By Kristin Palitza

UNFCCC Executive Secretary Christiana Figueres (l) and COP 17 President Maite Mkoana- Mashabane (r) spoke at the opening of the high-level talks. / Zukiswa Zimela/IPS

DURBAN, South Africa, Dec 6 (IPS) – The goal of a comprehensive and binding agreement may be beyond the reach of the 17th United Nations climate change [...]

By Kristin Palitza
 

Electric cars reduce urban air pollution. / Zukiswa Zimela/IPS

DURBAN, South Africa, Dec 6 (IPS) – Sweden, the United Kingdom and Germany are the top countries to fight climate change, according to the 2012 Climate Change Performance Index, whose results were published at the United Nations climate change summit today.
 

Sweden, the country with the [...]

By Jared Ferrie

James Ninrew at his office in Juba, South Sudan. / Jared Ferrie/IPS

JUBA, Nov 29 (IPS) – Civil society leaders in South Sudan are closely watching a legal battle unfolding in Sweden, as prosecutors investigate an oil company accused of involvement in massive human rights abuses here.

James Ninrew vividly remembers the day [...]

By Meena Bhandari

Environmental damage in the Niger Delta. / Dulue Mbachu/IRIN

FREETOWN, Nov 18 (IPS) – There is a new oil rush off the coast of West Africa. But there are fears that the sector is not sufficiently regulated, and watchdog groups are raising concerns about transparency and governance in the region.

Anticipation is building in [...]

By Kristin Palitza

Sub-Saharan Africa has large potential for hydropower generation, but is yet to exploit it. / Kristin Palitza/IPS

CAPE TOWN, Nov 15 (IPS) – South Africa and the Democratic Republic of Congo have signed an agreement to build a major hydroelectric power project, which is said to bring electricity to more than half [...]

By Charles Mpaka
BLANTYRE, Nov 15 (IPS) – In just a few weeks, seven villages that had expected to remain "in the dark forever" will finally have electricity, courtesy of a small hydroelectric power plant on Lichenya River, one of the major rivers on the eastern slopes of Mulanje Mountain in southern Malawi.

The Mulanje Renewable Energy [...]

By Soumaila T. Diarra

Boat on the reservoir at Mali's Sélingué dam. / Olivier Epron/Wikicommons

BAMAKO, Oct 31 (IPS) – Several major new dams are being constructed on the Niger River. It's a positive sign of growing investment in agriculture and energy, but it also has some observers worried.

The new dams not only raise ecological concerns, [...]

By Koffigan E. Adigbli
DAKAR, Oct 27 (IPS) – Frequent power cuts have led people in rural areas of Burkina Faso, Mali and Senegal to turn to solar energy for electricity.

Promoters of solar panels say more than 80 villages in Senegal are already benefiting from this renewable energy source; in neighbouring Mali, more than 150 communities [...]

Saaleha Bamjee interviews DR. ALI YOUSIF AHMED ALSHARIF, Sudan’s ambassador to South Africa

Dr. Ali Yousif Ahmed Alsharif, Sudan’s ambassador to South Africa. / Saaleha Bamjee/IPS

MIDRAND, South Africa, Oct 16 (IPS) – Sudan and South Sudan will eventually agree on a reasonable oil-sharing agreement between the two nations as there has been political will [...]

By Charlton Doki*

Southern Sudanese soldiers from the armed faction of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement. / Peter Martell/IRIN

JUBA, Oct 3 (IPS) – The communities living on the South Sudan-Sudan border may face genocide if the conflict between the two countries disputing control of oil reserves is not resolved.

There have been recent clashes between [...]

By Reem Abbas*

Oil storage facilities at Bentiu, Unity State, South Sudan. / Charlton Doki/IPS

KHARTOUM, Oct 3 (IPS) – China, a major player in the oil industries of South Sudan and Sudan, could use its influence to stop the escalating violence between the two countries that has seen the displacement of thousands of people [...]

By Anselme Nkinsi
KINSHASA, Sep 21 (IPS) – Frequent power cuts have led to the firing of the board of the Democratic Republic of Congo's national electricity company. But it is not clear if sub-par generation from the Inga hydroelectric power stations supplying the capital Kinshasa is due to poor management or to unusually low water [...]

By Koffigan E. Adigbli

Senegal is supporting the construction of thousands of biodigesters by local masons. / Zach Swank/Peace Corps

DAKAR, Sep 20 (IPS) – There are dusty barrels carefully positioned outside many of the family compounds in the Léona neighbourhood of Kaolack, a city of 20,000 in western Senegal: signs of success for a [...]

By Claire Ngozo

A deserted maize mill during one of the many power outages in Malawi. / Claire Ngozo/IPS

LILONGWE, Aug 11 (IPS) – Malawi’s attempts to improve trade and investment in the country have taken a huge step backwards following a decision by the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), a United States government foreign aid agency [...]

By Sam Olukoya
LAGOS, Aug 4 (IPS) – "We are suffering in the midst of plenty." That was how Nelson Ilemchi summed up his plight as he spent an entire day queuing to buy kerosene. Since January Africa’s largest producer of crude oil has been experiencing a protracted nationwide scarcity of the refined product.

"We produce this [...]