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A project to build a €430m ($475m) gas-to-power (GTP) plant in the northern coastal city of Saint Louis by the previously obscure local developer Ndar Energies has attracted criticism by civil society and academic figures for the lack of transparency around the contract award.

South Africa’s relations with the United Arab Emirates have soured after the Ministry of Justice and Correctional Services said it was only told in early April about a mid-February UAE court ruling that Atul and Rajesh Gupta would not be extradited to face charges of money laundering, fraud and corruption. It is another twist in the ‘state capture’ scandal that scarred Jacob Zuma’s presidency and whose ramifications continue to this day.

UK independent Savannah Energy is moving forward with a $1.25bn plan to acquire a string of upstream assets in South Sudan from Malaysia’s Petronas – a rare case of an IOC stepping into one of Africa’s most challenging political and economic environments, writes James Gavin.

The Ghanaian government is making another effort to renegotiate state electricity distributor Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG)’s supply deals with independent power producers (IPPs), in a bid to replace take-or-pay agreements that have left the state liable for unused electricity while amassing large debts.

Recourse to arbitration by Tullow Oil – Ghana’s largest crude producer, along with Dallas-based Kosmos Energy, through their equity stakes in the Jubilee and Tweneboa-Enyenra-Ntomme (Ten) fields – underlines a number of difficult issues facing the London (LSE)- and Ghana Stock Exchange-listed company.

South Sudan President Salva Kiir Mayardit’s choice of defence minister has underlined the persistent factional and communal conflicts that undermine the country’s efforts to improve its governance and focus on developmental issues.

Savannah Energy has vowed to pursue all its legal options – including arbitration at the ICA in Paris – after Mahamat Idriss Déby’s ‘transitional’ government nationalised the upstream oil assets the UK independent had acquired from ExxonMobil in December.

National Oil Corporation has relaunched its growth-oriented upstream strategy and is encouraging international companies to help Libya achieve the 2m b/d crude oil production target mooted for at least 15 years. Eni’s recent huge gas development agreement with NOC suggests the market’s need for Libyan hydrocarbons has trumped more pessimistic assessments of the government’s capabilities, but widespread political, social and legal opposition to the Italian deal is a reminder that, while huge growth in oil and gas production is technically feasible, developments remain prey to Libya’s volatile politics.

A Lagos court ruling against the leadership of ambitious independent oil and gas company Seplat could reinforce concerns that, even with an apparently pro-business president-elect, Nigeria may not prove an easy market for international oil companies.

Political, social and legal opposition to Eni’s multi-billion-dollar upstream gas development deal is driven by an alliance of fief holders who may not be able to stop the deal, but could make it harder and more expensive to complete. The opposition reflects continuing dysfunction, raising the prospect of more blockades and disruption, writes Mohamed Eljarh*, with John Hamilton.

The race to develop the 1.5GW Mphanda Nkuwa hydroelectric project has come down to two international bids, with the winner expected to make an equity investment of up to $700m in one of southern Africa’s most important power projects.

The Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment’s rejection of all three of Karpowership South Africa’s environmental impact assessment applications has thrown the Turkish company’s – and other departments of government’s – emergency gas-to-power plans into disarray once more.

Tunisia’s economic decline and return to autocracy has been underlined by the World Bank suspending new projects in response to President Kaïs Saïed’s anti-immigrant stance. However, Qatar may soon start to provide much-needed funds and Tunisia is also earning revenue by acting as a re-export hub for embargoed Russian oil, writes Jon Marks.

Democratic Republic of Congo’s huge resource base, and desperate need to cater for one of the world’s fastest-growing populations, are exciting potential investors, encouraged by President Félix Tshisekedi’s claims to be presiding over improved governance. But claims to significant progress are questionable as a controversial presidential election beckons, conflict stalks eastern DRC and criminality dogs efforts to overhaul power and other sectors, write François Misser and Jon Marks.

President Paul Biya, who has celebrated his 90th birthday and will soon have completed 41 years in power, takes a hands-off approach to presiding over Cameroon, whose domestic divisions continue to fuel regional conflicts while international supporters help to underpin the economy, writes Paul Melly.