto and Alalobad. At Aluto, four IDA-financed wells will be drilled alongside 22 further wells of between 2,000 and 2,500 metres depth. At Alalobad, four IDA-financed wells will be drilled to explore the site and identify resource potential.

Heritage Oil has published details of a $370m rights issue to part-finance its acquisition of a stake in Nigeria’s OML 30 (AE 235/18). The rights issue could see chief executive Tony Buckingham reducing his 33% stake in the company, as maintaining his stake at that level would cost him some $122m.

SDX Energy has completed the acquisition of Circle Oil’s assets in Morocco and Egypt for $30m (AE 338/12). SDX has acquired the producing Sebou permit and the Lalla Mimouna permit in Morocco, and the Al Amir and Geyad permits in Egypt’s Gulf of Suez. The acquisition was funded by a share placing on London’s AIM market that raised $40m on 24 January.

AFRICAN BANKING CORPORATION: AfDB credit; SONELGAZ: Algerian parastatal finance debate rolls on

An energy trade mission led by US deputy assistant secretary of state for African affairs William Fitzgerald visited Mozambique, Tanzania, Nigeria and Ghana from 6-17 February

India’s Nava Bharat Ventures Ltd expects to reach financial close on $560m long term debt financing for a $800m, 300MW coal mouth power project in early 2014. The African Development Bank (AfDB) approved a $150m loan for the project on 2 October (AE 263/7) and it is also supported by an export credit agency (ECA) facility from China’s Sinosure. It will burn low-grade coal which is currently at risk of spontaneous combustion while lying dormant at the Maamba colliery. Financial close had been expected in October but has been delayed as the Chinese sanction process is taking longer than expected.

The European Investment Bank in July approved a €72m ($81m) financing package for a €311m project to add another 70MW turbine to Kenya Electricity Generating Company’s Olkaria I geothermal complex in Naivasha district. The new unit will be sited next to units IV and V, both 70MW, which were commissioned in 2014. Units I, II and III are each 15MW and came online in 1981, 1982 and 1985 respectively.

An MD1.5bn ($183.5m) capital increase for Jorf Lasfar Electricity Company (JLEC), owned by Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (Taqa), reminds investors that, even if the economy is under pressure from the government’s huge subsidies bill (mainly for fuel) and the Casablanca bourse has been in the doldrums for several years, the Moroccan market has sufficient depth to mobilise substantial finance for energy and other projects. After the initial public offering (IPO), JLEC’s capital will be MD9bn. The IPO raised MD1bn via the bourse, in Morocco’s biggest IPO since 2008, with 2.2m shares priced at MD447.5 each issued on 10 December.

The Export-Import Bank of India announced in December that it had signed a line of credit (LoC) agreement with the government of Mozambique, dated 20 September 2012. The agreement makes available a $250m LOC to purchase goods, machinery, equipment and services from India to improve the quality of power supply in Mozambique.

Private equity has a growing role to play in developing African infrastructure and building up companies, but the going can be tough for fund managers looking to tap conventional investors who feel comfortable in North America, Europe and many Asian markets