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The failure to expand output at China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC)’s Agadem Rift Basin (ARB) acreage and the closure of the Niger-Benin Export Pipeline (NBEP) after it had just opened are bitter blows both for the economic programme of Brigadier General Abdourahamane Tiani’s Conseil National pour la Sauvegarde de la Patrie (CNSP) junta, and for the project sponsors.

Italian major Eni has cleared the last regulatory hurdle for its deal to offload a series of onshore exploration and production licences to Nigerian local player Oando, in a transaction estimated to be worth some $500m. Eni chief executive Claudio Descalzi met with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in Abuja on 19 July – part of a regional tour that also took in talks with the presidents of Republic of Congo and Angola. Descalzi has insisted that Eni remains committed to Nigeria.

Australia-listed Invictus Energy has announced a two-stage share placement with local institutional investors, underwritten in part by Zimbabwe’s sovereign wealth fund the Mutapa Investment Fund, to support its Cabora Bassa oil and gas project in Muzarabani, northern Zimbabwe.

The award of the Angola’s Block KON 19 to local operator Acrep and partners London AIM-listed Afentra and the local Enagol has been signed off by industry regulator the Agência Nacional de Petróleo, Gás e Biocombustíveis (ANPG).

A mini-boom in uranium mining is underway in Africa, with investors raising debt and equity finance to advance greenfield projects and mothballed mines being brought back online. The energy transition and geopolitical imperatives have created a more favourable environment for the nuclear power sector, but political risks are especially acute when it comes to uranium, as demonstrated by recent licence withdrawals in Niger, writes Marc Howard.

French major TotalEnergies said in late July that it was withdrawing from South Africa’s offshore Block 11B/12B block, after deciding that the two gas discoveries made there were not economically viable. PetroSA had been hoping the gas could be used to supply its shuttered 45,000 b/d Mossel Bay refinery, which it wants to bring back online.

The Botala Energy-led Serowe Solar Consortium has won a tender to develop the 4MW Puthi Solar PV plant in the Serowe Energy Hub. Botala is also looking to develop solar/gas hybrid capacity using feedstock from its coal bed methane upstream project.

London-listed Afentra has said its completion of the acquisition of Azule’s stakes in two offshore Angola oil blocks has presented a strong platform for the company to capitalise on further opportunities in Angola, as well as in target markets in West Africa.

A review of offshore oil and gas contracts had been anticipated, following pledges made on the campaign trail ahead of the February election. Agreements signed by the previous administration of President Macky Sall are expected to come in for particular scrutiny, write Waly Dione Faye and Marc Howard.

State-owned Kuvimba Mining Houses (KMH) is holding discussions with potential funding partners to develop mineral beneficiation at its portfolio of mines, where renewable C&I capacity is increasingly supplying power, writes Tonderayi Mukeredzi.

Despite a period of intense activity in markets such as Namibia and Nigeria, merger and acquisition deals around the continent are taking longer to get over the line, reflecting the more complex structures being adopted and the need to tap less familiar sources of funding, writes James Gavin.

French major TotalEnergies has agreed to sell its 10% stake in the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) joint venture to the local Chappal Energies for $860m. SPDC holds 18 licences in Nigeria’s Niger Delta. It is the latest instance of a now well-established trend for international oil companies to sell assets in the country.

British energy major BP has signed a joint development agreement with a consortium of Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (Masdar) and the local Hassan Allam Utilities and Infinity Power to explore the potential for a large, multi-phase green hydrogen (GH2) project in Egypt.

The UK/Norway-owned IPP Globeleq has raised $99m of debt financing for Mozambique’s first wind project, adding to its southern African portfolio. Despite industry pessimism over the prospects for utility-scale projects, Globeleq is advancing a large pipeline of greenfield renewable and gas capacity in eastern and southern Africa and is bullish over the future of utility-scale projects, writes Marc Howard.

The second phase of KMC’s spodumene processing plant, under construction in Hwange district, has been delayed by three months. The first phase of the processing plant was commissioned in December 2023.