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The Africa Energy Bank has named Egyptian banker Helmy Ghazi as its inaugural president, following its formal establishment by Afreximbank and the African Petroleum Producers’ Organisation. With $5bn in authorised capital, the Abuja-based institution is intended to finance projects across the energy value chain as African countries seek greater control over the funding of their energy industries.

Ghana’s Energy and Green Transition Minister John Abdulai Jinapor has called on African countries to develop domestic solar manufacturing, arguing that the continent’s renewable energy ambitions must extend beyond installing imported equipment. Speaking at the International Solar Alliance Assembly in India, he identified technology transfer, local industrial capacity and affordable long-term finance as requirements for building an African solar industry.

Zimbabwe’s Deputy Minister of Energy and Power Development, Yeukai Simbanegavi, told reporters at the Zimbabwe-Zambia Energy Projects Summit in Livingstone that both countries can reach their generation targets, and that the government will take what investors raised at the summit and come back with changes.

Tengi George-Ikoli, Nigeria Country Manager at the Natural Resource Governance Institute, on what it will take to turn Nigeria’s mineral wealth into investable projects. In written answers to ENN ahead of Nigeria NOW!, she argues that credible geological data and predictable regulation will do more for investors than requiring every mineral to be processed at home.

Zimbabwe’s economy has demonstrated  growth and resilience of late, despite being buffeted by global geopolitical turbulence, volatile commodity and energy prices and climate-related risks. After a drought-hit 2024, growth rebounded strongly in 2025 and is forecast at around 3.5% in 2026. The International Monetary Fund’s August 2026 review noted that Zimbabwe “has continued to consolidate stabilization gains under the [IMF] Staff-Monitored Program (SMP) despite external shocks”, with inflation low, the exchange rate broadly stable and a window opening to “advance reengagement toward arrears clearance and debt resolution”.

Cenpower Generation has agreed to reduce outstanding government arrears by $66m under an amended power purchase agreement with Ghana, in return for a ten-year extension and a lower electricity tariff. The revised terms affect the economics of the 375MW Kpone Thermal Power Plant and form part of the government’s efforts to address legacy obligations to independent power producers.

Kenyan manufacturers have saved Ksh15bn through 22 years of energy management under the Kenya Association of Manufacturers, and as solar captive power spreads across their factories, KAM chief executive Tobias Alando sets out the changes he says would bring down the cost of industrial electricity fastest.

Aliko Dangote has launched a $2.5bn fuel storage and pipeline project in Namibia, anchored by a planned 600-million-litre terminal at Walvis Bay. A proposed 1,700km pipeline could extend its reach into neighbouring markets, creating a new distribution route for refined petroleum products across Southern Africa.

AXIAN Energy has signed €30m of financing with IFC and Proparco for IPP50, four solar plants in Natitingou, Djougou, Parakou and Bohicon that make up Benin’s first solar project under an independent power producer model, four years after the concessions were signed, with commercial operation planned for the first quarter of 2028.

Nomfundo Maseti, Acting Chief Executive Officer of the National Energy Regulator of South Africa, on finishing the rules South Africa’s wholesale electricity market needs before it opens in April 2027. In her second week in the role, she tells ENN how NERSA will earn investors’ trust and why gas-to-power should anchor a wider gas market. Her message is continuity with purpose: stable leadership, credible decisions and a regulator equipped for the market ahead.