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The African Development Bank signed a $115m loan agreement on 7 December to part-finance the construction of the Eastern Electricity Highway Project linking Ethiopia and Kenya .

Gabon plans to launch a licensing round in January for 42 prospective deep-water and ultra-deep blocks offering pre-salt exploration potential. A previous government cancelled plans for a bid round two years ago, announcing that it was opting for direct negotiation. Oil, energy and water resources minister Etienne Ngoubou, who was appointed in February, told African Energy in an interview the bid round would be governed by the new Petroleum Code, which is close to completion.

Gabon plans to launch a licensing round in January for 42 prospective deep-water and ultra-deep blocks offering pre-salt exploration potential. A previous government cancelled plans for a bid round two years ago, announcing that it was opting for direct negotiation. Oil, energy and water resources minister Etienne Ngoubou, who was appointed in February, told African Energy in an interview the bid round would be governed by the new Petroleum Code, which is close to completion.

Energie Solaire Prosolia announced on 12 November that it had signed an agreement with the country’s Ministry of Energy to develop three solar parks with combined generation capacity of 13MW. The company, a Senegal-based subsidiary of Spain’s Prosolia Energy, will now begin negotiations with state utility Société National d’Electricité du Sénégal over a 20-year power purchase agreement.

An initial public offering (IPO) of shares in Actis-owned distributor Umeme which closed on 7 November was oversubscribed by more than 35%. But the utility remains under fire for poor performance after a series of blackouts caused by system upgrades and faults on the Namanve and Mutundwe substations, despite hopes that the commissioning of the Bujagali power station would alleviate the supply problem.

South Korea’s Daewoo International has signed an agreement with the government and Kenya Electricity Generating Company to build a 600MW coal-fired power station in Kilifi district.

Construction is getting under way and contracts continue to be awarded following the signing of agreements between developers, the government and Eskom on 5 November, an important milestone for South Africa’s renewable energy independent power producers procurement programme (REIPPP).

The European Investment Bank, the Agence Française de Développement, Germany’s KfW Entwicklungsbank and the Moroccan Agency for Solar Energy made financial commitments on 19 November totaling €300m ($390m) for the Ouarzazate solar complex.

State power utility Sociedade de Electricidade de Guinea Ecuatorial inaugurated a 120MW hydro plant in October on the Rio Muni mainland. The Djibloho plant, built by China’s Sinohydro on the Wele River, consists of four 30MW Francis turbines and cost $257m, fully funded by the state.

Tullow Oil has agreed to brave Guinea’s complex operating environment, taking a 40% stake in Hyperdynamics’ offshore concession. Past exploration has been a saga of corrupt governments and inexpert partners, but Tullow’s arrival comes as the government of President Alpha Condé tries to overturn the legacy of dictatorship and military rule. Tullow chief executive Aidan Heavey told African Energy in early November that the geology of the offshore concession was highly promising.

South Africa’s renewable energy procurement programme has attracted dozens of companies and can report some success in bringing down prices between the REIPPP’s first and second rounds. But hints that local content criteria may be ‘redefined’ to include key components could make an already tough bidding process less attractive and competitive, write Daniel Marks and Hugh Boylan.

Tempting the industry with its ambitious renewable energy (RE) targets, Algeria is maintaining a tough negotiating stance on how investments will be made, arguing that developers and suppliers will have to manufacture a big proportion of their equipment within Algeria. “Algeria wants to be able to make almost all components for its RE programme locally,” Sonelgaz head Noureddine Bouterfa reiterated in early November.

Created by Inca Energy France and the local Nu Age Energy, iNca Energy was established in 2009 to operate in a market desperate for alternative energy solutions following the South Africa electricity crisis. The company has some 13 projects in various stages of development across the Northern and Western Cape provinces.

Zesco is seeking proposals from consultants for the organisational redesign of the utility. Zesco is looking to restructure in order to rationalise labour utilisation and improve cost efficiency.

After its apparent cancellation on 14 November, the awarding of the $23.7m three-year management contract for the running of the Transmission Company of Nigeria to Canada’s Manitoba Hydro International (MHI) was finally ratified by the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) on 20 November following much political wrangling.