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ExxonMobil will raise its working interest in the Rovuma liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in northern Mozambique from 25% to 50% through an asset swap with Italy's Eni, the company disclosed with its third-quarter results on 30 October. Eni will receive other properties in the area, and neither company gave financial terms. ExxonMobil already operates the planned project, designed to produce 18.6 million tonnes of LNG a year, and targets a final investment decision by the end of 2026. Holding half the project puts the investment decision, and more of its cost, in ExxonMobil's hands. The next step is the Mozambican government's approval of the development plan, which the company says is progressing well.
OPay, a digital payments company launched in Nigeria in 2018, began trading on the New York Stock Exchange on 30 October after selling 16 million American depositary shares at $19 each. The offering raised about $304 million and valued the company at about $4 billion, at the bottom of its target range of $19 to $21. OPay says it serves more than 50 million users in Nigeria, Egypt, Pakistan and Indonesia, and its gross transaction value more than doubled to $358 billion in 2025. The listing gives early backers of African fintech an exit through a public market and sets a listed benchmark for valuing rivals. OPay also has approval for a secondary listing on the Nigerian Exchange.
Cameroon's state refiner Sonara said on 30 October that it had signed a deal with Nigeria's Dangote Group and Lagos-based MRS Oil & Gas to supply the country with refined petroleum products. The 30-month agreement, signed in Lagos on 22 October, has Dangote's refinery supply the fuel and MRS handle shipping and storage. Cameroon has imported all of its fuel since an explosion and fire shut its only refinery, at Limbe, in 2019, and import costs have risen with tensions in the Middle East. A supplier one short sea voyage from Limbe could cut Cameroon's freight costs and delivery times. A formal launch ceremony, postponed from 29 October, has no new date.
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed announced on 30 October that 26 city buses converted from diesel to natural gas have started carrying passengers in Addis Ababa. They are the first public buses in Ethiopia to run on domestic gas, and the government plans to add 400 more. The city began converting its diesel fleet this year, drawing on gas from the Ogaden basin in the Somali Region, where a Chinese-built liquefaction plant at Calub opened in October 2025. The switch could cut bus operating costs, which the government says will allow fares to fall by half, and reduce diesel imports. A wider rollout depends on more refuelling stations and steady gas supply from the Ogaden fields.
Solarcentury Africa will build and operate the 112 megawatt-peak (MWp) Kusoka solar plant in Zambia's North-Western Province, selling power mainly to First Quantum Minerals' Sentinel copper and Enterprise nickel mines. It would exceed the 100-megawatt Kabwe plant, opened in 2025 as Zambia's largest standalone solar installation, and may also sell to other buyers or into the Southern African Power Pool. Mines used about 63% of Zambia's electricity in 2025, according to regulator data cited by Agence Ecofin, and the 2024 drought pushed them to seek supply beyond the state utility ZESCO. A merchant plant selling directly to mines depends on grid access rules adopted in 2024 and on financing, which the partners have not disclosed.
The city of Douala has invited private investors to finance, build and operate a 20-km tram line across Cameroon's largest city, in a call dated 26 October. The line would run from the Bekoko interchange over the Wouri bridge to Ndogsimbi, at an estimated 400 billion CFA francs (about $700 million) under a concession of at least 30 years. It would be Cameroon's first tram; an earlier plan, under which the mayor promised in 2022 to start works in 2023, never reached construction. The line would add mass transit to a corridor of about 1.5 million daily trips, but bidders must bring 30% equity and lender commitments and carry most of the ridership risk. Applications close on 25 February 2027.
Benin signed financing agreements in Cotonou on 29 October for IPP50, a group of four solar plants with about 62 megawatts of capacity in Natitingou, Djougou, Parakou and Bohicon. The International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the French development lender Proparco are providing €30 million (about $34 million), according to the developer, AXIAN Energy. The concessions were awarded in 2022, but the project stalled after costs rose and its first sponsor left, until AXIAN took it over in 2024. The plants are due to produce about 110 gigawatt-hours a year from early 2028 and spread generation to the north and centre of the country. AXIAN describes IPP50 as Benin's first solar project built by an independent power producer.
Russia has agreed to stop recruiting Kenyans into its armed forces, President William Ruto said after talks with President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin on 29 October, at the close of the Russia–Africa summit in Moscow. Kenya will be treated as a "non-source country" for recruitment and will post a defence attaché in Moscow to arrange the return of Kenyans and compensation for families. The two governments also signed five memoranda, including on an economic commission and labour, and Russia will raise yearly scholarships for Kenyan students from 70 to 300. The pledge gives Nairobi a formal channel to press Moscow over its citizens, while a planned labour deal would open a legal route for Kenyan workers to Russia.
