Equatorial Guinea signs oil production sharing contracts

Equatorial Guinea has awarded London-based independent exploration and production company Panoro Energy a

56% participating interest and operator status in its offshore oil block EG-01. Partners in the block will be Kosmos Energy (24%) and GEPetrol (20%). Meanwhile, the Africa Oil Corporation has been awarded production-sharing contracts for offshore Blocks EG-18 and EG-31. “Panoro and Africa Oil Corp will work in a proven but underexplored oil basin in the Gulf of Guinea and it makes it exciting to see the results of their work in the near future”, commented NJ Ayuk, executive chairman of the Africa Energy Chamber.

AFC and Trans

Connexion Congo agree on Kinshasa mass transit

Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) has entered into a joint development agreement with Trans Connexion Congo (TCC), to jointly develop a mass transit system in Kinshasa, capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The first phase will be a 25km rail connection from the central station to the city’s N’Djili International Airport. AFC is making an initial $3m investment with a goal of taking the project to financial close as early as Q4 2023. “A fully functional railway system will not only contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in the city,” AFC says, “but improve mobility and accessibility… further increasing economic productivity.”

Africa GoGreen Fund gets $47m to advance climate resilience

The Africa GoGreen Fund (AGGF) has announced its successful second fundraising close, with funds from the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the African Development Bank (AfDB), the Nordic Development Fund (NDF) and the Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa (SEFA). The funding will allow AGGF to broaden its financing for climate-friendly projects in Africa, including purchasing high-efficiency appliances and industrial equipment; retrofitting existing buildings and new green ones; and installing rooftop solar and battery storage for residential, commercial, and industrial consumers. Launched in early 2021 and managed by LHGP Asset Management, AGGF is the first structured debt fund in Africa focused on energy efficiency solutions.

AfDB and Japan agree $350m private sector assistance loan

The African Development Bank (AfDB) and Japan have signed an exchange of notes for a $350m loan from Japan to finance the AfDB’s private sector operations under the Enhanced

Private Sector Assistance Initiative for Africa (EPSA). To date, the AfDB and the government of Japan have signed seven non-sovereign loans totalling $1.5bn.

These have contributed to 51 projects, mainly credit lines and equity to regional development finance institutions, private equity funds and project finance for infrastructure public-private partnerships. The agreement follows decisions announced at the eighth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD8) in Tunis last August that the government of Japan would invest more in Africa’s private sector.