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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.

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.

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.

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.

Climate Fund Managers has provided capital for waste-to-energy developer Bio2Watt Energy Holdings’ biogas projects in South Africa, including expansion of the 4.8MW Bronkhorstspruit plant.

Swedfund International (Swedfund) and the European Union (EU) have offered finance to carry out environmental and technical feasibility studies for the Malawi-Zambia interconnector, a 330/400kV cross-border transmission line that spans about 184km between Zambia and Malawi.

Shortfalls in financial flows, failures to deal with debt and a lack of voice in global decision-making arenas are longstanding issues that African leaders are now seeking to address, with leaders from Ghana, Kenya and Zambia setting out a blueprint for reform covering everything from UN Security Council seats to the reallocation of $100bn-worth of assets held by the IMF. The extent to which these ambitious goals can be achieved could prove critical to Africa’s ability to finance and structure the energy transition on its terms – but the continent’s governments also need to accelerate their own reforms.

A deal between Abu Dhabi giant Adnoc and UK major BP to coinvest in Egyptian gas assets highlights how wealthy Gulf national oil companies are actively seeking potentially highly lucrative lower-carbon expansion opportunities across Africa, where NOCs from Qatar and Kuwait are among those also exploring opportunities, writes James Gavin.

Slow progress at some of sub-Saharan Africa’s most high-profile LNG developments come as exporters from other parts of the world race to sign new long-term deals with buyers from Asia and Europe. The risk for African producers is that they could miss out on lucrative opportunities, costing governments large amounts in lost foreign earnings, writes Marc Howard*.

The authorities have offered development support to an initial ten independent power producer schemes, in a policy shift designed to enhance the bankability of IPP projects and encourage more private sector players to contribute to Zimbabwe’s faltering electricity generation infrastructure. African Energy examines the new scheme and looks at the state of power generation throughout a country where peak demand outstrips available supply – a situation that has lately been worsened by declining water levels at the Kariba Dam.

Australian junior Deep Yellow has raised the equity to fund development of its flagship Tumas uranium project, where a new NamPower grid connection and 20MWp solar IPP are planned to supply power.