Lucian Harford

Assistant Producer

Lucian joined EnergyNet in September 2026. My studies at the University of Exeter focused on human geography and sustainability, and my thesis was on microfinance in Kenya and East Africa. Combined with being raised on the African continent for over 10 years, these experiences (both academic and personal) have given me an understanding of some of the challenges the energy sector faces in Africa and other emerging economies.

Outside of work, I enjoy playing and watching many sports (football, golf, padel, tennis, and cricket… the list goes on). I also enjoy cooking and watching Liverpool play, even if their football is mediocre.

Latest news

TotalEnergies secures 1.8 billion dollars for African midstream infrastructure

TotalEnergies has agreed a 1.8-billion-dollar infrastructure deal with Global Infrastructure Partners, selling equity stakes in its African pipeline and export network. The transaction secures institutional capital from the BlackRock subsidiary while maintaining operational control through a fifteen-year throughput tariff framework.

High Stakes and Hard Lines in Kenya’s Power Grid Transition

Kenya Power has started work on a KSh900 million transmission line to connect Lodwar to the national grid, decommissioning a weather-vulnerable diesel generator facility that costs the utility the same amount to run annually.

EXCLUSIVE: Private money took the equity and development finance took the debt

Camco built REPP 2 expecting commercial investors in the debt tranche and development finance institutions in the equity. Speaking to ENN, Fund Director Benjamin Hugues says the opposite happened within the equity, and puts it down to defence spending shrinking the development finance available and Western governments choosing returnable capital over grants.

EXCLUSIVE: Renewable energy has become industrial policy

Vincenzia Leitich is Executive Vice President for Power and Renewables, Client Coverage at Standard Bank. Across two episodes of the Let's Talk Energy Podcast she told ENN how open access has turned mining into an anchor customer for African renewables, and why transmission rather than capital is now the binding constraint.

Namibia onshore oil rush accelerates as Kavango West drilling draws institutional capital

ReconAfrica holds licenses covering 13 million contiguous acres across the Kavango Basin, where successful flow testing at the Kavango West 1X well has recorded the first onshore hydrocarbon recovery in Namibian history. The commercial transition pits state-backed financial targets against the protections of the Okavango Delta watershed.

EXCLUSIVE: Every R50 million from a South African institution unlocks another R50 million from BII

British International Investment and Alexforbes each put R500 million into the Revego Africa Energy Fund in January, taking it to R3 billion. BII conditionally approved a further R250 million, subject to being matched locally. Speaking to ENN, Revego's Chief Investment Officer Ziyaad Sarang says that match is still open.

A 3MW solar hybrid powers the University of Abuja from tomorrow

The Rural Electrification Agency commissions a 3MW solar hybrid plant at Yakubu Gowon University in Abuja on Wednesday 16 September, under Phase II of the Energizing Education Programme and with support from the World Bank Group. Joseph Tegbe, Minister of Power, performs the commissioning.

TotalEnergies targets June 2027 for Uganda first oil export via heated artery

TotalEnergies chief executive Patrick Pouyanné is anchoring East African infrastructure spending in the Albertine rift basin, where commercial production is now targeted for June 2027. As green funding mandates squeeze Western commercial syndicates, the development relies on a 1,443km heated artery to bring its newly branded "Pearl Sweet" crude to market via Vitol.