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The International Monetary Fund has agreed to extend $1.3bn to Rabat under its resilience and sustainability facility, to support renewables and energy efficiency schemes, and to strengthen Morocco’s resilience against natural disasters. It comes just ahead of the IMF and World Bank Group annual meetings, which are going ahead as scheduled in Marrakech on 9-15 October.

The Central Electricity Board (CEB) has issued a request for tenders to design, supply, install and commission ten substations. The state utility also wants a feasibility study for a floating solar unit.

Dubai-headquartered Amea Power has signed a 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with state utility Uganda Electricity Transmission Company Ltd (UETCL) for a solar PV project.

Austria’s Andritz Hydro has announced that the Laúca hydroelectric power (HEP) plant is now operating at full capacity. Considered Angola’s largest HEP plant,  Laúca’s main powerhouse has six units, each designed to produce about 335MW.

Independent power producer (IPP) Kaboni Energy has commissioned its first Burundian mini-grid pilot system in the rural Giharo, Rutana province. The development is noteworthy for its funding model, which Kaboni calls a community energy co-operative (CEC).

Bill Kilgore Investments and a consortium of international investors led by Inspired Evolution’s managed Evolution II and III Funds, Paris-based Stoa and Dutch development bank FMO have injected $160m into Cape Town-based independent power producer (IPP) Red Rocket.

Norwegian independent power producer Scatec has commissioned a solar PV and battery hybrid project in South Africa, plus two similar schemes in Cameroon via its subsidiary Release.

British American Tobacco Nigeria (BAT) has commissioned a solar PV plant at its Ibadan factory.

Independent power producer (IPP) Serengeti Energy has commissioned the first phase of its Nkhotakota solar photovoltaic plant in eastern Malawi.

There are pockets of progress in building infrastructure across Democratic Republic of Congo, with commercial operators and development finance institutions supporting a range of projects. But with eastern regions traumatised by violence and an uncertain election looming in December, the country remains as challenging an environment as ever, writes Jon Marks.

Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed triumphantly announced on 10 September that the fourth and final filling of the $4.2bn Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (Gerd) reservoir had been completed, raising the 74km3 reservoir’s water level to 625 metres; last year’s third filling had brought levels to 600 metres.

Ivanhoe Mines has opted for commercial and industrial (C&I) supply from an independent power producer (IPP) for its Platreef project in Limpopo province, becoming the latest large South African offtaker to respond in this way to the woeful performance of utility Eskom.

Cairo is pressing on with the implementation of its existing electricity supply industry (ESI) strategy in the face of severe headwinds. Some major reforms, including energy sector liberalisation, are certain to be delayed, but the authorities continue to drive big ticket projects forward – and to pile on new ones – while striving to keep international investors on-side in a highly precarious financial situation.

Canada’s Ivanhoe Mines is expanding its use of hydroelectric power (HEP) wheeled across state utility Société Nationale d’Electricité (Snel)’s grid to support its mining activities in Democratic Republic of Congo’s Haut-Katanga province, which include the world-scale Kamoa-Kakula copper mine.

A target construction date has been set for the Ilute solar PV plant following the signing of an implementation agreement between the government and off-taker Africa GreenCo Group. Nairobi-headquartered independent power producer (IPP) Serengeti Energy and Zambian partner Western Solar are jointly developing the project.  On completion, it will be Zambia’s first plant to sell power to a private intermediary offtaker.