ENERGY & COMMODITIES

The entire board of the Botswana Energy Regulatory Authority (BERA) has been suspended, following an independent investigation launched after reports of alleged misconduct among its members. Eric Molale, Botswana’s Minister of Mineral Resources, Green Technology and Energy Security, said the board suspension takes effect immediately. It will continue during a…

Environmental defenders in mining areas of South Africa face harassment, intimidation, and violence, according to a joint report issued Tuesday by four advocacy organizations including Human Rights Watch. “The attacks and harassment have created an atmosphere of fear for community members who mobilize to raise concerns about damage to their livelihoods from…

A four-year investigation by the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) advocacy group traced illegally sourced timber from the forests of Congo Brazzaville and Gabon, to discover what it says are extensive holdings by a Chinese firm linked to bribery, corruption, tax evasion and ecosystem destruction. “According to evidence collected by EIA,…

The conditions in Democratic Republic of Congo’s artisanal mines were front and center on Thursday, as Nordic Electric Vehicle (EV) Summit in Oslo focused on the future of clean-energy vehicles that rely on lithium-ion batteries. That’s because Amnesty International highlighted concern over the ever-increasing demand for cobalt and other minerals…

Eskom customers in South Africa are enduring yet another round of load shedding this week. The beleaguered public utility, seeking a bailout for its massive debt and caught up in South Africa’s “state capture” corruption drama, started cutting power to customers again on a rotating basis. On Monday, Stage 4…

Burkina Faso and Kenya are among eight nations to participate in a new USD$180 million program to support mercury-free artisanal and small-scale gold mining in the developing world. Led by the United Nations and backed by the Global Environment Facility, the GEF GOLD program seeks to phase out mercury use…

South Africans are looking at another round of load-shedding on Wednesday, as struggling utility provider Eskom will implement Stage 3 restrictions from 8 a.m. until 11 p.m. – a level that allows for 3000 MW of the national power load to be reduced, cutting it off to customers in two-…

South Africans are looking at another round of load-shedding on Tuesday, as struggling utility provider Eskom will implement Stage 3 restrictions from 8 a.m. until 11 p.m. – a level that allows for 3000 MW of the national power load to be reduced, cutting it off to customers in two-…

Environmental protection advocates at Greenpeace have stepped up to demand that South African power utility Eskom comply with the country’s Minimum Emissions Standards, rather than receive approval for continued waivers and postponements for excessive emissions. The Greenpeace activists say Eskom, with 17 coal-fired power plants, exceeded the limits for particulate…

The Congolese mining entity Gécamines issued a scathing rebuke to international NGOs on Wednesday, with a report that seeks to debunk the years of allegations about corruption and missing millions. The 60-page report begins with an introduction from Albert Yuma-Mulimbi, a close ally of outgoing President Joseph Kabila and the…

The United Nations Environment Program on Tuesday issued the latest in what’s been a flurry of reports on climate change and global greenhouse gas emissions progress, ahead of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP24) meeting in Poland next week. The “emissions…

Africa Oil Week has wrapped up in South Africa, where the five-day energy conference was hosted by Cape Town. This year, 17 government ministers attended, the event organizers said in a closing statement; they included ministers from Nigeria, Mali, The Gambia, Namibia and Sudan. Additionally, during the course of the…