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Six Wärtsilä 32 engines will power the remote, under-construction Boto gold mine at Lélou in Senegal’s south-eastern Kédougou region. Casablanca-listed Managem acquired the mine from Canada’s Iamgold in April 2023, as part of a wider acquisition of the Toronto-headquartered miner’s west African portfolio.

Uranium industry figures say African producers should benefit from the growing interest around the world in developing more nuclear power, after a long slump following the 2011 Fukushima disaster in Japan. Established producers such as Namibia – which could become the world’s second-largest producer in the next decade – Niger and Malawi are eyeing greater output, while others such as Mauritania are preparing to enter the market, writes Marc Howard.

A new African uranium frontier is set to open soon, with Mauritania’s first yellowcake mine on the cusp of a major milestone. ASX- and London AIM-listed Aura Energy's chief executive Andrew Grove told African Energy that discussions were taking place to finalise $250m of debt and equity funding for its 2m lb/yr Tiris mine.  

GoviEx is expanding its presence in Zambia with an option for a uranium exploration licence in Eastern Province. The Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) Venture-listed miner told African Energy at the World Nuclear Association (WNA)’s symposium in London in early September that it expected the feasibility study for its Muntanga project in Zambia’s Southern Province to be completed this year.

Wärtsilä has renewed a long-running operations and maintenance (O&M) deal at QIT Madagascar Minerals (QMM), an ilmenite mine in Fort Dauphin which is majority owned by mining supermajor Rio Tinto Group. The extension of the long-running arrangement will see thermal capacity integrated with a new solar, wind, and battery energy storage plant.

French asset manager Mirova has invested $15m in renewable energy company SolarAfrica, to support its commercial and industrial (C&I) projects in South Africa.

A 600,000 t/yr iron and carbon steel plant built by Chinese steel giant Tsingshan Holdings has started production at Manhize near Mvuma, breathing life into Zimbabwe’s moribund steel industry and positioning the country as a major iron and steel exporter.

Johannesburg-based real estate investor Vukile Property Fund plans to increase its power generating capacity from rooftop solar PV to 41MWp by 2026, as part of a strategy to invest in alternative and cheaper electricity to supplement unreliable grid supplies to its shopping malls.

Mauritius-based Afreenergy has signed an agreement to acquire three commercial and industrial (C&I) solar PV plants in Senegal from French developer GreenYellow, which is divesting from Africa to concentrate on Europe.

State-owned Kuvimba Mining Houses (KMH) is holding discussions with potential funding partners to develop mineral beneficiation at its portfolio of mines, where renewable C&I capacity is increasingly supplying power, writes Tonderayi Mukeredzi.

The UK/Norway-owned IPP Globeleq has raised $99m of debt financing for Mozambique’s first wind project, adding to its southern African portfolio. Despite industry pessimism over the prospects for utility-scale projects, Globeleq is advancing a large pipeline of greenfield renewable and gas capacity in eastern and southern Africa and is bullish over the future of utility-scale projects, writes Marc Howard.

With African electricity supply industries in a state of flux, everyone agrees the infrastructure needed for economic development can only come from the private sector, but the existing financial and commercial models are inadequate – and a desperate need for investment in transmission only makes this financing challenge harder. Some new thinking about how to crack these problems was presented at the African Energy Forum in Barcelona, but the boldest ideas require a leap of faith, writes John Hamilton*

Wärtsilä has added 120MW of gas-to-power capacity in Nigeria so far this year, in a sign that demand for commercial and industrial (C&I) plants remains robust. Its strong pipeline of orders in West and North Africa notably includes large offtakers seeking to balance their grids and enable increased renewable energy capacity, the Finnish engine manufacturer told African Energy.

Faced by a severe drought which has seen water levels fall dramatically at its hydroelectric power plants, Zambia is hoping to revive abandoned private sector-led power projects and speed up work on an interconnector with Tanzania.

Johannesburg-based Decentral Energy has started operations at a 1MW solar PV plant to supply power to the GWK Farm Foods maize mill in Christiana, North West province.