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The African Development Bank (AfDB) has named Transparency International vice chairman Akere Muna as sanctions commissioner. The job is a part-time position heading the new Sanctions Office, which is part of measures to strengthen the AfDB’s anti-corruption agenda and procurement procedures. The Sanctions Office will impose penalties where sanctionable practices have taken place in projects administered, financed or supported by the bank group.

Investment bank Renaissance Capital is suing African Minerals in London’s Commercial Court for £25m of unpaid advisory fees relating to a fundraising in 2010. The dispute centres on a £170m cash injection by Chinese state-owned China Railway Materials Commercial Corporation to develop Sierra Leone’s Tonkolili iron ore mine, a deal for which Renaissance Capital claims it is owed substantial fees for facilitating.

Standard Bank has signed a R20bn ($2.16bn) funding support agreement for renewable energy projects in South Africa with the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC). ICBC is Standard Bank’s largest shareholder with a 20% stake. The deal is structured to provide the funding out of ICBC’s rand income, and aims to promote the use of renewable energy in South Africa in support of the government’s renewable energy programme, as well as raising awareness among Chinese suppliers.

Kenya Electricity Generating Company (KenGen) has signed a contract with a consortium of banks to act as financial arranger and adviser. KenGen has embarked on an expansion programme to raise installed capacity to 3,000MW by 2018 from 1,236MW now, to meet demand rising at 8%/yr. This is projected to cost some $5bn.

The Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) board has delisted Gabon for failing to file its validation report by the December deadline. The board also suspended Sierra Leone and Mauritania. Having been granted previous extensions, Gabon was required to submit a validation report by 9 December 2012. The report arrived nine weeks after the deadline, on 15 February, but the validator found that Gabon had failed to meet seven out of 21 requirements.

fren affiliate Gasol has launched a multi-tranche, unsecured bond of up to $100m to fund initial development work for its liquefied natural gas import project in Benin. The first $20m tranche has been placed with institutional investors. The bond has an interest rate of 10%/yr and a maturity of three years. Any subsequent tranches will be subject to investor appetite.

The Libyan Investment Authority (LIA), BP’s partner in its massive onshore and offshore exploration blocks, is experiencing a crisis of leadership as it struggles to deal with losses sustained during the latter years of Colonel Muammar Qadhafi’s rule. In mid-February, Prime Minister Ali Zeidan dismissed the sovereign wealth fund’s executive chairman Mohsen Derregia, replacing him with Central Bank of Libya deputy governor Ali Mohamed Salem Hibri.

Algerian gas and electricity utility Sonelgaz has issued a detailed and indignant rebuttal to allegations that the contract it awarded to Montreal-based contractor SNC-Lavalin in early 2006 to build the 1,200MW Hadjeret Ennouss generation plant at Cherchell, west of Algiers, was not competitive. Since Lavalin was dragged into the widening ‘Sonatrach-2’ corruption scandal following revelations that it also used Farid Bedjaoui as a business intermediary, scrutiny of its business has widened beyond its multi-billion dollar order book with the national oil and gas company.

Tullow is seeking indemnification from Heritage Oil & Gas over capital gains tax it paid to the Ugandan government in 2010. The dispute dates back to Tullow’s acquisition of Heritage’s rights and interests in two Ugandan petroleum exploration areas in the Lake Albert Rift Basin, Blocks 1 and 3A, for $1.45m almost three years ago. The Ugandan Revenue Authority (URA) levied a $404m tax on the transaction, for which Heritage said it was not liable, so that Tullow ended up paying.

On 28 February, the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) approved an 8% annual increase in tariffs for Eskom over the five years to 2018. In 2012, Eskom had considered applying for increases of 25% a year over a shorter period before submitting proposals for a 16% yearly increase. Nersa’s determination will mean that Eskom will not see cost-reflective tariffs – which are a stated aim of South Africa’s Electricity Pricing Policy – before 2018 at the earliest and leaves the giant utility little room to manoeuvre financially.

Deep-water explorer Ophir Energy is raising £553m ($826m) through a share placing and rights issue to fund a programme of ten to 15 wells this year targeting 1.3bn boe of resources. The London Stock Exchange-listed company’s extensive acreage holdings have started to deliver results, particularly in Tanzania, where it has discovered significant offshore gas reserves in partnership with BG Group, but also offshore Equatorial Guinea, where it is looking for a partner to bring a string of gas discoveries into production.

The World Bank is considering a $25m loan to support the Sierra Leone Energy Access Project. The appraisal process is expected to be completed by 25 March in time to go before the World Bank’s board for approval on 16 May. The project has been designed to complement the work of the $16m Sierra Leone Infrastructure Development Fund, which was expected to be put to the board in December .

The Islamic Development Bank signed a $200m loan agreement on 11 February to support the construction of the 45MW M’Dez and 125MW El Menzel hydroelectric power stations. The two plants form the M’Dez El Menzel complex, which is a key development for the Upper Sebou River.

A major ongoing concern for international oil companies (IOCs) is cash-strapped parastatal Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC)’s continuing inability to fund its share of joint venture projects and its transformation into a national oil company (NOC). Shell Petroleum Development Company managing director and Shell Nigeria country chairman Mutiu Sunmonu said a lack of funding was constraining growth, and that the government needed “a new approach to funding” and to be “more flexible in its thinking”

Nigeria’s controversial fuel subsidy will remain in place in 2013 despite the findings of a critical parliamentary report, but the country’s dilapidated refineries are set for turn-around maintenance, writes David Slater in Lagos