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Nigerien military officers have sought to oust key western ally President Mohamed Bazoum in a 26 July putsch that has implications for regional stability and the fight against jihadism in the Sahel. In the West, Bazoum has been seen to be leading a reforming administration that is intent on fighting the regional Islamist insurgency and pushing back against malign Russian influence.

Numerous high-level American delegations have visited Africa this year, as Washington seeks to counter Chinese influence around the continent and emphasise its interest in striking mutually beneficial trade and investment deals, but African governments are pushing for better terms of trade and an extension of the soon-to-lapse Agoa trade deal, writes Tonderayi Mukeredzi recently in Gaborone.

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has ticked a lot of the right boxes for those hoping Nigeria will at last tackle the thorny problems that have hobbled the country’s economic and political prospects. In some respects, he has moved even more quickly than even those close to his transition team expected, in response to the deterioration of key indicators during his predecessor Muhammadu Buhari’s two terms. 

Wagner Group head Yevgeny Prigozhin was reported telling his fighters in Belarus on 19 July that they would take no further part in Moscow’s war in Ukraine, but they must ready themselves for “a new journey to Africa”. A consequence for the Russian militia’s operations from Prigozhin’s failed march on Moscow in June would seem to be that President Vladimir Putin’s useful, if volatile proxy, does a pivot to Africa, where it is already a substantial force.

South Sudan is facing a dilemma about how it keeps its oil and gas flowing at a time when its export route via Sudan is at risk from a conflict  that has fanned out well beyond Khartoum.

Gulf governments have proved among President Vladimir Putin’s most enthusiastic friends, undermining western efforts to isolate Moscow in a relationship that goes beyond energy and business links. With the mercenary Wagner Group active across the Sahel, several dozen cargo flights between Abu Dhabi and a remote air strip in eastern Chad have provoked renewed speculation about the UAE’s ties with Moscow and its proxies, Gulf States Newsletter staff* report.

Eritrea is seeking to improve strained relations with its East African neighbours while also deepening ties with key allies China and Russia. Some multilateral institutions including the African Development Bank are also offering new support, but Asmara remains isolated from western financing and is likely to remain so for as long as President Isaias Afwerki’s capricious and repressive regime remains in place, write Tonderayi Mukeredzi and Jon Marks in an African Energy special report.

A $7bn budget allocation made last year to National Oil Corporation was intended to boost crude output, but no new projects have yet been launched, prompting questions over the lack of oversight at NOC, in a state already hollowed out by smuggling, corruption and theft. It comes amid signs that Prime Minister Abdel Hamid Al-Dabaiba and rival warlord Khalifa Haftar are taking greater control over oil revenues, raising further questions for IOCs who are wondering whether to reinvest, writes John Hamilton.

Former finance minister Manuel Chang pleaded not guilty in a New York court on 13 July to charges over the long-running ‘tuna bond’ scandal, having been extradited to the United States from South Africa the previous day. Chang was sent to New York after a South African court had rejected his request to be tried in Maputo.

Cameroon Oil Transportation Company’s new senior leadership team features figures from Chad and Cameroon, prompting speculation that their bilateral rift may be healing. UK-based independent Savannah Energy remains a central player, but may come under further pressure if the two governments start acting in concert, writes James Gavin.

Leo Lithium requested a voluntary ASX suspension on 20 July, as it waited for correspondence from the Malian government over exports from its Goulamina project, amid speculation over a possible block on direct shipping ore, write Waly Dione Faye and Marc Howard.

The government and state distributor Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) say a dispute over debts of some $1.6bn owed to the country’s independent power producers (IPPs) has been settled; the Independent Power Generators, Ghana (IPGG) group seems to have grudgingly agreed. But the devil is in the detail, and many of the finer elements have yet to be finalised.

Not since the Cold War have countries in the Global South featured so prominently in the thinking of the world’s major powers – something clearly visible in the shifting patterns in energy markets and renewable investments. For many, that presents an opportunity. Angola’s President João Lourenço has sought to position his country as an investor-friendly environment and to convince critics he is serious about tackling corruption and other ills that flourished under his predecessor José Eduardo dos Santos. This is a calculated effort to win support from donors and has already received a positive response in Washington and other capitals.

The dispute over Savannah Energy’s assets in Chad and Cameroon has intensified, amid claims that Chad orchestrated an illegitimate general meeting of shareholders in the Cotco pipeline company – drawing a rebuke from Yaoundé, writes James Gavin.

Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) is facing a domestic political backlash against a proposal to reduce its stake in the offshore Jubilee field by offloading part of its equity to Petroleum Oil and Gas Corporation of South Africa (PetroSA) – whose credentials as an investor are questioned.