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Africa is expected to be a driver of global growth in coming decades, but its nature will be different from that predicted when emerging markets boomed and investors saw an escape from stagnant developed economies in apparently untapped markets. A realistic view is that there are likely to be more pockets of prosperity around the continent, and economies such as China will continue to grow, albeit less quickly. But how to plan for the future in a deeply uncertain environment?

Nasdaq-listed Chinese solar manufacturer JA Solar announced on 22 February that it had signed an agreement to be the module supplier for the 75MW Orange Solar project in Loeriesfontein, Northern Cape Province, alongside local partners Solar Capital Ltd and Black Enterprise Empowerment. The contract will begin in 2017 when construction of the project is expected to start; work has been delayed by an Eskom grid constraint, according to Solar Capital. The project will connect to a new 22/132kV switching station at Narosies, adjacent to the project, which Eskom will connect via a 6km line to Helios substation where a new 132kV feeder bay will be built.

France’s Eren Renewable Energy and Dubai-based Access Infra Africa said on 17 February that construction of their 10MW solar photovoltaic project at Soroti would begin in March. The developers describe the project, which has an estimated cost of $19m, as the largest privately funded solar power plant in sub-Saharan Africa, excluding South Africa. The project is the first to be developed under Uganda’s Global Energy Transfer Feed-in Tariffs (GET FiT) scheme managed by Germany’s KfW Development Bank and Uganda’s Electricity Regulatory Agency.

The first independent power project (IPP) in Egypt since 1999 is likely to be a 250MW wind project in the Gulf of Suez which was awarded to France’s Engie (formerly GDF Suez) last year and will be formally signed in March. Next in line is likely to be the first 1,200MW phase of Benchmark Power International (BPI)’s combined-cycle gas turbine (CCGT) project in the Nile Delta, which is not far from financial close after securing backing from Abraaj Group with the support of the African Development Bank (AfDB, see Power).

Tenders have been issued for three projects following approval of donor financing for schemes to improve power supply in Monrovia and in Lofa County. The Ministry of Finance and Development Planning is seeking bids for the Monrovia Consolidation of Electricity Transmission and Distribution project, funded by the EuropeAid Cooperation Office. This is composed of three lots. Lot one is a three-year technical assistance programme for the Ministry of Lands, Mines and Energy’s Bureau of Electricity and Renewable Energy.

The 50MW Lomaum dam on the Catumbela River was returned to service on 3 February after rehabilitation work. State news agency Angop said the dam at Cubal, in Benguela province, had been out of action for 31 years. It will enable Empresa Nacional de Distribuição de Electricidade (Ende) to improve supply to 92,000 consumers in the cities of Benguela, Lobito, Catumbela and Baía Farta. The dam started production tests in June 2015 and is now restored to full production. The plant was badly damaged in 1984, during the civil war.

The Lagos-based Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) has completed the purchase of InfraCo Africa’s stake in the Cabeólica wind farm. The two sides signed a share purchase agreement on 6 May 2015 for AFC to purchase InfraCo Africa’s remaining stake in the project. Cabeólica has more than 30 wind turbines on Boa Vista, São Vicente, Sal and Santiago islands, with a total installed capacity of 25.5MW, equivalent to around 20% of Cape Verde’s energy needs. Cabeólica was established in 2008 as a public-private partnership between InfraCo, the government of Cape Verde, through the Ministry of Tourism, Industry and Energy, and the Electra utility. Power production started in 2011.

Zambia has been crippled by drought and chronic mismanagement of water assets in the south of the country. Energy minister Dora Siliya told the Africa Energy Indaba conference in Johannesburg on 16 February that the Kariba reservoir – the largest manmade lake in the world – was only 12.7% full. Measures to improve the situation are in short supply. The 120MW Itezhi-Tezhi public private partnership between Tata Power and Zesco is operating at only 40MW due to water shortages, while an agreement to buy 138MW of power from an Aggreko power plant in Mozambique is hugely expensive, and Zambia has reduced its imports from Aggreko to 40MW.

The International Finance Corporation’s Scaling Solar initiative was officially launched in Senegal on 10 February with the signing of an agreement to develop 200MW solar capacity. Scaling Solar is intended to offer a one-stop shop for advisers, project documents, risk management, finance and insurance for smaller countries looking to speed up implementation of solar PV programmes. The programme is already under way in Zambia.

China International Water & Electric Corporation (CWE) announced on 2 February the signing of an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract with the Ministry of Energy and Water Resources and Ministry of Finance for the 450MW Souapiti dam and hydropower plant on the Konkoure River. The $1.38bn contract is expected to be completed in 58 months and will involve the construction of a roller-compacted concrete dam with a maximum height of 116.5 metres and length of 1,148 metres, as well as a power plant with a design installed capacity of 450MW and average annual output of 1.9TWh.

If any reality check is needed to counter overly optimistic Africa Rising narratives, or as a reminder of how far the continent’s more troubled regions remain from meeting the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, then crisis in the Lake Chad Basin provides it. Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari spoke too soon when he promised Boko Haram would be defeated by end-2015. Under new leadership, the Nigerian military has raised its performance, tackling corruption that undermined its efforts, while battling the jihadist challenge in the north-east.

California-based solar microgrid company Powerhive has raised $20m in its first significant round of venture capital financing. The round was led by Prelude Ventures, with participation by Caterpillar Ventures, Total Energy Ventures, Tao Capital Partners, and Pi Investments, among others. The funding is intended to support the company’s expansion into new markets in Africa, Asia and the Pacific region, and activities in Kenya.Total Energy Ventures – the venture capital fund of France’s Total – announced on 2 February that it had also invested in Arusha- and California-based Off Grid Electric, which is installing solar power technology in homes and businesses in Arusha through a partnership with the national government and the Tanzanian Investment Centre.

Geothermal Development Company (GDC) is looking to appoint a new chief executive, in the wake of charges being brought against chief executive Silas Simiyu, company secretary Paxidis Namioni Saisi, general manager drilling operations Michael Mbevi and six members of the tender committee by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission in November over alleged illegal procurement of services for moving a drilling rig. The successful candidate will serve a three-year term with the option of a single renewal period of similar length.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) is appraising two separate loans for solar schemes being developed under the Egyptian feed-in tariff (FiT) programme, which aims to procure a total 2GW of solar power and 2GW of wind power in 2015-17.One is a €73m ($80m) loan for Engie for the construction and operation of two independent 50MW solar photovoltaic (PV) plants in Ben Ban, near Aswan in southern Egypt. The total cost of the development is estimated at €195m.

Some 28 years after its destruction by Cuban Mig fighter planes during the 1975-1991 civil war, the 14MW Calueque hydro plant on the Kunene River will be operational again by year-end. The dam was bombed in 1988 when it was in the hands of the South African Defence Force. A consortium of Mota Engil Africa and Lyon announced in late January that the facility would be rehabilitated this year.