The most important developments in sub-Saharan Africa. Six days a week.
Ghana's 2027 budget, presented on 12 November, enlarges a planned state-owned gas power plant at Kafodzidzi-Abrobeano in the Central Region to 1,450 megawatts (MW) and adds a 600 MW state solar plant with 2,000 megawatt-hours of battery storage. Finance Minister Cassiel Ato Forson said construction starts in December, the first 600 MW is due by December 2028 and the rest by 2030, and the state will pay without borrowing. The government first announced the plant at 1,200 MW in its July mid-year review. The plants would let Ghana retire costly emergency power units by 2030 and supply mineral processing, provided the Sankofa and Jubilee fields deliver about 150 million extra cubic feet of gas a day.
DR Congo's National Assembly on 11 November declared admissible a bill setting the legal, financial and institutional rules for developing the Grand Inga hydropower site. Presented by Water Resources and Electricity Minister Aimé Sakombi Molendo, the bill keeps state control over the site, creates a supervisory council under the president and allows exemptions from some electricity, water and environmental rules. The cabinet adopted it in March; it now goes to committee. The site has an estimated potential of 44,000 megawatts (MW), of which Inga 1 and 2 use 1,775 MW. One law would give investors fixed terms for the six planned phases, Inga 3 to Inga 8, though civil society groups fear weaker oversight of contracts and tax breaks.
Nigeria has completed international bidding for four new satellites and is recommending the winning manufacturers, Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology Kingsley Udeh said in Abuja on 11 November. Companies from China, Israel, Europe, the United States and Nigeria took part; the contract awards still need Federal Executive Council approval because of the sums involved, which were not disclosed. The council approved the four-satellite plan in May 2025, and Lagos State has now allocated land in Epe for a satellite propulsion and transport facility. The government wants the satellites to sell services to other African countries, so the project's reach depends on the funding the council approves and on finding paying customers abroad.
The African Development Bank (AfDB) approved a $503.75 million loan to South Africa to support reforms that open electricity, freight transport and water to competition and private investment, the bank said on 12 November. The programme sets targets such as a wholesale power market handling 10% of electricity transactions and at least six new private rail and port operators approved by December 2027. It brings the bank's budget support to South Africa since 2023 to more than $1.2 billion, after loans of $300 million in 2023 and $474.5 million in 2025. Development lenders now tie a growing share of South Africa's budget financing to ending Eskom's and Transnet's control of power trading and rail access.
The Gambia's Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) on 12 November confirmed five candidates for the 5 December presidential election, including President Adama Barrow, who is seeking a third term. The others are opposition leader Ousainou Darboe of the United Democratic Party, former Kanifing mayor Talib Ahmed Bensouda, independent Isatou Touray and Modou Lamin Sima. The commission rejected two aspirants, one over dual nationality and a false school certificate and one over mismatched birth dates, and is reviewing six more until 14 November. The 1997 constitution sets no term limit after lawmakers twice rejected drafts that would have added one, and with the opposition split among four candidates, Barrow faces no single challenger.
