Africa Energy

Hydrocarbons wealth has underwritten Algeria’s growth for decades, allowing the country to accumulate huge foreign currency reserves and underwrite a major public spending campaign over the past 10 years. Thanks to high oil and gas prices, the government has been able to fund infrastructure and social programmes, including subsidies, helping...

Hydrocarbons activity is the single most important industry in Algeria, accounting for approximately 60% of government revenues and 95% of total exports. The fall in oil prices since mid-2014 of more than 50% had a negative impact on the country’s finances and resulted in a halving of earnings from hydrocarbons exports. Concerns have been...

As well as holding the 10th-largest gas reserves in the world, Algeria is also the top natural gas producer in Africa, with a total of 83.3bn cu metres (bcm) in 2014. Hydrocarbons have been one of the main drivers behind the country’s economic development, and according to the IMF they account for around 95% of Algeria’s export earnings,...

As South Africa continues to face problems with load-shedding, government and industry stakeholders have turned towards liquefied natural gas (LNG) as a solution to meet demand. The country is also working to generate new capacity from coal-fired and renewable power plants.

With the most energy-intensive economy on the continent, South Africa has undergone a spate of load-shedding in recent years as demand continues to outstrip supply. However, while faltering output and under-maintained infrastructure have had an adverse effect on the country’s economic performance, a range of government initiatives, notably the...

In April 2015 the minister of energy, Tina Joemat-Pettersson, announced 13 winning bids for the fourth round of the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement (REIPPP) programme. The programme was established in 2011 to combat load-shedding, diversify the energy mix, curb emissions and encourage greater private participation in...