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While many see doing business in Democratic Republic of Congo as problematic, Africa Finance Corporation is pushing ahead on a trio of schemes involving renewable energy, critical minerals and infrastructure, helped by its status as an African multilateral in which the DRC government is a shareholder.

Loadshedding in Guinea has fed into widespread protests that are making life difficult for General Mamady Doumbouya, as the interim president looks to boost support for his regime with an economic boost from Simandou and other projects before holding delayed elections in 2025.

Political uncertainty grips South Africa ahead of national and provincial elections on 29 May, with opinion polls suggesting the ruling African National Congress could lose its parliamentary majority for the first time in 30 years, raising the possibility of a coalition government and the prospect of a surge in ‘pork barrel’ politics.

Abu Dhabi’s involvement in conflicts in Sudan and Libya is back in focus, after the UAE opened a second field hospital in eastern Chad, following evidence that its existing hospital was used as a cover for supplying weapons to Sudanese civil war leader Hemedti’s RSF militia. It fits into a wider pattern of Emirati involvement in African conflicts, as well as business.

A new guarantee facility provided by PIDG’s GuarantCo arm could help to increase the number of creditworthy, long-term offtakers able to sign power purchase agreements.

President Joseph Nyuma Boakai is committed to reform but aged 79, and with a long if intermittent history in public life, Liberia’s new leader has much to prove.

Making the most of hydrocarbon resources and tackling perceived governance abuses are among the hot dossiers at the top of incoming President Bassirou Diomaye Faye and Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko’s agenda. Policy-makers and investors need to be acutely aware that Senegal is waiting on radical change from its new Pastef government, write Waly Dione Faye and Jon Marks.

The hydrocarbons-focused Africa Energy Bank’s promoters Afreximbank and the African Petroleum Producers Organisation are looking to a start-up this year for an institution with an initial capital base of $5bn.

Construction of the colossal Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (Gerd) is slated to be completed this year, marking the end of one of the continent’s largest and longest-running infrastructure projects. However, it has come at the cost of heightened animosity with Egypt and Sudan.

The clogging-up of a key oil export pipeline is one of the many bitter fruits of Sudan’s civil conflict, one year after Hemedti’s Rapid Support Forces launched its campaign against Khartoum. It is a serious problem for the authorities in Sudan and South Sudan alike.

Sudan may be on the verge of a de facto split, its infrastructure is in ruins and populations are struggling to survive a global-scale humanitarian crisis, but there is little incentive for either side to back down one year after militia leader Hemedti launched his RSF’s campaign against erstwhile ally the Sudan Armed Forces regime. While attention is focused on conflicts elsewhere, a major African country is being destroyed for personal advantage in a conflict marked by significant intervention from the wider region.

The start of arrears payments by Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) has brought some respite to independent power producers’ balance sheets. Although Ghana’s economic recovery still hinges on the conclusion of an IMF programme and wider debt restructuring, private investors have been able to win better terms for their power projects – which is important, as more capacity will be needed to meet rising demand.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government has placed ownership of national utility Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (Zesa) and six other companies into recently revamped sovereign wealth fund Mutapa Investment Fund’s portfolio, where they join the likes of National Oil Company of Zimbabwe, Petrotrade and Hwange Colliery. African Energy takes a closer look at questions surrounding the move and examines recent developments at Mutapa that have triggered some deeper controversy.

The recent approval of plans to set up a Mozambique Sovereign Fund (Fundo Soberano de Moçambique or FSM) by President Filipe Nyusi’s cabinet adds to the growing number of sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) across the continent. The move has been lauded by the International Monetary Fund’s Public Financial Management Blog, which examined the fund's structure and role.

Climate Fund Managers and Microsoft’s Climate Innovation Fund have invested $18m in UK-based Konexa to finance the launch of its renewable energy trading platform, with Nigerian Breweries the first customer. Konexa initially plans to wheel power across the national grid to two Nigerian Breweries’ facilities.