Ghana’s Energy Commission Signs MoU With Abu Dhabi’s Global South Utilities
Dangote Plans 700,000-Bpd Refinery In Kenya’s Lamu For East African Market
Nigeria’s Dangote Industries Ltd plans to build a 700,000-barrel-per-day (bpd) oil refinery in Lamu, Kenya, as part of its expansion into East Africa, the company’s Group Vice President for Oil and Gas, Devakumar Edwin, said.
The proposed refinery would supply refined petroleum products to Kenya and neighbouring East African countries, supporting regional efforts to reduce reliance on imported fuels.
Edwin disclosed the planned capacity during a visit by a delegation from the Republic of the Congo’s national oil company to the Dangote Petroleum Refinery in Lagos on July 1.
He said Dangote’s refining capacity in Nigeria would reach 1.4 million bpd, while the planned Kenyan refinery would add a further 700,000 bpd, bringing the group’s combined refining capacity to 2.1 million bpd.
Dangote Group President Aliko Dangote had previously said the company planned to build a refinery in East Africa.
The project was initially proposed for Tanzania’s Port of Tanga before the company shifted its focus to Kenya.
Lamu and Mombasa are under consideration as potential sites, with the company evaluating the most suitable location for the multibillion-dollar project.
Dangote said the shift reflected maritime considerations, existing infrastructure and market demand.
Kenyan President William Ruto said regional governments would participate in financing the project, with Kenya allocating 21.5 billion Kenyan shillings ($…) in seed capital.
The refinery is expected to cost about 2.5 trillion Kenyan shillings and supply refined fuels to Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, South Sudan and other East African markets.
If completed, the project is expected to reduce East Africa’s dependence on imported refined petroleum products and improve regional fuel supply security.
Uganda: Farmer Group Sues In UK Court To Block $5bn EACOP Project
A group of Ugandan farmers has filed a case in the UK High Court against the developer of the $5 billion East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP), seeking to stop the nearly completed project on environmental grounds, Oilprice.com reported, citing Bloomberg.
The $5 billion pipeline, which will transport crude oil from Uganda’s Albertine Graben to the Tanzanian port of Tanga, is nearing completion after years of delays and controversy. The project is being developed by French energy major TotalEnergies.
EACOP has faced years of environmental scrutiny over its potential impact on ecosystems and communities along its route. Supporters argue the project could transform East Africa by creating jobs, attracting infrastructure investment and strengthening regional energy security.
Opponents, including the Ugandan farmers who filed the lawsuit against UK-registered EACOP Ltd, argue that the pipeline, associated oil production and its route would harm water resources, wildlife and biodiversity.
The 1,443-kilometre pipeline will enable Uganda to export crude oil for the first time. Production from the Albertine Rift Basin, where TotalEnergies and China’s CNOOC are developing the Tilenga and Kingfisher oilfields, is expected to peak at around 200,000 barrels per day.
The pipeline is designed to transport up to 216,000 barrels of crude oil per day, with capacity expected to increase to 246,000 barrels per day during ramp-up, according to the Ugandan government.
Construction of the pipeline could be completed as early as this month, with first oil exports expected later this year or in early 2027.
The plaintiffs hope the lawsuit will prevent the pipeline from becoming operational.
“The case seeks remedies that could go to the heart of the project’s commercial viability, including an injunction to stop oil being transported through the pipeline, as well as compensation and other legal relief under Ugandan law,” the farmers said in a statement issued through law firm Leigh Day, as cited by Bloomberg.
Ghana: AETC Presents Strategic Energy Vision To President Mahama
Organised by the Africa Energy Technology Centre, the conference brings together heads of state, ministers, institutional investors, technology developers, researchers and development partners to promote intra-African energy trade, industrialisation and technological development.
The Centre described the presidential endorsement as a significant milestone that would strengthen its mission of advancing African-led solutions to the continent’s energy challenges and accelerate Africa’s energy transition agenda.
Speaking during the engagement, AETC leadership said the initiatives form part of a broader strategy to position Africa not merely as a participant in the global energy transition, but as one of its architects.
According to the Centre, the strategy focuses on expanding regional manufacturing capacity, strengthening collaborative innovation networks and supporting homegrown entrepreneurship to commercialise African-owned intellectual property in global markets.
Akumah said the Centre’s objective was to build an energy future that is “designed, built, owned and exported by Africans.”
She added that Africa should no longer be viewed as a passive consumer in the global energy transition but as a continent capable of becoming a leading producer and exporter of energy technologies, driven by African innovation, expertise and ownership. Oil Prices Rise After Iran Attacks Commercial Vessels
Crude oil prices rose on Wednesday, extending gains from earlier this week after the United States and Iran exchanged military strikes following Iran’s attacks on three commercial vessels off the Omani coast.
At the time of writing, Brent crude was trading at $78.37 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was at $74.30 a barrel.
The gains followed reports that Iran had struck three vessels near the Strait of Hormuz: a Qatari LNG carrier, a Saudi oil tanker and a Liberian-flagged oil tanker.
Iranian media said the LNG carrier had been struck after “ignoring repeated warnings.”
In response, the United States launched strikes on multiple targets in Iran, including “air defence systems, command and control networks, coastal radar sites, anti-ship missile capabilities, and more than 60 Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps small boats in and near the strait to degrade Iran’s ability to continue attacking international commerce flowing through the international trade corridor,” U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said.
Iran retaliated by striking U.S. military bases in Bahrain and Kuwait, underscoring the fragility of the ceasefire agreed by the two sides last month.
Read Also: Ghana: Tema Oil Refinery, GNPC Hold Talks On Government Plan For Local Crude Allocation“The current conflagration is a reminder to the market of how fragile passage through the Strait still is,” MST Marquee Head of Research Saul Kavonic told Reuters.
“This presents a contrary indicator to the prevailing sentiment that the market could be flooded into oversupply, which may scare some of the record short positioning to cover,” he added.
Meanwhile, rhetoric between the United States and Iran remained tense. U.S. President Donald Trump earlier this week said the United States would either reach a deal with Iran or “finish the job.” Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said negotiations on a final peace agreement “will not commence if threats continue.”
Ghana: Tema Oil Refinery, GNPC Hold Talks On Government Plan For Local Crude Allocation
The refinery said the meeting provided an opportunity for the two state-owned entities to exchange views on developments in the energy sector and explore areas for closer collaboration to support a sustainable and competitive downstream petroleum industry.
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“The engagement was another step in building the relationships needed to support the refinery’s long-term operations and a more sustainable energy value chain. It also ended on a positive note, with both entities expressing their readiness to work together to achieve their shared objectives,” TOR said.
In June, Sentuo Oil Refinery, a joint venture between the Government of Ghana and China’s Sentuo Group, received one million barrels of crude oil from Ghana’s Jubilee field for processing.
TOR is also expected to receive a similar consignment later this month. Russia: Ukrainian Drone Strike Shuts Largest Refinery As Fuel Shortages Deepen
Zimbabwe: ZESA Partially Restores Power After Nationwide Blackout
Zimbabwe’s state-owned power utility, ZESA Holdings, said it had partially restored electricity supplies after a nationwide blackout caused by an electrical fault.
The outage occurred at about 1824 local time after a major fault on the Warren-Alaska 330-kilovolt transmission line.
ZESA said the fault led to the loss of interconnections with neighbouring regional utilities, while voltage instability and under-frequency conditions caused local power generation to trip offline.
In an update, the utility said power restoration began at 1901 local time, with electricity supplies partially restored by 2200 to most bulk supply points across the country.
ZESA said its technical teams were working to restore and synchronise the remaining generating units at Hwange Power Station and carry out repairs at Warren Substation, which supplies parts of the capital, Harare.
The utility apologised for the disruption and said efforts to fully restore electricity supplies were continuing.
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Zimbabwe: Technical Fault Triggers Nationwide Power Outage
ZESA said the outage occurred at about 1824 hours and was caused by a technical fault on its transmission network.
The utility said its technical teams were investigating the cause of the outage while engineers worked to restore grid stability and electricity supply as quickly as possible.
“Restoration efforts are underway, and our engineers are working to restore grid stability and bring back power in the shortest possible time,” ZESA said in a brief statement share on its Facebook page.
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Zimbabwe, home to more than 17 million people, has an installed electricity generation capacity of about 2,962 megawatts (MW), but ageing infrastructure, drought-induced reductions in hydropower output and equipment failures often limit available generation to around 1,600 MW, forcing the country to import electricity from neighbouring Zambia and Mozambique and implement periodic load shedding.
The company said it would provide further updates as restoration efforts progressed and apologised for the inconvenience caused.
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Ghana: NPA Urges Fuel Dealers, Tanker Drivers To Comply With Petroleum Industry Regulations
“The integrity of petroleum products must be maintained for the benefit of consumers and the industry as a whole,” Konu said.
The workshop, organised by the NPA’s Business Development Directorate, brought together fuel dealers and bulk road vehicle drivers to discuss regulatory requirements, operational challenges and measures to improve compliance across the petroleum value chain.
Konu said the downstream petroleum industry makes a significant contribution to Ghana’s economy and that continued stakeholder engagement was necessary to reinforce regulatory standards.
He also advised fuel dealers to regularly monitor water levels in underground storage tanks following recent heavy rains to prevent contaminated fuel from reaching consumers.
NPA Head of Security and Intelligence Isaac Djagbetey urged petroleum service providers to source products only from authorised depots and warned against supplying fuel to illegal mining operations, locally known as galamsey.
Richard Apaloo, a senior manager with the NPA’s Inspections, Monitoring and HSSE Directorate, called on fuel dealers to keep valid regulatory documents available for inspection.
Meanwhile, Nana Afua Nuamah Bosumtwi, Head of Claims at the Unified Petroleum Price Fund (UPPF), cautioned tanker drivers against tampering with vehicle tracking systems and encouraged timely submission of transport documentation to facilitate claims processing.
Adams Baba Adams of the NPA’s Quality Assurance Directorate urged dealers to ensure fuel quality standards were maintained to protect consumers and prevent vehicle damage.
The regulator also encouraged consumers to report cases of suspected fuel under-delivery or poor product quality within 48 hours to aid investigations.
Officials from the Ghana National Fire Service conducted fire safety training and emergency response drills, while the National Road Safety Authority urged tanker drivers to adopt defensive driving practices and respect other road users to reduce accidents. 

