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The resignation of power minister Bart Nnaji in the middle of the privatisation process has caused considerable shock in Nigeria. Officially, he resigned over a conflict of interest, but there is considerable speculation over the forces that pushed him out.

Heritage Oil Corporation has dropped plans for a rights issue to fund its acquisition of a stake in Nigeria’s OML 30 after receiving a cash boost from Genel Energy. Genel will buy a 26% stake in the Miran Block in Iraqi Kurdistan for $156m, and has agreed a $294m exchangeable loan. The Miran farm-in is part of a buying spree that has also seen the company farm into acreage in Malta and Morocco.

The amicable resolution reached in March of the arbitration dispute between Sonatrach and Anadarko Petroleum Corporation over a windfall tax introduced in 2006-07 is moving ahead.

The Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa (SEFA), a joint initiative of the Danish government and the Energy, Environment and Climate Change Department of the African Development Bank (AfDB), has approved its first grant of $825,000 for the concept phase of the Green Tech Financial Facility.

The cabinet has approved a draft treaty between South Africa and the Democratic Republic of Congo for the development of the Grand Inga hydro project. The draft was drawn up by a technical committee of officials from the two countries following the signing of a memorandum of understanding by their presidents in November.

Heritage Oil has published details of a $370m rights issue to part-finance its acquisition of a stake in Nigeria’s OML 30 (AE 235/18). The rights issue could see chief executive Tony Buckingham reducing his 33% stake in the company, as maintaining his stake at that level would cost him some $122m.

Economy minister Emmanuel Nganou Djoumessi signed loan agreements on 31 July for a total of CFA105bn ($194m) from the World Bank and Agence Française de Développement (AFD) for the $494m Lom Pangar dam development

Kenya has won praise for creating a good environment for private power investment, but its ambitious expansion plans will need a range of energy sources and managing this process is a complex business

Even as negotiations continue towards the restarting of oil exports via Sudan, South Sudan is pushing ahead with plans to build alternative routes to export its oil, say senior government officials. The Juba government is also planning to build a refinery, launch a licensing round, and break up oil concessions awarded by Khartoum prior to independence, writes Richard Nield, recently in Juba

According to a report published in July by the Ministry of Petroleum and Mining, Juba is evaluating three alternatives for a new oil export pipeline that would end its dependence on two existing pipelines via Sudan. The three routes under consideration are: from Upper Nile State via Ethiopia to Djibouti; from Unity State to Lamu in Kenya; and from Unity State via Uganda to Mombasa in Kenya. The Lamu option would cost an estimated $4bn, while the other routes would each cost $3bn, according to the report.

The temporary closure by protesters of three oil terminals, which caused a fall in exports of 300,000 b/d over two days in early July, is likely to reoccur, according to European security and diplomatic sources

The World Bank Group has activated $300m of additional credit support for power sector reform and gas development projects, including a SDR64.5m ($100m equivalent) loan for transmission and distribution infrastructure, and International Development Association partial risk guarantees (PRGs) worth $200m to support Niger Delta Power Holding Company’s gas supply and aggregation agreements with Shell Petroleum Development Company, Chevron Nigeria Ltd and other oil companies.

Record electricity consumption in mid-July has highlighted the basic weaknesses of beleaguered state utility Sonelgaz as it seeks to attract international support for its ambitious investment programme, writes Oualid Khelifi

Rating agency Moody’s Investors Service lowered Eni’s long-term corporate credit rating to A3 (outlook negative) from A2 on 16 July. It also lowered the company’s short-term credit rating to P-2 from P-1.

President Alpha Condé’s election offers the prospect of democratic rule, but he faces an enormous task in developing his troubled state to meet voters’ and investors’ expectations, writes Thalia Griffiths, recently in Conakry