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President Cyril Ramaphosa’s administration has taken some initial steps to develop green hydrogen projects, but analysts and industry players say more support is needed from the government, development financiers, international technology partners and offtakers if the nascent industry is to fulfil its potential.

The World Bank Group’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) has agreed to provide up to $1m in funding to support the development of two run-of-the-river hydroelectric power (HEP) projects, which are being developed by Mauritius-based Tembo Power in the south of Burundi.

Sorely-needed investments in the power, mining and energy sectors have been hampered by the putsch in July. With the government heavily dependent on foreign funding, Niamey’s new prime minister will likely struggle to balance the books as sanctions bite, writes Marc Howard.

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has named Olayemi Cardoso to head the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). Cardoso was Lagos state’s economic planning and budget commissioner from 1999 until 2005, when Tinubu was governor. He is the latest member of that team to be appointed to high office. Cardaso fills the vacancy left by Godwin Emefiele’s suspension and arrest in June, as the ex-governor was closely linked to disastrous policies enacted by outgoing president Muhammadu Buhari’s government.

Cairo is pressing on with the implementation of its existing electricity supply industry (ESI) strategy in the face of severe headwinds. Some major reforms, including energy sector liberalisation, are certain to be delayed, but the authorities continue to drive big ticket projects forward – and to pile on new ones – while striving to keep international investors on-side in a highly precarious financial situation.

The Malawi Off-Grid Market Development Fund (OGMDF) – also known as the Ngwee Ngwee Ngwee Fund – has awarded five financing agreements to local privately-held, off-grid solar companies Yellow, Vitalite Group, Zuwa Energy, Green Impact Technologies and StarTimes.

Even before the new Middle East war shattered comfortable assumptions about regional security, the global economic climate remained hostile to many heavily-indebted and financially stressed governments, and to populations who have struggled to live with fallout from the pandemic and Ukraine war, which has included painful levels of inflation and costly currency volatility. African Energy offers a few pointers towards another difficult year ahead, as the IMF issues its annual appraisals of the global outlook and regional economic performance, and the Israel-Palestine conflict returns to centre stage in an increasingly polarised world.

War-torn but entrepreneurial Somalia is edging back towards normality, at last securing membership of the East African Community and reporting some progress in tackling Al-Shabaab militants. The government also has longer-term ambitions to exploit ample renewable energy potential and offshore oil and gas resources, writes Dominic Dudley.

Equinor’s proposed sale of its Nigerian operations to a local buyer adds to a growing trend for IOCs to withdraw from the  upstream sector, allowing domestic players to step in, even if access to finance and other obstacles may still need to be overcome, writes James Gavin.

It is unlikely electric cars will come to dominate African roads for decades, but in the likes of Kenya and Benin battery-powered buses, motorbikes and industrial vehicles could have a radical impact on urban environments and commercial operations. Investors are lining up to support e-mobility projects in the most attractive markets, but in many jurisdictions the lack of capital, infrastructure and policy support and the high cost of vehicles are holding back what could be a revolution, write Tonderayi Mukeredzi and Jon Marks.

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.

Financing from Saudi-based International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation is part of a $600m three-year deal signed in May 2023 and will pay for imports of petroleum products needed for electricity generation.

In a development that could destabilise Namibia’s electricity export initiative, industry sources have told African Energy the authorities have drastically downsized the amount of power allowed for export from 750MW to 100MW, making export-oriented independent power producers’ plants economically unviable.

Commissioning of Geometric’s 141MW Aba gas-to-power plant adds sorely-needed on-grid capacity.  Selling to its own ringfenced distribution network, Aba also points to a potential new model of vertical integration. Meanwhile, the Tinubu government’s bold macro reforms have contributed to a significant economic crisis. It is nonetheless pushing on with efforts to repay $2.16bn owed to IPPs, although some question where the money will come from, write Leonard Lawal in Lagos and Marc Howard.

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.