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…
The Green Climate Fund (GCF) has approved USD$110 million in funding for three proposals from the African Development Bank (AfDB), including a mini-grid project for Democratic Republic of Congo. The AfDB will match $21 million in GCF loan and grant funding to build three pilot solar PV plants and the battery…
The bauxite industry in Guinea may be boosting the economy, but the damage caused by mining – and the impact on land ownership for Guineans – is a threat to their future. That’s according to a report released Thursday by Human Rights Watch, which looks at two mining operations: the…
South Sudan’s oil production is recovering from years of conflict, according to Ezekiel Lol Gatkuoth, the country’s Minister of Petroleum, but many obstacles remain even as oilfield operations come back online. Security was top of mind as South Sudan took the spotlight during the Africa Oil & Power conference in…
A July report on the toxicity of fuel blends shipped from Europe to West Africa brought new attention to the long-standing problem of lower road fuel quality on the continent, where the rise in vehicle traffic and the choking fumes with it add to air pollution woes in cities like…
Laureen is the editor of Africa Times
The African continent is attracting some USD$20 billion in energy investment from government-backed development institutions across the world each year – but far too much of it promotes fossil fuels rather than the shift to renewable energy. That’s according to a new analysis from Oil Change International, an advocacy organization based in…
Mining giant Glencore confirmed on Tuesday that the United States Department of Justice has issued a subpoena for documents and records connected to the company’s businesses in Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The subpoena also covers operations in Venezuela, the company said. Glencore “has received a subpoena dated…
The central African nation of Congo Brazzaville has become the newest member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), following the conclusion of the OPEC member meeting in Vienna on Friday. It is now the 15th nation to become a member, seven of them on the continent. The…
No one talked very much ahead of the fossil-fuel conference hosted by Pope Francis at the Pontifical Academy of Sciences at the Vatican this weekend: not the participants, not the Vatican, and not the University of Notre Dame in the United States, a Roman Catholic institution that co-sponsored the event….
The World Bank has approved USD$180 million in loan guarantees to boost Kenya Electricity Generation Company Limited (KenGen) and the country’s energy sector. The KenGen project, supported by private sector financing, will build on Kenya’s progress in diversifying its energy sources – including geothermal power – while bringing much needed…
South Sudan’s Ministry of Mining, Ministry of Petroleum and the state-owned Nile Petroleum Company were among 15 oil-industry entities added to the U.S. Department of Commerce Entity List on Thursday, for what officials say is their funding of the country’s ongoing conflict and actions deemed “contrary to the national security…
The United States has announced it will publish Thursday the names of 15 oil-industry entities in South Sudan that U.S. officials say are supporting the country’s ongoing crisis with their revenues. The decision to place the South Sudanese businesses on the U.S. Department of Commerce Entity List means licensing will…