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Australian Securities Exchange-listed EcoGraf expects to sign a framework agreement with the Tanzanian government for its Epanko graphite project in early 2023.

Madagascar-focused miner Tirupati Graphite has completed trials for a 0.1MW hydroelectric power plant and continues to make progress with acquisition of Suni Resources in Mozambique.

Australian Securities Exchange (ASX)-listed explorer Triton Minerals has proposed Shanghai Stock Exchange-listed Shandong Yulong Gold Company as the Chinese debt arranger for its Acuabe graphite project in Mozambique.

Canadian miner Aya Gold & Silver has announced a MD67m ($6.4m) deal to acquire state resources agency Office National des Hydrocarbures et des Mines (Onhym)’s 15% interest in the Zgounder silver project and five permits adjacent to the mine.

French developer Total Eren and AIM-listed Chariot are partnering to develop a 30MWp solar plant to supply the Karo platinum mine in Zimbabwe’s Great Dyke.

Atlantic Lithium has awarded Australian Securities Exchange (ASX)-listed Primero a $1m front-end engineering design (FEED) contract for the processing plant at its Ewoyaa lithium project. Atlantic is expected to announce the project's updated mineral resource estimate in Q1 2023.

Copperbelt Energy Corporation (CEC) is aiming to take advantage of the improved operating environment since President Hakainde Hichilema took office in August 2021 to meet growing power demand from mining sector.

The Zambian authorities appear to have backed down in a long-running dispute with the country’s major mining companies over electricity tariffs, by agreeing to reverse a 2014 hike in charges. Since coming into power in August 2021, President Hakainde Hichilema has signalled a desire to end the dispute and allow the sector to reassert its role as the main contributor to the economy.

The Mutoshi and Etoile copper and cobalt projects have received a funding boost from the Eastern and Southern African Trade and Development Bank (TDB) and a syndicate of other, unnamed banks. Both copper and cobalt are vital inputs for the energy transition and have been designated by the United States, European Union (EU) and other major economies as critical or transition minerals.

A $220m US government grant for a Louisiana graphite facility, which sources its ore in Mozambique, shows how competition for African graphite is heating up in a new ‘great game’ to secure strategically vital transition minerals. Insecurity and difficult labour relations in Mozambique pose challenges, but serious money is also pouring into Tanzanian and Madagascan developments.

Mozambique is Africa’s undisputed graphite leader – at least for now. Total output at Balama (officially named Twigg) was recorded at 72,000 tonnes in 2021, but reached 128,000 tonnes in Q1-Q3 2022 – almost double Brazil’s total 2021 production, according to USGS data.

Zesco chairman Vickson Ncube has said achieving cost- reflective tariffs (CRTs) should not be done at the expense of making electricity too expensive for key groups such as copper miners and ordinary consumers.

Mozambique’s graphite reserves are situated in Cabo Delgado, where an Islamist insurgency has raged since 2017. The violence has meant that the area’s biggest investments, TotalEnergies and ExxonMobil’s planned onshore liquefaction trains on the Afungi peninsula, remain on hold.

Graphite production has not yet started, but Tanzania could become one of Africa’s leading exporters of the mineral, given most of its reserves are situated near existing road, rail and port links and the government’s licensing regime has proven attractive to investors. African Energy takes a look at the firms that have graphite developments at advanced stages in the country.

Graphite mining in Madagascar has over a century of history, but production has fallen to low levels. However, two firms have ambitious expansion plans that are expected to markedly increase output in the near future.