Search results

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

With crude now flowing through the 1,982km Niger-Benin Export Pipeline, a fivefold increase in oil production beckons for Niger, amid signs that Niamey is emerging from post-coup isolation and has mended ties with Ecowas and the US – a critical factor in developing the greenfield uranium mine at Dasa.

Mining companies are planning to cut thousands of jobs in response to negative domestic and international factors, which could cause wider economic problems and difficulties for the government in the run-up to the late May general election. Critical minerals offer huge potential, but structural constraints weigh heavy on investors.

Vaalco Energy’s purchase of Svenska Petroleum Exploration will give the US indie a 27.4% interest in Block CI-40, which holds the producing Baobab field offshore Côte d’Ivoire, in a deal that further reduces beleaguered Saudi-Ethiopian tycoon Sheikh Mohammed Al-Amoudi’s business empire.

A degree of pressure has been lifted from President William Ruto, as his government secured $1.65bn from a dollar eurobond, as well as over $1bn from multilaterals, allowing Nairobi to avert the threat of default on its big repayment due in June. The shilling has emerged stronger, but the economy remains fragile, while the electricity supply industry is in need of a significantly improved performance. President Ruto is focused on reducing the cost of electricity and has devised a three-point plan to invest in transmission and distribution, develop LNG import facilities and accelerate geothermal power. His government may also try to lower end-user tariffs by slowing down the granting of PPAs or putting pressure on the regulator.  

For Egypt, the development of green hydrogen production capacity is not just an interesting economic sideline that has emerged out of the global push to achieve net-zero, but a potential lifeline for the economy. Officials have put in place a governance infrastructure and fiscal incentives in the hope of making the most of the GH2 opening.

Interim President Colonel Mamady Doumbouya used a television broadcast to sack Prime Minister Bernard Gomou, accusing his government of corruption, and has since sought to court some opposition factions – in a process confirmed with Mamadou Oury Bah’s appointment as PM – but pressures are mounting from opposition politicians, trade unions and other angry stakeholders.

President Macky Sall’s decision to postpone the 25 February presidential election until 15 December exacerbated an already poisonous atmosphere in Senegal. His 19 February decision to reverse that decision should lead to an election being held very soon, but political tensions will persist. African Energy’s Risk Management Report focuses on political risk indicators in a country that has long been favoured by donors and investors, and whose natural resources industries are booming as offshore oil and natural gas exports beckon. With attention firmly directed towards gas-to-power development, most other aspects of electricity industry reform, such as the unbundling of utility Senelec and introduction of wheeling have been left on hold – and further delays are likely.

Robert Friedland’s High Power Exploration (HPX) plans to develop a rail line to take iron ore from its Nimba licence in south-eastern Guinea to a deep-water port at Didia in Liberia. It is the second major Mano River region iron ore rail announcement in recent months following the giant Simandou scheme, and promises to increase demand for electricity from Côte d’Ivoire’s hydroelectric plants.