Cost-reflective tariffs: obvious incentive and thorny political problem

This is the season for developers, bankers, government and national company officials and other members of the power development community to reflect on another year of under-achievement when it comes to attracting private investment to the continent’s electricity supply industry.
more

Failures suggest sub-Saharan ESI must look beyond project finance

There have been some positive signs for the sub-Saharan electricity supply industry. A few new developers have arrived on the scene, and some familiar faces, such as AES Corporation, are looking again for big deals, suggesting that more investment could be attracted to the sector.
more

Despite recession, coalition Britain scrambles back to Africa

US anger over Ghana’s resistance to ExxonMobil and African disillusion with France is opening the way for a new British investment push into Africa.
more

Ghana’s politicians can’t see beyond Kosmos, but oil start beckons

A solution to the controversy over the sale of Texas-based Kosmos Energy’s stake in the Jubilee field is said to be in sight, having obsessed the Ghanaian political classes for months already.
more

GAS

Unconventional gas challenges exporters in a fast-changing market

Few markets have shifted focus as quickly in recent decades as the natural gas industry, where the application of new technology to tight gas reserves, starting in North America, has transformed the outlook for ‘conventional’ producers.
more

New partners and practices as pace picks up in East Africa exploration

As the rate of new discoveries in West Africa slows, the pace is picking up in East Africa, where hopes are high that Uganda’s remarkable success can be replicated elsewhere. Smaller players are seeing a bigger upside in entering frontier regions rather than in adding incremental production in West Africa’s established oil provinces. The next year will see plenty of drilling both onshore and offshore East Africa as more commitment wells come due, and hopes are high for more finds.
more

Nigeria’s Jonathan seeks balance and dynamism with ‘northern elite’ deputy

Following the death of President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua on 5 May after a prolonged illness, vice president Goodluck Jonathan has been elevated to the presidency after several months filling in as the acting head of state.
more

Governance in the frame with EITI, new British bribery law

Efforts to improve the energy industry’s transparency are once again in the spotlight as the United Kingdom introduces an anti-bribery law and the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) struggles to keep its candidate countries in line.
more

Morocco crafts a high-level strategy to push large-scale solar development

The Desertec Industrial Initiative (DII) to export solar power from North Africa to Europe continues to exercise considerable media and industry interest, promising clean energy from a network of solar generators based in the desert lands south of the Mediterranean. Desertec officials, partners and boosters make great claims for a project that, if only part-implemented, could change the European energy balance and economic outlook for southern Mediterranean partners.
more

Political and diplomatic unpredictability complicate Libya’s opportunities

In theory, there is a huge amount of business to be done in Libya. The Jamahiriya (State of the Masses) is in the middle of a massive programme of economic and social development, and has great need of international expertise not only to meet targets for increasing oil and gas production, but also to develop physical and social infrastructure of all kinds.
more

Reform entrenches Angolanisation, tightens president’s grip on power

The Angolan regime is celebrating a period of political change with constitutional amendments and personnel changes that are intended to allow the economy to grow while maintaining power in the hands of the small elite gathered around President José Eduardo dos Santos.
more

Huge divides remain over South African political and electric power

For a short period on 22-24 February, Durban’s International Convention Centre became the focal point for the policy divides that are becoming ever more public as South Africa settles uneasily into Jacob Zuma’s presidency. Energy minister Dipuo Peters and public works minister Barbara Hogan sought to reassure the Africa Utility Week audience that government energy policy was being reshaped to present a coherent response to the electricity supply crisis.
more