A total of 53 individuals and companies have now been charged over corruption at Kenya Power in a case that has become increasingly politicised. Among those charged are 11 current and former managers, including former managing director and chief executive Ben Chumo and current acting managing director and chief executive Ken Tarus. Tarus has been replaced by Jared Omondi Othieno, who had been acting general manager for street lighting. Another five managers have been suspended.

Erin Energy Corporation has announced the resignation of chief executive Segum Omidele after less than a year in the post. The company, formerly Camac Energy, gave no explanation for the move. Senior vice-president, general counsel and secretary Jean-Michel Malek will serve as interim chief executive with effect from 22 February, while the board seeks a permanent replacement. Omidele served in various positions with the company from September 2011 and was chief operating officer from September 2015 until his appointment as chief executive in May 2016.

Peter Bosshard left campaign group International Rivers on 22 December and will take up a new position on 1 February as director of the finance programme of the Sunrise Project, leading a new campaign to accelerate the shift from fossil fuels to clean energy. Under Bosshard’s leadership, International Rivers has campaigned vigorously against large dam projects in Africa. The NGO has been a staunch critic of the Inga scheme in Democratic Republic of Congo, which it argues will not benefit most Congolese, and has gathered evidence of the problems encountered by communities resettled as part of Sudan’s Merowe dam project.

Pancontinental Oil & Gas has agreed to pay a disputed cash call to Tullow Oil to avoid a default, but continues to contest the payment. The company said in December that it had received a cash call for $552,897 for administration and other “non-exploration” costs in Walvis Basin PEL 37 for 2014 to 2016 (AE 337/15). Pancontinental said it believed the sums were covered under the free carry agreed when Tullow farmed into the licence, but the joint operating agreement stipulated payment to avoid a possible default situation, and then resolution of any disputes later.

A grand jury has indicted Sable Mining chief executive Andrew Groves and seven other people following a damning report from Global Witness outlining the business model followed by Groves and his business partner, former England cricketer Phil Edmonds.President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf ordered an inquiry in May into Sable’s unsuccessful attempt to acquire an iron ore concession in northern Liberia after the report accused the company of bribing public officials.

AIM-listed Wentworth Resources announced on 13 November that chief executive Eskil Jersing was stepping down from the board and leaving the company with immediate effect. Jersing joined Wentworth in June 2018 with a mandate to drive the business forward, but the share price has declined steadily since then.

Western governments are determined to interdict the Indian-flagged tanker containing a cargo of Libya crude sold to an Emirati buyer by the Cyrenaica-based parallel management of National Oil Corporation (NOC). On 27 April, the vessel was located in waters south-east of Malta, having been turned back by the authorities in Valletta the previous day. Failure to prevent it from unloading the cargo and completing the transaction in defiance of a United Nations Security Council resolution banning unauthorised crude exports would destroy the credibility of the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA).

The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) notified Hyperdynamics on 24 April that the company had fallen below its continued listing standards. The Houston-based company’s average global market capitalisation had been less than $50m over a consecutive 30 trading-day period and its stockholders’ equity is less than $50m. The company moved to the main NYSE from the NYSE Amex exchange in July 2011 after Ray Leonard took over as president and chief executive (AE 213/15), but shareholder enthusiasm has evaporated.

The Milan Public Prosecutor’s office has placed Royal Dutch Shell under formal investigation for international corruption offences relating to its purchase of OPL 245 in Nigeria. Shell’s headquarters in The Hague were searched on 17 February by Italian and Dutch financial police. The investigation relates to the sale in 2011 to Shell and Eni of the block, which contains the Etan and Zabazaba fields. The companies paid $1.1bn, plus a signature bonus of $200m, to the Nigerian government, which in a back-to-back deal negotiated by the attorney general then transferred $1.1bn to Malabu Oil & Gas, a company owned by former oil minister Dan Etete, to which he had granted rights to the acreage in 1998.

South African Development Community (SADC) energy ministers met in Johannesburg on 24 July to express concern at the region’s estimated 8,247MW generation shortfall, while noting that 1,999MW had been brought on line in 2014 from new plants or rehabilitation.Of the 2014 additions, 150MW was commissioned in Angola, 150MW in Mozambique, 1,654MW in South Africa and 245MW in Zambia. Some 83% of new capacity was from renewable sources, predominantly in South Africa.

An Italian court has sentenced two middlemen to four years in prison for their role in Royal Dutch Shell and Eni’s 2011 acquisition of OPL 245. Emeka Obi and Gianluca Di Nardo had opted for a fast-track trial, while a larger trial including Royal Dutch Shell, Eni and 13 other defendants is ongoing.

The Somali government has turned to the United Nations International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague to resolve its maritime border dispute with Kenya. In its application, posted on the ICJ’s website on 28 August, Somali minister of foreign affairs and investment promotion Abdirahman Dualeh Beileh asked the court to determine the course of the maritime boundary, saying “diplomatic negotiations, in which… respective views have been fully exchanged, have failed to resolve this disagreement”. In its application, Somalia asks the court “to determine, on the basis of international law, the complete course of the single maritime boundary dividing all the maritime areas appertaining to Somalia and to Kenya in the Indian Ocean, including the continental shelf beyond 200 [nautical miles]”.

Chad has been accepted as a full member of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) at an EITI board meeting in Myanmar on 15 October. An EITI statement said the country was deemed ‘compliant’ with the global EITI transparency standard, which means Chadians have access to extensive information about how their natural resources are governed.“Thanks to the EITI, some major reforms have been engaged when it comes to follow-up of revenue collection and payments from the extractive industries. Implementing the EITI has allowed us to realise that we do not have an adequate system for tracking these revenues.

A London court on 15 December turned down a request by Nigeria’s Malabu Oil & Gas to release $85m frozen last year at the request of the Italian authorities amid an investigation into corruption at Eni relating to the licensing of OPL 245. The sale of OPL 245 to Shell and Eni in 2011 is under investigation by the Public Prosecutor of Milan, the UK’s National Crime Agency and the Nigerian Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

Eskom chief executive Phakamani Hadebe has resigned due to ill health, the struggling utility announced on 24 May. “It is no secret that this role comes with unimaginable demands which have unfortunately had a negative impact on my health. In the best interests of Eskom and my family, I have therefore decided to step down,” an Eskom statement quoted Hadebe as saying.Hadebe, who will step down at the end of July, was the eighth chief executive since 2010, if those filling the role in an acting capacity are included.