Africa Energy

In the latest push by Nigeria’s larger corporates to expand their continental footprint, Dangote Industries has announced plans for significant new capital commitments throughout sub-Saharan Africa alongside two of the world’s largest institutional investors at the first ever US-Africa Summit in Washington DC in August.

With its significant reserves of liquefied natural gas (LNG), Egypt has been a key exporter for regional consumers over the past decade but with growing domestic consumption and a number of fiscal constraints, the country has been looking to secure additional supplies by expanding LNG capacity.

In a move to tap into its vast geothermal energy resources, Kenya recently invited bids for the construction of two new power plants, representing another step forward in its 2017 target to boost electricity production by 5000MW.

Four years after Nigeria passed the Nigerian Content executive act (NCA) in April 2010, new government figures seem to indicate that it has helped stimulate a jump in activity by domestic firms in the country’s hydrocarbons sector.

President Jacob Zuma has announced a shake-up of the South African energy sector after signalling the government will push ahead with both nuclear energy generation and shale gas exploration, although revised electricity demand projections suggest consumption will nonetheless be slower than expected in the years until 2025.

Long the country’s Achilles heel, the electricity sector in Nigeria took another step forward in late May, when an increase in end-user tariffs was announced. Though the rise in prices prompted concern from consumers, the change will help to attract fresh capital from private investors who require at least cost-recovery levels for production and distribution.