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The Ministry of Petroleum has launched a new upstream licensing round including 24 on- and offshore blocks. As part of an innovation which has been under development for the past four years, data on the blocks including an archive of sub-surface information will be made available via the Egypt Upstream Gateway (EUG), a digital platform developed in partnership with oil services company Schlumberger.

Dubai- and Riyadh-based Nuwa Capital aims to close a $100m fund by year-end as it looks to invest in start-ups across the Middle East and Africa.

The problems of Nigeria’s southeast are rarely far from being a political and oil company preoccupation. Issues of governance and reputational damage weigh heavy on majors’ perceptions about operating in a lucrative but troubled region as lawyers busy themselves acting for local communities against Royal Dutch Shell and potentially other IOCs in a series of class actions. The new military top team appointed by President Muhammadu Buhari is challenged with reducing insecurity, including from rising levels of piracy in the Gulf of Guinea.

European funding should help to stabilise the state power utility Steg as it seeks to attract private investment into renewable energy schemes. Cash flows have been hard hit by coronavirus, but a recovery roadmap aims to improve the situation, writes Dan Marks

Lesotho’s Department of Energy is inviting expressions of interest from consultants to prepare 16 mini-grids for tendering and identify a further 14 mini-grid sites.

Revised in February 2021, this map provides a detailed overview of the power sector in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The locations of power generation facilities that are operating, under construction or planned are shown by type, illustrating the country's huge hydropower potential. Other generation types shown include natural gas, liquid fuels, methane, coal, solar (PV) and hybrid. Two insets show the areas around Kinshasa and the exisiting and proposed Inga projects. Existing and future transmission and distribution lines are included ranging from 132kV to 500kV. Actual and planned cross-border interconnectors are also shown including lines to Zambia. Power generation data was drawn from our African Energy Live Data platform, which contains project level detail on power plants and projects across Africa. The map is available as a PDF file using eps graphics, meaning that there is no loss of resolution as the file is enlarged.

The World Bank Group (WBG)-backed Lusaka transmission and distribution rehabilitation project is being restructured for a second time, following a series of setbacks. The $246m project officially began in February 2014 with a closing date of February 2019, but that was extended to February 2021 after the European Investment Bank left the project.

Off-grid solar company Solarise Africa announced on 9 February it had signed a partnership agreement with turnkey energy firm Centennial Generating Company. The deal sees Solarise Africa acquire stakes in seven projects in Rwanda, two in Zambia and one in Uganda, spread across the education, healthcare, retail, manufacturing, hospitality and agriculture sectors.

Watched by President Andry Rajoelina, Groupe Filatex officially inaugurated its Tamatave Solar PV project on 24 January. The project’s 20MW first phase began construction last April and started injecting 2MW of power into the grid from July. Another 5.6MW is expected to come online in mid-2021 for full commissioning by year-end. Tamatave Solar PV Phase 2 is intended to increase capacity to 46MW by end-2022.

GE has been contracted to supply equipment for the 300MW Cap des Biches power plant. GE will supply two 9E.03 gas turbines, one STF-A200 steam turbine, three A39 generators, two heat recovery steam generators and additional balance of plant equipment. The combined-cycle gas turbine power plant is being developed by Senegal’s West African Energy and will be built by Turkish EPC contractor Calik Enerji, which signed a contract in September.

Namibian Power Corporation (NamPower) is inviting developers and technology providers to provide information to shape the late stages of development of the 50MW Lüderitz wind IPP.

Tullow Oil has agreed the sale of non-operated producing assets in Equatorial Guinea and Gabon to Panoro Energy for $180m as part of efforts to pay down its $2.4bn debt. The assets are Tullow’s stakes in the Ceiba field and Okume complex in Equatorial Guinea and the Dussafu licence in Gabon. Panoro is already a partner on Dussafu, which is operated by BW Offshore.

New Age (African Global Energy) has increased its reserves estimate for the Algoa-Gamtoos Block, where it is hoping for renewed farm-in interest following Total’s discoveries on neighbouring Block 11B/12B. Tower Resources, its partner on the block, said New Age had reprocessed 4,500km of 2D seismic data including tie lines from Total’s Brulpadda discovery to the Algoa-Gamtoos area.

In the third year of his presidency, Félix Tshisekedi has outflanked Joseph Kabila to the extent that the former president is now lying low at his ranch near Lubumbashi amid fears his senator-for-life status may be insufficient to give immunity from eventual prosecution. The resignation on 29 January of prime minister Sylvestre Ilunga Ilunkamba was another victory over key Kabila allies in a war of attrition for control of Democratic Republic of Congo that has seen members of the ex-president’s Front Commun pour le Congo (FCC) flooding to join Tshisekedi’s Union Sacré́e pour la Nation (USN).

UK-based developer Globeleq is looking at acquiring a majority stake in Quantum Power East Africa’s 35MW geothermal project in Menengai, the Competition Authority of Kenya said in a notice. The project is one of three troubled 35MW IPP projects at Menengai to sign implementation and steam supply agreements with the Geothermal Development Company in 2014.