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State-owned utility Zesco is looking for a new renewable energy contractor, having put on hold a 2.4GW solar PV development with China’s CiEG. Work on other projects is continuing, but this is a difficult period for Zambia, which has still to implement its multilateral debt deal amid a lack of foreign currency and financing, writes Chiwoyu Sinyangwe in Lusaka.

War-torn but entrepreneurial Somalia is edging back towards normality, at last securing membership of the East African Community and reporting some progress in tackling Al-Shabaab militants. The government also has longer-term ambitions to exploit ample renewable energy potential and offshore oil and gas resources, writes Dominic Dudley.

A series of increasingly high-profile and commercialised UN climate change summits has driven a global boom in climate finance, but Africa is being left behind as a result of poor infrastructure, weak governance and other issues. As discussions start at COP28 in Dubai, African Energy assesses the data and what needs to change if Africa is to hit its climate change targets.

It is going to be a challenging and busy COP for summit president Sultan Al-Jaber, but with an inaugural $420m capitalisation of the Loss and Damage Fund announced on the first day, the multi-tasking Emirati came out swinging against his critics. Al-Jaber’s role as chief executive of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) has prompted allegations of a conflict of interest and abuse of COP for commercial, fossil fuel-related ends. But other agendas are afoot, and as COP has morphed into one of the world’s largest business conferences, the geopolitical horse-trading has further intensified.

Landlocked and energy-poor, eSwatini wants independent power producers to play a bigger role in building renewable energy capacity, as the kingdom strives to generate sufficient power and end years of over-dependence on imported electricity.

The leak of briefing notes for COP28 president Sultan Al-Jaber just ahead of the summit’s opening in Dubai drew attention to the United Arab Emirate’s extensive energy dealings in key African economies, including Egypt and Kenya. Key players include renewables flagship Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (Masdar) and oil giant Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc).

The World Bank Group (WBG) is back in the Grand Inga game, more than seven years after it suspended funding for the first phase of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) mega-scheme. However, with elections due to be held on 20 December across most of the country (some conflict zones are excluded) it is highly unlikely that President Félix Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo will have a breakthrough to announce before the sceptical electorate cast their votes.

A solar PV and battery energy storage plant has been commissioned at Danzi, 18km north-west of the capital Bangui, according to the World Bank Group. The plant is a significant addition to CAR’s under-developed grid, which had a total of 49.65MW online prior to Danzi’s commissioning, according to African Energy Live Data. During the Danzi commissioning ceremony, President Faustin Archange Touadera lamented “the lack of investment over the past 40 years” in CAR’s electricity industry. The lack of interest among private and foreign investors is not surprising, given CAR’s long-running civil war and poor governance.

Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX)- and London AIM-listed Mkango Resources is planning three solar PV plants at its Songwe Hill mine. The $311m rare earths project has an estimated 18-year life-of-mine.

SolarAfrica has outlined to African Energy the latest timeframe for the first phase of its 1GW SunCentral solar PV wheeling project in South Africa's Northern Cape. The project is among the first private projects to be issued with an Eskom budget quote since the utility changed grid allocation rules and gave priority to shovel-ready generation projects under the Renewable Independent Power Producer Programme (REIPPP).

Ireland’s Mainstream Renewable Power (Mainstream) has announced that it has achieved financial close on its 97.5MW Free State solar PV project in South Africa. Power generated from the plant will supply Sasol and Air Liquide’s operations in Secunda, in Mpumalanga province.

The future of electric power generation in South Africa is no longer in the hands of state-owned utility Eskom. Although it controls more than 80% of installed capacity, including 45GW of coal-fired generation, changes in the electricity supply industry are now being driven by the installation of many gigawatts-worth of captive solar photovoltaic (PV) generation, following the removal of licence restrictions.

African Energy Live Data started consistently monitoring power project pipelines across the continent eight years ago. An analysis of the figures for South Africa shows a tragic lost opportunity in the shape of many gigawatts of potential renewable generation capacity with no foreseeable chance of being connected to the grid.

Eskom’s most recent Transmission Development Plan (TDP) 2023-32 and Grid Connection Capacity Assessment (GCCA) 2025 showed there was no capacity for additional power to be connected to the grid in the entire western half of South Africa, the location of almost all planned wind generation projects and a large amount of solar and other potential capacity.

In a major investigation, African Energy’s editorial and data teams have probed unanswered questions about South Africa’s energy transition, which is being shaped by large corporations and their need for reliable, low-carbon power. The results show a booming private sector electricity market that is also unpredictable and freighted with risk for all participants.