News

Nigeria’s federal government, the UK and state governments are seeking private investment in small run-of-river hydropower, presenting a draft National Small Hydropower Policy in Abuja alongside three pilot projects, among them a 100MW solar and hydro hybrid at Ikere Gorge in Oyo State expected to reach financial close by mid-2027.

Burkina Faso’s Council of Ministers has adopted a decree creating Faso Wa-Fulu, a presidential initiative for universal access to electricity by 2030, with more than CFA2,800 billion budgeted over ten years and 44 electrification brigades that will employ 1,200 people, in a country where 34.2% of people had access in 2024.

ECOWAS energy ministers meeting in Accra on 22 October adopted a regional directive on battery energy storage, setting a common framework for storage on West Africa’s grids, as Ghana’s energy minister, John Abdulai Jinapor, told them his country is procuring a 200MW battery system and a 200MWp solar plant to charge it.

ENN’s Women’s Voices series asks women making the decisions in Nigerian energy and mining the same three questions. Princess Zahrah Mustapha Audu, Director-General of the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC), opens it, telling ENN why investors should look to Nigeria’s states and why women should never lead “from a position of limitation”.

Eni has completed the sale of Agip Energy and Natural Resources, the subsidiary holding its 5% share of the onshore Renaissance joint venture, to Apex Global Energy, a company wholly owned by Sterling Oil Exploration and Energy Production Company. Eni stays in Nigeria through deep offshore assets and Nigeria LNG.

FMO is providing all the long-term debt for Kong Solaire, a 50MWp plant near Kong in northern Côte d’Ivoire developed by Africa Via, in which AXIAN holds a majority, and PIDG’s InfraCo. Construction is under way, with commissioning planned for 2028 and power sold to CI-ENERGIES for 25 years.

Minister of Power Joseph Tegbe has flagged off five interconnected hybrid solar mini-grids totalling 17.7MW across five local government areas of Oyo State. They are financed by the World Bank and developed by Paras Energy, and Tegbe told Nigerians there is no plan to raise electricity tariffs.

A 1MW solar mini-grid with 2.4MWh of battery storage now serves 6,028 connections in Tallasse, Gombe State, ending what the Ministry of Power describes as a 17-year blackout. The REA has also started building a 16MW network of four interconnected mini-grids across the state.