Leading off-grid utilities provider, Winch Energy, has completed the funding for solar mini grid projects in 49 villages across Uganda and Sierra Leone through the creation of a new platform, Winch Energy IPP Holdings Limited (“WIPP”). The deal represents the largest mini grid financing portfolio to date, bringing together several major players in the off-grid […]
Category Archives: Energy
Africa: Energy, Renewable Energy, Green Energy, Gas, Oil, Electricity
Energy, Green Energy
Janus Continental Group (JCG) Invests $13 Million in Highview Power as part of African renewable energy storage drive
JCG’s investment arm Janus Capital takes stake in Highview Enterprise Limited. The deal will bring Highview Power’s cutting edge CRYOBattery™ energy storage technology to JCG’s core markets in sub-Saharan Africa. The investment will unleash the potential of renewable energy storage across Africa, supporting JCG’s wider growth and business goals in this sector. Janus Continental Group (JCG), […]
Energy, Mali News
How Optimized Energy Management Delivers Reliability, Efficiency and Sustainability at the Fekola Mine in Mali
Op-Ed By Luke Witmer, General Manager, Data Science, Wärtsilä Energy Storage and Optimization Since B2Gold first acquired the Fekola gold mine, located in a remote corner of southwest Mali, exploration studies revealed the deposits to be almost double the initial estimates. A recent site expansion has just been completed, and while the existing power units provide enough […]
Energy, Main
It’s Time to Rethink Licensing Rounds: For Africa’s Oil- and Gas-Producing Countries, Negotiating the Current Environment May Require…Negotiation
In late 2019, as the African oil and gas industry was looking to the future with optimism, an Offshore Engineer wrote that the continent had reason to expect a “more productive 2020.” Instead, the unforeseen happened, and the COVID-19 pandemic had a devastating impact on the oil and gas industry in Africa and around the […]
Angola News, Energy
Angolan Legal Reform Shows How Africa Can Use Oil and Gas As a Springboard Towards Job Creation— But Only if It Looks Beyond the Obvious Options
For decades, many of Africa’s oil- and gas-producing states followed a predictable pattern. They treated their oil and gas primarily as raw materials that could be sold abroad for a quick profit, rather than as a means of supporting efforts to make more lasting changes in the economy of the nation as a whole. This […]
2021 could be the beginning of a much needed reset for US relations with Africa and its various countries and regions. To date, most African governments have responded positively to the results of the recent U.S. presidential election, with many African leaders offering their congratulations to Joe Biden. That is no surprise: Donald Trump’s presidency […]
Egypt News, Energy, Science, Tech
A Young Egyptian Researcher Attracts the Attention of British and European Oil Companies. Dr. Mohammad ElSayed Develops the First Multi-Sensing Robot System for Monitoring Offshore Oil and Gas Platforms in Britain
In an interview with Iris Media Agency, Dr. Mohammed ElSayed, a young Egyptian researcher at the University of Edinburgh, asserted that his success in developing a new multi-sensing robot has attracted the attention of both British and European oil and gas companies. Dr. Mohammad, who is currently spending his vacation in Abu Dhabi, mentioned that his novel invention will […]
Angola News, Cameroon News, Energy, Gabon News
African Countries Must Develop Strategic Fiscal Policies to Survive Oil and Gas Industry Changes on Horizon
The future of the global oil and gas industry has been a subject of great fascination and debate for decades. Since COVID-19 surfaced, there has been even more conjecture on this topic and, in particular, the most likely timing for “peak oil,” when crude production reaches its maximum rate before going into permanent decline. Predictions […]
Burkina Faso News, Energy, Green Energy, Mali News, Tanzania News
Hybrid solutions are the most effective way to deliver reliable clean power to remote off-grid mining operations in Africa
Op-ed by Tarik Sfendla, Market Development Manager, Africa chez Wärtsilä Energy Business The energy markets are undergoing a massive transformation as governments around the world transition away from fossil fuels towards the integration of renewable energy. This trend is clearly visible in the mining industry as demonstrated by recent power projects in South America and in […]
Kieran Whyte, Partner, Head of the Energy, Mining and Infrastructure Practice, Johannesburg, and Marc Fèvre, Partner, London, Baker McKenzie. Across Africa, access to power is hampered by the lack of access to competitive funding, the dire state of the continent’s utilities infrastructure and the need for energy policy and legislation to be adapted so that […]
Egypt News, Energy, Green Energy
How Egypt banks on renewables to meet expected surge of energy demand
To meet its soaring demand for energy, Egypt is turning to renewable sources. Its targets, if accomplished, will see it become a pioneer in the African energy landscape. But are the plans realistic? Egypt’s population has now passed 100 million. As one of the most populous and fastest-growing nations on the African continent, providing electricity […]
It is no longer disputable that the energy transition integrating renewable energies into the grid is a reality that is unfolding globally. This can be observed at different rates and scales according to the countries, but the constant increase in demand and the continuous drop in the prices of these technologies will imply that renewable […]
A shift from Africa’s traditional approach to power generation is needed to unleash the continent’s clean energy potential and secure an African future free from blackouts. A strategy centred around energy storage and flexible power systems will be the key to guaranteeing the reliability of a high-renewable grid, while also lowering the cost of electricity […]
In 1935, President Roosevelt created the Rural Electrification Administration, which helped millions of Americans in remote communities gain access to electricity for the first time. Since then, similar projects have been undertaken around the world, but nearly a billion people worldwide still live without electricity. Existing energy technologies delivering electricity to underserved populations are inherently […]
Congress recently approved an enormous stimulus package to prevent economic collapse at both the small business and corporate level, and major American Airlines just confirmed that they will partake of this “free” federal funding. Since the United States government is more than $20 trillion in debt, the money for the stimulus was, of course, printed […]
Stephan Burger, Vice President MOGS Oil & Gas Services In this Op-Ed piece MOGS Vice President Stephan Burger speaks to the theme of Africa Oil and Power – the continent’s premier platform for energy investment. AOP’s theme #MakeEnergyWork will showcase the energy sector as a key driver of economic growth, jobs and opportunity for Africa’s […]
Egypt News, Energy, Eritrea News, Ethiopia News, Ghana News, Green Energy, Kenya News, Main, Namibia News, Nigeria News, Republic of Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast), Rwanda News, Somalia News, South Africa News, South Sudan, Togo News, Zimbabwe News
Trends and Events in Africa 2018
by Johan Burger 2018 has been an interesting year for Africa, with various events and trends becoming visible. 2016 saw the effects of the slowdown of China’s economic growth due to its rebalancing of its economy and the end of the commodity price super cycle. 2017 brought some relief. In Africa, 2018 demonstrated a number […]
by Johan Burger The NTU-SBF Centre for African Studies publishes a weekly newsletter on issues relevant to Africa. This paper is based on issues addressed in the newsletter. Africa has been the recipient of foreign investment form a variety of foreign countries. In addition to the normal investors such as China, Japan, India, etc., we […]
by Johan Burger The NTU-SBF Centre for African Studies publishes a weekly newsletter on issues relevant to Africa. This paper is based on issues addressed in the newsletter. General Africa has vast infrastructure needs. According to the AfDB, Africa’s infrastructure requirements are estimated to be between US$130 billion and US$170 billion, far higher than the […]
Energy, Green Energy, South Africa News
Loadshedding: why mini grids are the answer and why South Africa doesn’t have them (yet)
“Whole communities and towns can become 100% energy independent” “Mini grids could very quickly sort out a lot of the biggest challenges that South Africa is having with its energy supply at the moment” says Dr Sam Duby, Africa Director for TFE Energy and mini grid expert. He adds: “deregulation would open a market for […]
by Johan Burger The NTU-SBF Centre for African Studies publishes a weekly newsletter on issues relevant to Africa. This paper is based on issues addressed in the newsletter. A trend of earlier years in which we saw the further growth and development of the renewable energy sector, has continued in 2018. Renewable energy is becoming […]
By Adriano Rioja Ciprian, Associate Attorney, Centurion Law Group (http://CenturionLG.com) In yet another landmark reform for its hydrocarbons sector, Angola released in February 2019 a new Presidential Decree detailing the country’s oil licensing strategy for the next six years. Published in February 2019, Presidential Decree No. 52/19 is a continuation of the Lourenço administration’s efforts […]