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United States climate envoy John Kerry has held out the prospect of additional help being offered at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27) to counties in Africa and elsewhere that are being badly affected by climate change issues.

The African Development Bank (AfDB) plans to raise $1.5bn by 2025 in green finance and has structured a risk-sharing transaction to boost its overall finance capacity by almost $2bn.

A lack of consistent financial reporting on climate finance within the World Bank Group (WBG) means it is impossible to verify the bank’s climate-related finance claims, according to a report from charity Oxfam.

State owned power utility Eskom has signed commercial lease agreements with four independent power producers (IPPs) for land use at two of its coal power stations in Mpumalanga, in a plan to grow renewable energy capacity by the private sector.

Germany’s commitment of ZAR6.2bn towards South Africa’s Just Energy Partnership (JETP) is assisting government efforts to approve a detailed investment plan in time for COP27.

Uncomfortable financial disputes are expected to dominate the 27th United Nations Climate Change (COP27) conference, to be held in the Egyptian Red Sea resort city of Sharm El Sheikh on 6-18 November. African nations may achieve progress in some areas – perhaps by forcing the vexed question of compensation for loss and damage onto the agenda – but the meeting will likely once again fail to identify a way forward for electricity supply industries (ESIs) across the continent.

Mauritania's petroleum, mines and energy minister Abdessalam Ould Mohammed Saleh has signed a partnership agreement for the 10GW Nour green hydrogen (GH2) project. The agreement paves the way for a feasibility study and offtaker assessment.

The results are in from African Energy’s carbon and renewable credit survey, with almost 50% of respondents saying the certification of carbon or renewable credits is either too costly or time-intensive. This will not be of great surprise to those who complain the market is not fit for purpose in meeting Africa’s needs.

Nigeria’s recently launched Energy Transition Plan aims to make Abuja’s target of net zero emissions by 2060 a reality, but the debt-for-climate deal proposed by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo could be even more important in relieving more immediate economic pressures – if creditors agree to provide the funds requested for a new deal that promotes gas as the key ‘transition fuel’.

Japan’s pledge to invest some $30bn in Africa over the next three years has underlined the Asian economic giant’s commitment to rapidly advance its relations, as well as to expand its presence, on a continent where Tokyo’s involvement has too often lagged behind other big nations.

Progress has been reported on a $400m compressed natural gas (CNG) plant on the shores of Lake Kivu, at Bwishyura, in the Karongi district of Western Province. Methane gas from Lake Kivu will be converted into CNG, which will be used as a substitute for petrol and diesel fuel and liquid petroleum gas (LPG).

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has committed a $100m loan to Cairo-based Banque Misr for on-lending to local small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) operating in the Egyptian green economy.

The draft Kenya Energy White Paper, published in July, set out an overarching approach to the country’s energy sector. The white paper was not designed as a formal policy document but rather one that proposed “the type of policies that will be needed to achieve the country’s energy objectives”.

InfraCo Africa, part of the Private Infrastructure Development Group (PIDG), is investing $43m in the Climate, Energy Access and Resilience (Clear) Fund, which is advised by Helios Investment Partners. InfraCo and Helios had said during COP26 last November that they were working to set up the new pan-African fund, to raise more than $350m for investment into sustainable infrastructure and businesses.

Egypt’s COP27 is likely to be a fractious affair after the illusory harmony of COP26 in Glasgow, reflecting the daunting scale of financial support African nations need to protect themselves from climate change impacts while achieving developmental goals and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. With developed nations’ budgets and stock of political capital for dealing with the climate crisis already depleted, African Energy’s monitoring of preparations for Sharm El Sheikh suggests it is becoming painfully clear that African negotiators’ demands cannot or will not be met at COP27.