Economy
Expert Examines Rising Trend Towards Corporate Procurement of Power in Sub-Saharan Africa
Renewable technologies are evolving at a rapid pace and there has been a dramatic decline in the costs associated with its procurement. This provides an opportunity for corporates to reap the benefits of procuring renewable energy directly from generators through the use of a power purchase agreement (corporate PPAs).
Corporate PPAs aim to provide corporates with lower or more stable electricity costs and grid reliability and can contribute significantly to their sustainability targets.
This is according to Mike Webb, Senior Associate in the Banking & Finance Practice at Baker McKenzie in Johannesburg.
He notes, however, that despite these benefits, corporate PPAs have struggled to take off in sub-Saharan Africa, commonly as a result of regulatory challenges. To guide corporates through numerous regulatory frameworks and legal developments governing this sector across Africa, Baker McKenzie’s new report, Opportunities for Corporate Procurement of Power in Sub-Saharan Africa studies corporate PPAs in Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
“We have found that the key issue that obstructs the use of corporate PPAs in most of these markets is that a licence is required to either operate a power asset or sell power, or both. Most markets have a threshold where a licence is required, usually ranging between 100kW and 1000kW. Where projects exceed these thresholds, a license is required which can often be difficult to obtain. To overcome this, developers may structure the PPA as a hire-purchase agreement or lease,” explains Webb.
“However, in addition to potentially triggering unfavorable tax consequences (where the PPA becomes a contingent liability on the corporate’s books), these solutions carry enforceability risk and may not pass a lender’s bankability requirements.
“It’s worth noting that there are currently no licence requirements in Senegal and Mozambique and the threshold in Uganda for a licence is 2000 kW,” he notes.
“In addition to licence requirements, most jurisdictions require approval from the local distribution network operator to install an on-site power plant (e.g. rooftop solar PV). This approval can also be difficult to obtain and sometimes gets held up in months of administrative delays,” Webb explains.
Webb says that the good news is that as the energy transition slowly makes its way into sub-Saharan Africa, some utilities and regulators are showing signs of key market reforms that will enable more opportunities for corporate PPAs.
“For example, as of 1 September 2019, Namibia introduced a new energy policy that will allow the bilateral trading of power between generators and customers. In a small power market such as Namibia, the opportunities may be limited. However, it is expected that neighbouring countries, such as Zambia, could follow Namibia in this reform.
“A further key reform required in power markets to unlock opportunities of corporate PPA is net metering, where plants are able to supply unused power into the grid in return for a feed-in tariff. This is not available in most countries in sub-Saharan Africa and where it is available, such as South Africa, the tariff is often too low to enhance the economics of the project,” Webb explains.
Webb notes that as a result of strong resources, as well as poorly maintained and limited grid networks, sub-Saharan Africa has seen an increase in the roll out of mini-grids. Rapid technological development and operational efficiencies have made mini-grids a practical, cost effective and viable solution to electrify rural areas in Africa. The International Energy Agency estimates that at least 40% of new power connections in sub-Saharan Africa during the next decade will be provided by mini-grids. For example, Rwanda plans to provide over 90% of its electricity supply through mini-grids by 2024.
“The regulatory environment around mini-grids in Africa can be quite different depending on the country. Tanzania has fairly clear policies and regulations that favour mini-grids. Nigeria has issued regulation detailing the framework for the establishment of mini-grids. Uganda is currently developing a mini-grid framework with the support of various donor programmes. Similarly, Rwanda has been in consultation with private mini-grid companies in the development of their mini-grid framework,” he says.
Webb notes that a good sign that the power market is maturing is the increase in trading activity in the Southern Africa Power Pool (SAPP) in the last 18 months, which is beginning to show signs of a functional power pool. The SAPP currently serves more than 300 million people and has an available generation capacity of 67.19 GW. A total of 2,124 GWh was traded on the SAPP market during 2018, resulting in USD 106.6 million being exchanged on SAPP’s competitive market. Current operating members of SAPP include Botswana, Democratic Republic of Congo, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Namibia’s move to allow bilateral trading is expected to extend into the use of the SAPP. As the approval of the relevant utility is required for a person to become a participant in the SAPP, these signs are positive.
“In terms of sub-Saharan Africa countries to watch for corporate PPA opportunities, a recent Bloomberg New Energy Finance report noted that Nigeria, Ghana and Kenya stand out, based on positive economics and relatively accommodating regulatory systems. Senegal, Uganda and Rwanda, with increasing grid tariffs and reasonable momentum in renewable energy adoption, also offer opportunities. However, due to the small nature of the commercial and industrial power demand, the scalability of project portfolios appears to be limited,” he says.
“South Africa, being the most industrialised economy in Africa, is often considered a good starting point for corporate PPA development. Regulatory and policy uncertainty have been the main reasons why adoption has been relatively low. However, continued increases in Eskom supplied grid electricity tariffs has resulted in a notable increase in corporate PPAs over the last 18 months. This is expected to grow further once the Integrated Resource Plan is finalised and regulations are aligned,” he adds.
By Dipo Olowookere
The first trading session of the week on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited ended in the green territory on Monday, with a 1.20 per cent rise.
This was buoyed by the gains recorded by Airtel Africa and other equities, according to analysis of data harvested from the Customs Street yesterday.
During the trading day, the consumer goods index grew by 0.76 per cent, enough to offset the losses recorded by the other sectors.
The insurance counter shrank by 1.64 per cent, the banking space lost 0.24 per cent, the energy sector contracted by 0.09 per cent, and the industrial goods segment retreated by 0.05 per cent.
When trading activities ended for the day, the All-Share Index (ASI) was up by 2,956.15 points to 248,529.75 points from 245,573.60 points, and the market capitalisation gained N1.909 trillion to finish at N160.422 trillion compared with the previous session’s N158.513 trillion.
Fortis Global Insurance expanded by 10.00 per cent to N2.86, Chams surged by 9.80 per cent to N4.48, NAHCO jumped by 9.29 per cent to N153.00, Airtel Africa soared by 8.59 per cent to N6,300.00, and Sovereign Trust Insurance rose by 6.59 per cent to N1.78.
Conversely, AVA Capital shed 10.00 per cent to N9.90, Ecobank decreased by 9.92 per cent to N64.95, Caverton crashed by 9.09 per cent to N5.00, Ikeja Hotel slipped by 8.41 per cent to N43.00, and FTN Cocoa dropped 8.37 per cent to trade at N8.10.
A total of 23 equities were on the gainers’ chart yesterday, while 37 equities ended on the losers’ table, indicating a negative market breadth index and weak investor sentiment.
As for the activity log, the trading volume remained elevated, though lower than the preceding session, as it receded by 26.67 per cent to 1.1 billion units from 1.5 billion units. The trading value, however, increased by 1.12 per cent to N27.0 billion from N26.7 billion, while the number of deals advanced by 39.00 per cent to 59,185 deals from 42,580 deals.
Consolidated Hallmark was the most active stock yesterday, with a turnover of 354.1 million units valued at N1.5 billion, Fortis Global Insurance traded 307.3 million units worth N818.3 million, Access Holdings exchanged 48.1 million units for N1.4 billion, Chams transacted 37.4 million units worth N163.3 million, and First Holdco sold 35.8 million units valued at N5.1 billion.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Oil prices traded 5 per cent higher on Monday after Iran and the United States argued about demands for compensation, further stalling a possible deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
Brent crude futures chalked up $4.17 or 4.99 per cent to sell at $87.72 a barrel, while the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures surged $3.95 or 5.05 per cent to $82.13 per barrel.
Iran said the US must lift sanctions on it and meet other conditions for reopening the vital waterway, which carried a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas before the start of the Middle East conflict in late February.
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump said Iran must pay compensation for “all of the people that they have killed and gravely wounded.”
This comes as the Middle East country said it was nearing a final pact with Oman to define new shipping lanes through the strait but repeated that the US must meet other conditions, including compensation and an end to sanctions and military threats before the strategic waterway is reopened.
In a further threat to supply, the Iran-aligned Houthis said they had struck Saudi Aramco’s Jazan refinery on Sunday. Saudi Aramco has postponed the restart of the 400,000-barrel-per-day refinery to August 30 after two Houthi attacks in recent weeks.
ADNOC, a state-owned oil company in the United Arab Emirates, said on Friday that 15 of its vessels had been attacked while transiting the Strait of Hormuz since the beginning of the conflict.
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s military continued to attack Russia’s energy infrastructure, hitting the Taneco oil refinery in Tatarstan and the ZapSibNeftekhim petrochemical plant in Russia’s Tyumen region.
On the US supply side, stocks of crude oil in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) fell by about 6.1 million barrels to 298.7 million barrels last week, the lowest level since January 1983.
Bank of America (BoFA) warned that oil prices could continue climbing into the winter if the US and Iran fail to reach an agreement reopening the Strait of Hormuz, with severe shortages already emerging in diesel, petrol, and global natural gas markets.
Mr Francisco Blanch, Bank of America’s head of commodities and derivatives research, told CNBC on Monday that only around 5 to 10 ships per day are currently passing through Hormuz, compared with roughly 140 before the war. With some crude now being rerouted through Saudi Arabia and the UAE, traffic would need to recover to around 80 to 100 ships per day just to stabilise energy markets.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance and Other Financial Institutions has called for stronger collaboration among financial sector regulators and other stakeholders to strengthen Nigeria’s financial system and support sustainable economic growth.
The committee made the call during an expanded stakeholders’ engagement in Lagos, attended by the leadership of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON), National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) and Nigeria Export-Import Bank (NEXIM), among other industry stakeholders and financial experts.
Chairman of the committee, Mr Adetokunbo Abiru (Lagos East), who was represented by Mr Osita Izunaso (Imo West), said stronger legislative reforms and regulatory collaboration were necessary to reposition Nigeria’s financial architecture for long-term economic prosperity.
Mr Abiru said the financial sector remained critical to investment, job creation, business expansion and macroeconomic stability, stressing that its ability to mobilise savings, channel credit to productive sectors, facilitate investment and manage risks was fundamental to sustainable economic growth.
He said the current economic realities required closer collaboration between the legislature and financial regulators, noting that challenges confronting the sector were interconnected and could not be effectively addressed through isolated interventions.
The lawmaker identified inflationary pressures, global economic uncertainties, cybersecurity threats, low insurance penetration and the need to diversify Nigeria’s export base as some of the challenges requiring coordinated policy responses.
He said the engagement was aimed at generating practical solutions to strengthen the country’s financial architecture and support sustainable economic growth.
According to him, monetary policy, financial safety nets, banking institutions, the insurance industry and export finance were interdependent components of a stable financial system and must therefore be strengthened collectively.
The Commissioner for Insurance and Chief Executive Officer of the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), Mr Olusegun Ayo Omosehin, said the Nigeria Insurance Industry Reform Act (NIIRA) 2025 had contributed significantly to stabilising and repositioning the insurance sector.
Mr Omosehin disclosed that 43 insurance companies had successfully recapitalised, describing the development as a major milestone for the industry.
He commended Abiru and members of the committee for their role in advancing insurance sector reforms and urged the House of Representatives to expedite action on the relevant insurance reform bill to enable it to receive presidential assent and become operational.
Representatives of the CBN Governor and the Managing Directors of AMCON, NEXIM and NDIC also commended the Senate committee for its oversight and legislative support, saying its interventions had strengthened the agencies’ capacity to discharge their statutory mandates.
The engagement, held under the theme, Strengthening Financial System Architecture for Sustainable Economic Growth and Stability in Nigeria, also featured presentations by Professor Uche Uwaleke, President of Capital Market Academics of Nigeria (CMAN); Professor Biodun Adedipe, Chief Consultant, B. Adedipe Associates Limited; and Dr Tilewa Adebajo, Chief Executive Officer of CFG Advisory.
The experts presented policy recommendations on key issues affecting Nigeria’s financial system, with emphasis on financial stability, investment and sustainable economic growth.
Mr Abiru said the Senate would continue to engage financial regulators and other stakeholders to deepen financial inclusion, strengthen public confidence in financial institutions and improve regulatory effectiveness.
He said the broader objective was to position Nigeria’s financial system to compete more effectively in the global economy while remaining resilient and responsive to the country’s economic transformation agenda.
