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It is more than a whisper: international institutions and private equity (PE) investors are again exploring major hydroelectric power (HEP) deals, after years during which environmental, social and governance (ESG) concerns made big dams a problematic issue for development finance institutions (DFI) and other potential investors.

A case in the Federal High Court of Nigeria over the Barracuda oil field in Niger Delta Block OML141 has again been adjourned, this time until 16 November.

TotalEnergies is to face a group of environmental pressure groups in a French court on 7 December, in a dispute over the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (Eacop) and Tilenga projects in Uganda and Tanzania.

Environmental advocacy group Friends of the Earth (Fote) received High Court permission on 22 April to take the British government to court over its financial support via UK Export Finance (Ukef) for the Total-operated Mozambique Liquefied Natural Gas (MLNG) scheme. Legal proceedings are another complication for MLNG, which has been badly affected by the conflict in the Rovuma Basin, prompting Total to declare force majeure in recent days.

The board of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative has agreed to suspend Niger, saying the country has not done enough to meet the EITI’s requirements on civil society engagement. The board said Niger had made progress against key issues in the 2016 EITI Standard but that significant areas of concern needed to be addressed. Niger was the world’s fourth largest uranium producer in 2016 behind Kazakhstan, Canada and Australia. The country has produced uranium since the 1970s, coal since 1975, gold since 2004 and crude oil since 2011.

With revenue heavily dependent on oil receipts, the collapse in crude prices has left public sector finances in dire straits, reigniting talk of removing fuel subsidies. However, after weeks of silence, the government has deferred a decision, saying it will handle the issue with care. Buhari was quoted by spokesman Garba Shehu as saying: “When you touch the price of petroleum products, that has the effect of triggering price rises on transportation, food and rent.”

Maputo is battling not only a protracted Islamist insurgency in the north, but also a dire economic situation, which all the talk of future gas revenues and governance improvements does little to assuage. The economy contracted in 2020, compounding the impact of underwhelming growth in the years preceding the Covid-19 pandemic.

Supporters of a revamped Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) believe that, this time, the outcome for legislation to reform Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and the hydrocarbons sector will be different from past disappointments, when vested interests stalled efforts to overhaul an underperforming and opaque sector. Senate president Ahmad Lawan on 29 September committed the bicameral National Assembly to pass legislation to make the industry more effective and efficient. After years of delay,“we will break that jinx and see to the passage of the bill”, Lawan promised. The Senate on 30 September approved the a 239-page draft PIB’s first reading, opening the way for more hearings.

Lekoil has been reduced to a penny share in London, but the potential of its OPL 310 asset – once held by Afren – makes it a significant indigenous player in the Nigerian oil sector. Petroleum resources minister Timipre Sylva is more than just an interested bystander in Lekoil founder Lekan Akinyanmi’s battle with activist investors who are deeply critical of his governance, writes Jon Marks.

What’s not to like for investors in President Abdel Fattah El Sisi’s Egypt? The government’s International Monetary Fund-supported reform programme has greatly improved macroeconomic conditions; Egypt was a rare economy that reported some growth in Covid-plagued 2020, despite a huge downturn in tourism and other key revenue-earners. Its commitment to accelerating infrastructure development has sucked funds into global-scale solar and wind power programmes.

The State Capture Commission of Inquiry has applied to the Pretoria High Court for an extension of its term until December 2020. The High Court will consider the application on 11 February. Corruption at Eskom has featured prominently in the inquiry, which has heard from witnesses on dubious coal and consultancy contracts, among other issues. The inquiry began in August 2018 and was initially expected to last six months. This was extended to February 2020 after an assessment of the work carried out at the time.

A letter from Eskom to energy minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson requesting a dialogue before power purchase agreements (PPAs) are signed beyond the current renewable energy rounds has provoked a furious back-and-forth between Eskom and industry stakeholders in the media. On 21 July, an article in Business Day headlined ‘Eskom cuts off private power’ reported that Eskom chairman Ben Ngubane had written to Joemat-Pettersson stating that the utility would no longer sign PPAs with independent power producers (IPPs) for renewable energy schemes other than those already committed up to the expedited round ‘4.5’.

President Cyril Ramaphosa has won plaudits for his public determination to clean up South African governance, as underlined by his suspension of African National Congress (ANC) secretary-general Ace Magashule. This clean-up has been supported by governance-focused civil society and media, and independent-minded members of the judiciary, but as African Energy’s South Africa power report pointed out, public confidence remains dangerously low after the ‘state capture’ years – and this negative environment is impacting across the economy.

Eskom is embroiled in yet another scandal after public enterprises minister Lynne Brown directed its board to investigate contracts awarded to a company associated with the stepdaughter of interim chief executive Matshela Koko. The opposition Democratic Alliance has written to public protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane to ask her to investigate.South Africa’s Sunday Times reported on 26 March that Koko’s department awarded eight contracts worth a combined R1bn ($75m) to project management company Impulse International while he was Eskom group executive for generation.

The Julius Nyerere hydroelectric power project has passed another significant milestone with the impounding and first water filling of the main dam on Rufiji River. African Energy takes a closer look at a project that on completion promises a major hike in Tanzania’s generation capacity.