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Torbjorn Caesar has been appointed Actis’ senior partner, the UK private equity fund’s leading executive role. An energy specialist and former head of Globeleq – an Actis subsidiary until earlier this year – industry insiders say Caesar’s appointment reflects the importance of energy sector investments in the London-based firm’s portfolio. Caesar succeeds Paul Fletcher, who was appointed non-executive chairman. The senior partner chairs Actis’ executive committee, and Caesar also sits on the energy investment committee.

The Early Power consortium of Denham Capital’s Endeavor Energy, Ghanaian energy trader Sage Petroleum, and General Electric (GE) announced on 25 October that it has signed a 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with the Electricity Corporation of Ghana (ECG) for its two-phase 400MW Bridge Power project at Tema. The signing follows parliamentary approval for the deal and includes the option for a five-year extension. Power will be sold to ECG at $0.124/kWh. Bridge Power, which will be the largest liquid petroleum gas (LPG) plant in the world when complete, according to Endeavor, will be developed in phases.

In comments underlining the gulf that still appears to exist between the government and its IOC partners, President Yoweri Museveni has played down the significance of oil to Uganda’s economic development, saying agriculture and industrial development were key to the country’s future and he had only agreed to an export pipeline to help out Tanzania. On 28 May, Tullow Oil said that CNOOC had opted not to exercise its pre-emption right on the sale of Tullow’s stake to Total, and a binding tax agreement with the government could now be progressed.

Beleaguered Tullow Oil said on 15 January it expects to report pre-tax impairments and exploration write-offs of about $1.5bn in its 2019 results in March, mainly due to a $10 reduction in the group’s long-term accounting oil price assumption to $65/barrel and a reduction in 2P reserves at the TEN development in Ghana.Chief financial officer Les Wood told a conference call with analysts the $1.5bn was made up of $700m of impairments, for the oil price and reduction in the Enyenra field reserves, plus $800m of exploration writeoffs, notably for recent wells offshore Guyana.

California-based solar microgrid company Powerhive has raised $20m in its first significant round of venture capital financing. The round was led by Prelude Ventures, with participation by Caterpillar Ventures, Total Energy Ventures, Tao Capital Partners, and Pi Investments, among others. The funding is intended to support the company’s expansion into new markets in Africa, Asia and the Pacific region, and activities in Kenya.Total Energy Ventures – the venture capital fund of France’s Total – announced on 2 February that it had also invested in Arusha- and California-based Off Grid Electric, which is installing solar power technology in homes and businesses in Arusha through a partnership with the national government and the Tanzanian Investment Centre.

The World Bank board approved guarantees for the Banda gas-to-power project on 29 May. The package comprises partial risk guarantees worth up to $261m and a Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency breach of contract guarantee of up to $585m for up to 20 years. The guarantees will not become effective until other legal agreements are signed, which can take a number of months following board approval. Timings for the project are uncertain as upstream operator Tullow Oil has yet to reach a final investment decision.

US solar developer Renewvia Energy will commission three solar and battery-powered micro-grids on islands in Lake Victoria over the next six months, providing power for around 4,000 homes and businesses. A system on Ringiti island in Homa Bay is likely to begin operating this month and another on Ndeda island in Siaya county in May. The final grid on Mahanga island, also in Siaya county, will come online around July.

The South African budget announced on 20 February allocated funds to a blended finance Infrastructure Fund. Design work for the fund is under way with the help of the private sector, development finance institutions and multilateral development banks. The aim is to increase the number of infrastructure projects while improving oversight, quality, speed and cost controls.

Kenya Electricity Generating Company (KenGen) has signed a contract with a consortium of banks to act as financial arranger and adviser. KenGen has embarked on an expansion programme to raise installed capacity to 3,000MW by 2018 from 1,236MW now, to meet demand rising at 8%/yr. This is projected to cost some $5bn.

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) is considering providing and arranging up to $253m in financing for Mainstream Energy Solutions Limited, the concessionaire of the Kainji and Jebba hydropower plants on the Niger River. IFC’s proposed investment will include a senior loan facility (IFC A Loan) of up to $132m and mobilising convertible debt of up to $121m.

The African Development Bank has approved a supplementary loan of $32.5m to Kenya under the African Development Fund (AfDF) concessional window

Zesco is proceeding with its legal pursuit of Copperbelt Energy Corporation (CEC) over payments from Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) following the collapse of talks to extend a long- term power supply contract. In September 2019, Zesco announced its intention to sue CEC over a $45m bill for power supplied to KCM, Zambia’s biggest underground mine. Zesco claims that CEC has failed to pay for electricity supplied under their Bulk Supply Agreement (BSA), which expired at the end of March 2020.

UK development finance institution (DFI) CDC Group is looking towards a near doubling of its African investment portfolio over the next four years. Speaking at a UK-South Africa Business Forum event in Cape Town on 27 August, at the start of Prime Minister Theresa May’s visit to Africa – which was intended to show that Britain would make a major new commitment to investing in Africa after its departure from the European Union – chief executive Nick O’Donohoe said CDC aimed to commit up to £3.5bn ($4.5bn) of investment to African businesses over 2018-21.

President Paul Biya has signed two decrees enabling the minister of economy, planning and regional development to sign two financing agreements with the African Development Bank (AfDB) totalling CFA147.85bn ($24m) to finance the interconnection of power networks in Cameroon and Chad. The financing consists of CFA142.93bn from the AfDB and CFA4.92bn from the African Development Fund, the bank’s concessional financing window.

ARCH Emerging Markets Partners Limited’s Africa Renewable Power Fund (ARPF) has made its first investment since its launch in 2019. Further transactions are expected in Q2, barring delays resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic. ARPF will invest $16.5m in commercial and industrial (C&I) solar company CrossBoundary Energy (CBE) to support the expansion of its operations. ARCH is the first institutional investor in CBE, which was the first fund established to finance commercial solar systems specifically in Africa.