Regional

Multiple wind turbines set against a sunset sky
Regional

Kenya Seeks to Maximise Benefits from ‘Baseload’ Renewables

Kenya’s geothermal and hydropower resources have been major contributors to the country’s success in boosting electricity access rates, but can they play a major role in meeting surging energy demand in the future? Kenya has been one of Africa’s success stories in terms of progress towards the UN global Sustainable Development Goal of achieving universal […]
Gas

Africa and Green Hydrogen: A Perfect Match?

Green hydrogen projects could prove vital in the fight to stem global warming, and African countries could be poised to play a pivotal role as hydrogen production and export hubs. Hydrogen is a versatile element that is in growing demand. It provides a feedstock for industries such as iron and steel, petrochemicals and ammonia, it […]
Finance

African Energy Data

Africa’s electricity supply industry gaining momentum despite crises and delays. In common with other industries, Africa’s power sector has suffered major challenges during the Covid-19 pandemic, resulting in delays, cancelled projects, and new ways of working. Problems remain, but there are indications that some momentum is returning. 2021 marked a low point for new capacity […]
Regional

Offgrid Solar Sector Seeks to Rebuild Investor Confidence

There are signs of post-pandemic recovery for Africa’s offgrid solar industry. Now it needs to lure back the investors. Africa’s offgrid solar power industry is growing but is in urgent need of further support, as the sector struggles to shake off the negative impact of the Covid pandemic on providers of equipment and services, and […]
Regional

Making Egypt a Green Hub

Yehia Zaki talks to Bill Lumley about the way the SCZONE is embracing renewables and its ambitions for becoming a hub for renewable energy products in Africa and the region. Eng. Yehia Zaki is the Chairman of the Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZONE), an Egyptian Authority responsible for the management and the operation of 461 […]
Regional

Not by renewables alone

How do renewables stack up against traditional forms of energy in Africa? As Jackson Foley reports, it’s a shifting picture – but don’t count out coal just yet. “Africa is not a country” is the title of a new book seeking to correct foreigners’ views of the continent. Its author wants her international readers to see Africa just as its own peoples see it: huge, varied and facing many different circumstances. Anyone who works in the African energy sector knows this already. There are vast differences between the markets in Egypt and Equatorial Guinea or between Senegal and South Africa. There is no ‘one size fits all solution’ to the continent’s yawning electricity gaps.
East Africa

Expand And Diversify: Aiim Invests In Starsight’s Distributed Generation Solutions

AFRICAN INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT MANAGERS (AIIM) DEVELOPS AND MANAGES PRIVATE EQUITY INFRASTRUCTURE FUNDS DESIGNED TO INVEST LONGTERM INSTITUTIONAL UNLISTED EQUITY IN AFRICAN INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS. Interview with Damilola Agbaje – AIIM Investment Director. AIIM actively manages investments in East, West and Southern Africa and has equity under management of USD 2.0 billion with a track record extending […]
Regional

Africa’s Energy Transition — Aspirations Versus Reality

AFRICA FACES A PARALLEL IMPERATIVE OF PROVIDING ELECTRICITY ACCESS TO MILLIONS OF CITIZENS CURRENTLY DEPRIVED OF IT, AND ALSO TO ALIGN WITH THE GLOBAL TRANSITION TO A NET ZERO FUTURE – AN ARTICLE BY PATRICIA TILLER, PARTNER AT HUNTON ANDREWS KURTH Africa is home to one-sixth of the global population, yet the continent accounts for […]
Regional

MCB Ltd supported Infinity Renewable Energy BV’s acquisition financing for Lekela Power

(24 March 2023) The Mauritius Commercial Bank Limited (“MCB”) is pleased to announce that it has acted as joint Mandated Lead Arranger (MLA) in relation to an initial senior loan facility to support Infinity Power on its acquisition of Lekela Power. Infinity Power is a joint venture between Egypt’s Infinity and UAE’s Masdar. The transaction […]
Regional

Decarbonising Africa’s Grid Electricity Generation

The world faces a climate emergency. The emissions from power plants already operating or commissioned have exhausted the carbon budget compatible with keeping warming to 1.5 degrees. Meanwhile, Africa faces a poverty emergency. The proportion of Africans living in extreme poverty (measured by purchasing power parity of $1.90 per day) is falling but population growth […]
Regional

Social Impact Objectives In Renewable Energy Development: Doing Good For People Is Good For Business

FALLING PRICES, INTENSIFIED CLIMATE CHANGE MANDATES, AND IMPROVED TECHNOLOGIES HAVE IGNITED TREMENDOUS GROWTH IN THE RENEWABLE ENERGY (RE) INDUSTRY. MORE THAN EVER, WHAT’S GOOD FOR THE PLANET IS ALSO GOOD FOR THE BOTTOM LINE. But what about for people? RE projects work best when they are designed to produce not just power but empowerment: jobs, […]
Regional

Big Challenges for African Utilities

National utilities are being forced to modernise as independent power producers enter the African market, but there is no one-size-fits-all solution to the energy conundrum, writes Neil Ford.

Energy news