Summary: Governments in emerging gas-producing countries often want to prioritize domestic use, but exports are not always at odds with building downstream consumption at home.  Why it matters: Natural gas is viewed as a critical component of development in gas-producing countries.

Executive Summary In 2016, Zambia’s utility-scale solar auction set records by achieving tariffs as low as 6 US cents per kilowatt hour.

BLUF: USG support for African power generation has slowed in recent years, roughly mirroring broader market trends. The number of gas or diesel projects beginning construction has remained relatively small but stable over the past decade – while renewable projects dramatically increased, before falling in the last few years.

Summary: South Africa’s energy crisis has deepened, but could still get worse. While Eskom’s issues are myriad, closing the growing supply gap is a first-order priority. Relevance: State-owned power company Eskom is technically insolvent and implementing daily rolling blackouts (‘load-shedding’) at a huge cost to the economy and society. The Eskom crisis has implications for the entire southern African region.

What Happened: Ghana’s utility regulator recently launched a public register of power purchase agreements (PPAs) to share information on all 14 of the country’s active electricity contracts covering both renewable and non-renewable power projects.