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More than 40 African leaders have headed to the Black Sea resort of Sochi for the 23-24 October Russia-Africa summit. Significant military deals are expected to be signed, as well as nuclear and oil and gas agreements. Russia, whose African presence waned after the Cold War, is making a new push to increase its influence to compete with China, Europe and the Gulf states. In Guinea, where Rusal owns bauxite mines, Russian ambassador Alexander Bregadze has spoken in support of President Alpha Condé’s controversial bid to change the constitution so he can run for a third term.

Having suspended its operations in Puntland in February, Horn Petroleum has announced a new identity which bears a marked resemblance to the former Energy Africa. Horn said it planned to take advantage of the low oil price “to aggressively pursue onshore and shallow-water upstream oil opportunities in Africa”. It will change its name to Africa Energy Corporation, move to Cape Town, and bring in Energy Africa stalwarts Jan Maier as vice-president exploration and John Bentley and Adrian Nel as directors. Energy Africa was taken over by Tullow Oil in 2004 and is fondly remembered by former employees.

Marathon Oil Corporation has acquired a 50% interest in Africa Oil Corporation (AOC)’s Block 9 and a 15% interest in Block 12A.

Italian engineering company Saipem, 42% owned by Eni, appointed a corporate governance veteran to its board in late July. The new deputy chairman and non-executive director is Piergaetano Marchetti, a lawyer and professor emeritus in commercial law at the University of Milan. “Marchetti is an expert on corporate governance and will bring great depth of expertise,” said Saipem chief executive Umberto Vergine. Saipem is embroiled in a corruption investigation in Algeria and on 30 July announced a Q2 13 net loss of €685m ($911m) and an operating loss of €670m as revenue slipped 36% to €2.10bn.

Total and Repsol are among international oil companies gearing up to resume exploration and field development work in Libya, even before the new government is formally announced, as dust settles on the anti-Qadhafi revolution which led so many companies to declare force majeure or pull out.

This year’s elections in South Africa, 20 years after the first all-race elections in 1994, offer an opportunity to reconfigure the country’s politics after two decades of African National Congress (ANC) rule. This will be the first election in which the ‘born free’ generation, born after the end of apartheid, will be eligible to vote, with some 5m young people voting for the first time, and the first election that the ANC will contest without Nelson Mandela, who died in December.

A government move to cut the subsidy it pays to keep electricity prices low for domestic and industrial consumers has fed into new fears of civil unrest and underlined the burden of paying for imported diesel until the Bujagali IPP eventually comes on stream

UK-based turbine manufacturer Gilkes Hydro has received an order from Settet Power Generation Company for the supply, installation and commissioning of electro-mechanical equipment for the 2.6MW Kipsonoi small hydropower project in south-western Kenya. The contract, which was signed in March, provides for construction to begin on 30 April and to be completed within 28 months, head of sales Andy Eaton told African Energy. Gilkes confirmed that construction was expected to take place as prescribed by the contract in spite of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The introduction of fresh regulations for Sonatrach’s tendering process could release a large backlog of projects at the company within weeks.

Elections on 23 December are unlikely to deliver the change Democratic Republic of Congo so badly needs. The outlook is deteriorating as polling day approaches, following deaths at rallies in support of opposition candidate Martin Fayulu, and an apparently deliberate fire in Kinshasa that destroyed controversial voting machines. Fears have been expressed that the elections will be far from free and fair, potentially stoking further conflict as President Joseph Kabila Kabange – who has been in power since 2001 – seeks to hold on to state institutions via his hand-picked successor, Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary.

Delonex Energy has taken over Marathon Oil’s assets in Ethiopia and Kenya, as well as winning an onshore block in Mozambique’s licensing round. The Kenya assets consist of a 50% non-operated working interest in Africa Oil Corporation’s Block 9, and a 15% non-operated working interest in Tullow Oil’s Block 12A, where the Cheptuket well is planned to test the Kerio Valley Basin. In Ethiopia, Delonex has acquired 50% in Africa Oil’s Rift Basin area and 20% in Tullow’s South Omo Block. Marathon put the assets up for sale in May.

The World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) has announced plans to issue a $50m local currency bond (equivalent to 8bn naira) to support Nigeria’s domestic capital markets and increase access to local currency finance. The IFC Naija bond will be the corporation’s first naira-denominated bond and the first placement by a non-resident issuer in the country’s domestic capital markets.

Kuwait Energy Company has sold a 20% stake in the Burg El Arab concession in the Western Desert to East West Petroleum Corporation

The European Commission has proposed new disclosure requirements along the lines of the US Dodd-Frank Act for companies based in the European Union. The new rules would require large extractive and logging companies to report payments they make to governments

Canada’s Talisman Energy is due to spud a well on its Block SL-4B-10 in mid-September, and is finalising a farm-down arrangement to reduce costs.