Search results

Barely a month after banning the use of foreign currencies within the country, the government has declared that mining companies and hotels must pay for their power in US dollars as part of new measures aimed at improving electricity supply. In June, the government banned the use of foreign currencies for local transactions and reintroduced the Zimbabwe dollar, which it abandoned in 2009 at the height of hyperinflation. As an interim measure, the government introduced the RTGS dollar in February to pave the way for the reintroduction of the local currency.

Equity financing is almost complete for the Egyptian Refinery Company (ERC) project, which tapped North Africa’s largest debt financing in H2 2010 and is due to start operations in 2015.

France’s Engie has agreed to buy Uganda-based pay-as-you-go solar provider Fenix International. Fenix chief executive Lyndsay Handler told African Energy Fenix would retain its identity but the partnership would offer economies of scale that would significantly reduce the cost of equipment and financing. She said solar home systems (SHS) were a very working capital-intensive business and companies like Fenix and M-Kopa paid high interest rates for their debt. Combining the two companies’ purchasing power for solar equipment would cut costs.

Australia’s Elixir Petroleum has taken over its partner’s stake in Block SL-4 following its failure to pay its share of seismic costs. Elixir issued a notice of default to Prontinal in late September, but was unable to get it to pay the $9m owed. Elixir took over operatorship in February and contracted a 3D seismic survey, which was completed in June. The block was originally awarded to US-based real estate company 8 Investments, sole bidder in the 2002 licensing round.

The proceeds from Zambia’s successful debut Eurobond issue will be spent on upgrading energy and transport infrastructure, writes Chiwoyu Sinyangwe in Lusaka.

DJIBOUTI: World Bank moots extra funding; EGYPT: Options to add hydro to Zefta dam; MALI: SNC Lavalin to study Gourbassi; MOZAMBIQUE: Backbone contract award; RWANDA: Sustainable energy tender; SUDAN: Letter of award for Upper Atbara hydro

The government has included anti-bribery provisions in four out of six petroleum agreements (PAs) currently before parliament for approval. “We are encouraged that PAs for the first time in Ghana’s history contain provisions that shun corruption especially through bribery or any inducement of public officials, politicians and political parties,” the Africa Centre for Energy Policy (Acep) think tank said in a statement. A new clause requires companies to certify compliance with the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the UK Bribery Act, and the anti-bribery convention of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

Operator Petrobras has failed to find hydrocarbons with the Kabeljou well on the Southern Block 2714A in the Orange Basin. The well, drilled by the Ocean Rig Poseidon drillship to a total depth of 3,150 metres, is the second of four to five wells planned offshore Namibia in 2012-13 by 25% stakeholder Chariot Oil & Gas.

One of the largest and most resilient investors in Democratic Republic of Congo, US minerals giant Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold (FCX), has announced the sale of its Tenke Fungurume copper and cobalt mine in Katanga to China Molybdenum Company in a $2.65bn deal. Poor economics may finally have persuaded FCX to pull out of DRC, having survived intense political pressure during the years of President Joseph Kabila Kabange’s mining review. The government was not informed before FCX’s 9 May announcement.

AIM darling Chariot Oil & Gas’ strong stock market performance and commitment to serious exploration in Namibia has refocused attention on a region that has lacked the big finds of West or East Africa

With chief executive Claudio Descalzi and other senior executives already mired in a corporate bribery case over Nigerian OPL 245, Italian major Eni is coming under intense scrutiny over alleged malfeasance in the 2013 sale of a 23% stake in Block Marine XI, offshore Republic of Congo. The stake in Marine XI – operated by London Stock Exchange-listed Soco International, with Petro Vietnam and state Société Nationale des Pétroles du Congo – was purchased by the previously unknown World Natural Resources Congo (WNR) for $15m, borrowed from a Swiss-based company.

The inclusion of Russian giant Gazprom on Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation’s list of the 15 companies shortlisted as potential investors in Nigeria’s domestic gas infrastructure did not go unnoticed by policy-makers and security experts (AE 147/1).

Dragon Oil has walked away from another bid approach, announcing on 1 December that it had dropped plans to make an offer for Petroceltic, citing “prevailing market conditions”. Dragon approached Petroceltic in July, when the oil price was still around $110/barrel. The company carried out due diligence, and confirmed to Petroceltic in September that it planned to seek support for the deal from its majority shareholder, the Emirates National Oil Company. In October, the deal was priced at 230p/share.

Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) has signed a memorandum of understanding with Morocco’s Banque Centrale Populaire (BCP) to increase collaboration on financing infrastructure projects in north and sub-Saharan Africa. AFC finances and develops infrastructure projects across the continent. In 2012, the corporation financed the purchase of crude oil for Moroccan refiner Société Anonyme Marocaine de l’Industrie du Raffinage in an effort to develop the country’s downstream industry.

The new government is looking to the energy sector to lead the revival of the economy, but has warned it could run out of gas to fuel power plants