Global Affairs

DFC equity investing in Africa to expand, with critical minerals in the pipeline

The US International Development Finance Corporation will make more direct equity investments in Africa, including in critical minerals, its regional managing director for Africa, Vibhuti Jain, has told Reuters. The DFC already has more than $14bn committed across the continent, with over $3bn of it in critical minerals.

What does a 100 million barrel release mean for Africa’s diesel bill?

G7 members agreed on 2 October to release 100 million barrels of diesel, petrol and crude from emergency reserves over four months, with a front-loaded diesel release in the first twenty days. Brent eased to around $100.8, but the fuel African importers buy most will take longer to reach their pumps.

AFRICA AT THE FOREFRONT: the urgent need to diversify energy supply

By Dele Kuti, Global Head, Energy at Standard Bank Corporate & Investment Banking As we approach the second half of the year, it is important to reflect on the busy first half. After a hectic 2025, most observers would have expected some form of respite. Unfortunately, respite will not likely be a word associated with […]

United Arab Emirates quits OPEC

The United Arab Emirates (UAE)leaves the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) on 1 May 2026 following a comprehensive review of its production policy and future capacity. It announced the move on 28 April. According to the Emirates News Agency, the decision reflects the UAE’s “long-term strategic and economic vision and evolving energy profile, […]

Australian firm gets six lithium mining licences in Nigeria

By Premium Times Nigeria – April 17, 2026 The licences include four exploration permits and two small-scale mining licences, previously held by Continental Lithium Limited. An Australian mining company, Chariot Resources Limited, now has permission to mine lithium in Nigeria after the country’s mining regulator approved six licences for its operations. The Nigerian Mining Cadastre Office (MCO) […]

How US, Chinese investment models are reshaping Nigeria’s trade, energy sector

By Premium Times Nigeria – March 6, 2026 Nigeria is currently the United States’ second-largest trading partner in Africa. Bilateral trade in goods and services reached nearly $13 billion in 2024. When the United States and Nigeria signed a landmark Commercial and Investment Partnership (CIP) in Washington in July 2024, the announcement attracted little fanfare. There were […]

Energy in Words #2 | Predictability

Nelson Lage, President of ADENE – Portuguese Energy Agency Volatility is now normal. Predictability is what makes businesses competitive. Today, energy stability doesn´t come from a world without surprises. It comes from being prepared for shocks, managing them well, and keeping their impact as small as possible. Predictability is not about control. Predictability is about […]

Ministers Sign Treaties While Power Grids Fracture Into Fragments

Gerald Hamuyayi, Lusaka, Saturday, 29 Nov 2025 – Energy regulators review applications, environmental authorities call for new assessments, land commissions raise questions about routes, and planning ministries challenge project timelines. A developer trying to build a cross-border transmission line watches his project split across different offices, with each approval triggering new demands from surrounding agencies. […]

Africa urged to seize role in US critical minerals supply

WASHINGTON, October 9, 2025, ENN: African nations should position themselves as key partners for the United States in securing supplies of critical minerals essential to modern industries, according to a new report from the Washington DC-based Brookings Institution. The report, Leveraging US–Africa Critical Mineral Opportunities: Strategies for Success, argues that Africa’s mineral wealth and improving […]

Mutual Benefits and Relationship Building in the Current Geopolitical Context

June 2025 | Africa Energy Forum With the geopolitical tectonic plates shifting in every corner of the world, largely towards a multipolar landscape where it’s difficult to know where to look for power and partnership, African energy is finding itself looking both externally and internally for a new way forward. Chief among these geopolitical shifts […]

Battery Storage

BII, AfDB and EBRD support pioneering solar and battery storage project in Egypt with US$ 479 million loan to Obelisk Solar Power

British International Investment (BII), the UK’s development finance institution and impact investor, the African Development Bank (AfDB) and European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) are providing a total of US$ 479.1 million to Obelisk Solar Power SAE, a special-purpose vehicle incorporated in Egypt and owned by Scatec ASA. This financing will support the development of a 1.1 GW solar photovoltaic (PV) power plant […]

South Africa’s Overberg: turbo-charging wind power

South Africa’s Overberg project is set to become the continent’s biggest wind farm. As the final contracts are signed, we look at a potential model for the future of clean, low-cost power in Africa In early June this year, the story of renewables in Africa changed. The finalisation of the second stage of the Overberg […]

Zimbabwe-Zambia Energy Projects Summit 3 - 5 November 2026

Nigeria NOW! 19 November 2026

Play daily puzzles on ENN 1 January - 31 December 2026

Energy news

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.

Clean cooking commitments pass $3.1 billion as a supply shock reaches the kitchen

New pledges of $900 million were announced on 9 July at a virtual meeting of the co-chairs, after the Nairobi summit was postponed. A new programme responds to Strait of Hormuz disruption that the IEA says affected 30 per cent of globally traded LPG.

Seriti Green signs a further R10 billion as Ummbila Emoyeni starts commercial supply

President Cyril Ramaphosa officiates at Bethal in Mpumalanga today as the first 155MW phase of Ummbila Emoyeni begins commercial supply. Standard Bank and RMB financed the R4.8 billion phase, the opening stage of a build planned to pass 900MW across seven phases.

Mining & Minerals

Sierra Leone critical minerals strategy sets the terms for processing at home

Freetown launched a five-year plan in May covering lithium, graphite, cobalt and rare earths, as mineral exports climbed to $1.3 billion. Julius Daniel Mattai, who chairs the African Diamond Producers Association this year, wants African governments negotiating as a bloc rather than one at a time.

A quarter of Rwandan households get their electricity without touching the grid

Off-grid systems accounted for 25 per cent of national connectivity against 59.6 per cent on the grid, according to Rwanda Energy Group. A results-based programme backed by the African Development Bank and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank now stands at $300 million.

ENN Book Club: The Black History Month Edit

In October, Black History Month is celebrated in the United Kingdom, and in February, it is celebrated in the United States. Black History is not confined to a single month: it encompasses the past, present, and future, shaping the world we live in today. Through literature, stories, and lived experiences, we gain insight into resilience, creativity, and the pursuit of justice. In this […]

Schneider Electric – the Future is Digital

Ifeanyi Odoh, Country President East Africa, Schneider Electric, spoke to EnergyNet about the new energy landscape, sustainability, the significance of data centres for East Africa, and the importance of digital infrastructure in powering the future. What is the New Energy Landscape, and what does it mean for sustainability? The New Energy Landscape is a new […]

TAQA Arabia – Pioneering CNG Solutions for East Africa

EnergyNet spoke with Adly Kafafy, Vice President Africa & New Ventures, TAQA Arabia, to find out about Tanzania’s first integrated CNG filling station and conversion centre, the country’s new LNG Virtual Pipeline, and the role of natural gas for the future. You have launched Tanzania’s first integrated compressed natural gas (CNG) filling station and conversion […]

EXCLUSIVE: ‘Investors need more than promising policies’

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 AENR sale hands a 5% Niger Delta stake to Sterling’s Apex

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.

Oyo gets 17.7MW of interconnected mini-grids as Tegbe rules out a tariff rise

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.

In Tallasse, groundnut oil presses run on solar after 17 years without power

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.

Mining & Minerals

U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright says clean cooking is a major focus of Africa policy for the Trump administration

Washington DC | 19, March, 2026 — U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright confirmed a major Africa policy focus: partnering with African governments to create the right conditions to solve the delivery challenges associated with clean cooking across the continent. Secretary Wright told the Powering Africa Summit (PAS) 2026 in Washington D.C. on Thursday: “This […]

Mining & Minerals

Guinea and United States Strengthen Energy Partnership During Powering Africa Summit

Washington, D.C., March 19, 2026 — The Minister of Energy of the Republic of Guinea, Mr. Laye-Sékou Camara, expressed his sincere appreciation to the Government of the United States and senior members of the U.S. Administration for their continued engagement and support for Guinea’s development priorities. Minister Camara emphasized that Guinea attaches great importance to the strengthening […]

Sun Africa, EXIM and African Ministers Set Project-Focused Tone at the Powering Africa Summit in Washington D.C.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — 19 March 2026 — The Powering Africa Summit opened with a clear shift toward execution, as Summit Sponsor Sun Africa and senior government leaders called for bankable projects, scalable infrastructure and deeper U.S.-Africa investment ties. Adam Cortese, CEO of Sun Africa, framed energy as the backbone of industrial growth and cross-Atlantic partnership. […]

Battery Storage

ECOWAS battery storage rules agreed in Accra as Ghana procures 200MW of batteries

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.

Kong Solaire signs 20-year FMO financing for 50MWp of solar in northern Côte d’Ivoire

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.

Mining & Minerals

Guinea builds alumina refineries on a grid of about 1,000MW

Three alumina refineries are under construction in Guinea and the government wants five by 2030, Daouda Diakite told African Mining Week in Cape Town. The country generates about 1,000MW, mostly from hydro, and says industrialisation will need 5,000MW to 10,000MW. Investors and governments across the continent are now weighing that gap.

EXCLUSIVE: The energy sector needs lawyers too, says YSDN’s Damilola Hamid Balogun

Damilola Hamid Balogun founded the Youth Sustainable Development Network. Speaking to ENN ahead of YES! Nigeria, he argues that Africa's energy transition will be built as much by lawyers, policy specialists and communicators as by engineers, and that the pipeline into the sector is narrower than it needs to be.

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.

YSDN partnership brings Damilola Hamid Balogun’s network to YES! Nigeria in November

EnergyNet has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Youth Sustainable Development Network to deliver the youth programme running alongside the Nigeria NOW! Global Investors Expo in Abuja. The Expo was launched at the Federal Ministry of Solid Minerals Development on 6 August, with four ministries represented.

EXCLUSIVE: Three prototypes and a final product, Mpepu Energy on building turbines in Malawi

Madalitso Chimpeni has been building wind turbines in Malawi for three years. The grant he won through the Youth Energy Summit bought the generators, paid the machinists and gave him room to get it wrong. The turbines are fabricated and waiting for installation, and 120 households are the target.

Africa minigrid internship pilot to place five to ten interns inside AMDA’s own work

The Youth Sustainable Development Network and the Africa Minigrid Developers Association will run four to six week remote placements from later this year, across regulatory coordination, research, sector support and access to capital. Whether it grows depends on an evaluation neither organisation has run yet.

Pele Green Energy’s Jolene on finding your place in the energy transition

Pele Green Energy began as a drive to transform young South Africans' lives, with energy as the conduit. Speaking to ENN at AEF, Jolene Shaw of Knowledge Pele shares what nearly sixteen years has taught her, and why young entrepreneurs should find their place across the whole energy value chain.

Seriti Green’s Chabisi Motloung on the careers waiting for young Africans in renewables

Four months after leaving smelting for renewables, Seriti Green's Chabisi Motloung has a message for young Africans: this is where the careers are. Speaking to ENN at AEF's Youth Energy Summit, the COO makes the case for reinvention, problem-solving, and the dream of a single interconnected African grid.

Battery Storage

IPP Office Highlights Storage and Grid Expansion as Critical to South Africa’s Next Energy Growth Phase

South Africa’s energy sector is entering a new phase of its transition, with increasing attention focused on battery energy storage, transmission infrastructure and the reforms required to unlock further investment. As the country continues to expand renewable energy capacity and modernise its electricity market, questions around grid resilience, system flexibility and long-term energy security have […]

Zambia Ministry of Electricity goes to Peter Kapala as energy portfolio splits in two

President Hakainde Hichilema has sworn in Peter Kapala as Zambia’s Minister of Electricity and Makozo Chikote as Minister of Petroleum, splitting the former Ministry of Energy in two a week before the Zimbabwe-Zambia Energy Projects Summit opens in Livingstone, and giving the power sector a ministry of its own.

EXCLUSIVE: Four-fifths of Ignite’s mini-grid power goes to work

Helen Zulu, Regional Director for Southern Africa at Ignite Energy Access, tells ENN that over 40% of its solar home systems now sell with an appliance, and sets out the changes she wants from regulators in Zambia and Zimbabwe, from proportionate licensing to taxes that fall due as customers pay.

EXCLUSIVE: Zambia’s IDC moves Chisamba Solar towards financial close

Cornwell Muleya, Chief Executive of Zambia’s Industrial Development Corporation, tells ENN how the IDC is moving Chisamba Solar and the rest of its renewable pipeline towards financial close, and why he expects power supply to grow in step with demand from the mines as Zambia works towards three million tonnes of copper a year by 2031.

Ambassador John Giordano, US Ambassador to the Republic of Namibia | Africa Energy Forum 2026

Ambassador John Giordano, US Ambassador to the Republic of Namibia | Africa Energy Forum 2026

Hlatse Nkune, Principal – Energy Finance, Nedbank | Africa Energy Forum 2026

Hlatse Nkune, Principal – Energy Finance, Nedbank | Africa Energy Forum 2026

Mpho Phasha, Senior Associate Power & Renewables Finance, Nedbank CIB | Africa Energy Forum 2026

Mpho Phasha, Senior Associate Power & Renewables Finance, Nedbank CIB | Africa Energy Forum 2026

Rentia van Tonder, Global Head Power & Renewables, Standard Bank | Africa Energy Forum 2026

Rentia van Tonder, Global Head Power & Renewables, Standard Bank | Africa Energy Forum 2026

The Energy Post Podcast | Green Energy Transition | Transitioning Kenya and the Region

The Energy Post Podcast | Green Energy Transition | Transitioning Kenya and the Region

U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright Keynote Speech & Fireside Chat with Rajiv Shah | Powering Africa Summit 2026

U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright Keynote Speech & Fireside Chat with Rajiv Shah | Powering Africa Summit 2026

Tour of Rare Earths in the Energy Transition

Mining & Minerals

Tour of Rare Earths in the Energy Transition

Tour of Critical Minerals for the Energy Transition – Andy Calitz and Mary Hemmingsen

Mining & Minerals

Tour of Critical Minerals for the Energy Transition – Andy Calitz and Mary Hemmingsen

Sarah Lane, Denham Capital | West Africa Energy Cooperation Summit (WAECS) 2025

Sarah Lane, Denham Capital | West Africa Energy Cooperation Summit (WAECS) 2025

Michael Konadu, GE Vernova | West Africa Energy Cooperation Summit (WAECS) 2025

Michael Konadu, GE Vernova | West Africa Energy Cooperation Summit (WAECS) 2025

Eunice Biritwum, Energy Commission | West Africa Energy Cooperation Summit (WAECS) 2025

Eunice Biritwum, Energy Commission | West Africa Energy Cooperation Summit (WAECS) 2025

Take a look back: aef 2019 Country Spotlight, Zimbabwe

Southern Africa

Take a look back: aef 2019 Country Spotlight, Zimbabwe

What Will It Take to Finance Africa’s Industrial Future?

Can Zambia Build Power Fast Enough for Its Next Wave of Industrial Growth?

Are Africa’s Frontier Markets Being Mispriced by Investors?

Can Private Power Markets Solve Africa’s Industrial Energy Challenge?

Maximising The Power of Regional Collaboration to Scale Up Energy Development

Is Solar Enough? Rethinking Off-Grid Energy in West Africa

DFIs, Local Capital and Financing West Africa’s Power Transition

Strategic Vision for National Electricity & Energy Policy

Youth Powering Africa’s Sustainable Future

Beyond the Grid: Financing Southern Africa’s Energy Revolution with Standard Bank