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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.

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.

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.

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.

Exxaro will add a 100MW battery and a second phase at Lephalale, as Cennergi targets almost 1,000MW of renewables by the end of 2027 and 1,600MW by 2030.

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.

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.

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.