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ConocoPhillips said on 13 July it had agreed to sell Woodside Petroleum its 35% stake in Cairn Energy’s three offshore exploration blocks, which include the SNE and FAN discoveries. The purchase price is $350m, plus a completion adjustment of $80m. The transaction is subject to Senegal government approval and co-venturer pre-emption rights. “This is an important milestone for ConocoPhillips as we progress our phased exit from deep-water exploration in West Africa,” said ConocoPhillips executive vice-president, strategy, exploration and technology, Matt Fox. The transaction is expected to close by year-end.

Investor interest in Madagascar picked up when companies were attracted by the island state’s potential for power sector developments, as former president Hery Rajaonarimampianina hosted an influential donor and investor conference in 2016.The going has since proven tough for many investors, as early movers have run into payment issues with malfunctioning state utility Jiro sy Rany Malagasy (Jirama) and the administration has proved unpredictable in renegotiating power purchase agreements (PPAs).

Total, South Africa’s Gigajoule Group and Matola Gas Company (MGC) signed a joint development agreement (JDA) on 27 November for a project to import LNG to Matola port to supply local and regional markets.The project involves a permanently moored floating storage and regasification unit in Matola harbour connected to a gas-fired power plant in the Beluluane Industrial Park, MGC’s gas pipeline infrastructure in Maputo province, and the South African gas network.

Africa-focused fuel retailer Vivo Energy has revised the terms of its purchase of fuel stations from Engen Holdings, dropping 75 outlets in the Democratic Republic of Congo following legal challenges. The acquisition, first announced in December 2017, is expected to close on 1 March, adding eight new countries and more than 225 Engen-branded service stations to Vivo’s network. Vivo is jointly owned by oil trader Vitol with 55% and Africa-focused buyout firm Helios Investment Partners with 44%. Management owns the remaining 1%.

Egypt’s Infinity Solar and German companies ib vogt and Solizer have reached financial close on a 64.1MWp solar plant in Benban, southern Egypt. The project, selected under the first round of the Egyptian Feed-in Tariff (FiT) programme, was approved by Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company (EETC) on 6 March (AE 334/14).The Infinity 50 Solar Park will comprise a solar array covering 98.6 hectares with almost 200,000 solar panels mounted on a horizontal tracking system.

President Michael Sata has made a number of promises but looks unlikely to unsettle major investors with big policy changes, though he has bravely pledged to tackle the fuel supply conundrum, writes Chiwoyu Sinyangwe in Lusaka

US President Donald Trump signed into law the African Growth and Opportunity (Agoa) Act and Millennium Challenge Act (MCA) Modernisation Act on 23 April. In so doing he approved legislation aiming to promote foreign trade, support lower tariffs, and extend the domain of US development aid, showing the less-publicised, softer side of his approach to foreign policy. The signing was followed at the end of April by a visit to Washington by Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, the first African head of state to visit Trump in the White House.

Bahrain-based Midal Cables group has started production at its new aluminium and aluminium alloy rod, wire and conductor factory in Matola, operated by local subsidiary Midal Cables International Limitada. The plant will initially focus on supplying major transmission and other projects in Mozambique and the wider Southern African Development Community region, Midal Cables director Rashid Al-Zayani told the Africa Energy Forum in Dubai on 10 June. Midal has proposed recycling old conductors from state utility Electricidade de Moçambique’s grid to modernise the transmission network at much cheaper cost, Zayani said.

Some African governments specialise in grandiose statements about mega-projects that will drive the continent’s electrification or achieve some other transformational goal. In many cases little happens, but the mega-project provides a useful symbol of rapprochement between two states. The Trans-Saharan Gas Pipeline (TSGP) planned by former Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo and Algeria’s Abdelaziz Bouteflika is one example still prominent on the Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa project list.

Nearly four years after the onset of the global financial crisis, constraints on raising finance for oil and gas projects in Africa show no sign of easing, while in many jurisdictions the cost of entering exploration contracts is high.

Construction work on the milestone 36MW wood-chip burning power plant in Monrovia is set to begin in early 2011, according to its sponsor

The continuing frontier exploration push by small- to mid-sized players has revitalised demand for oil and gas sector financing, with Tullow providing a potential template.

The World Bank is planning a $100m emergency infrastructure loan, which will part-finance a $200m government programme to restore urban and rural infrastructure following the country’s civil conflict.

The World Bank has launched a new initiative aimed at improving the market for private solar power projects in Africa. Scaling Solar will provide a project template that aims to cut costs and speed up development so that badly needed power can be quickly added to the grid.“We’ve watched the unbelievable cost reduction of renewables, and we’ve watched the amazing impact of large-scale, professionally run competitive tenders in big markets like Brazil, South Africa and India.

The positive impact on oil importers of the slump in crude prices since H2 2014 is visible in recently published Moroccan data, which show the trade deficit narrowing by 25.3% in January-May, compared to the corresponding period of 2014. The preliminary trade figures record crude oil imports down by 54% year on year and refined products falling by 29.1%. Exports rose by 5.8%, driven by a strong rise in phosphate sales (up 22.3%); Morocco is also benefiting from an improved agricultural performance and growth in some newer industries, such as automobiles (with exports up 11% in January-May).