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Critical Minerals Boom: Opportunity or Curse for Africa's Mining Dependent Economies?
The global clean-tech economy is scaling faster than any previous industrial transition, and it is fundamentally mineral-intensive, driven by minerals critical to clean technologies. Electric vehicles, battery storage, wind power and grid upgrades depend on lithium, copper, cobalt, nickel and rare earths materials that Africa supplies in significant volumes. For mining-dependent economies, rising demand presents
Chevron Starts Production at South N’dola Field Offshore Angola
Chevron has started production at the South N’dola field in Block 0 offshore Angola, with its local subsidiary, Cabinda Gulf Oil Company (CABGOC), operating the asset. While the company has not released official production figures, industry estimates suggest oil output of about 25,000 barrels per day, alongside associated gas volumes of roughly 50 million cubic
ESG Compliance as a Competitive Edge in Critical Minerals
Sustainability requirements in mining have moved much closer to the centre of how projects are assessed and run. In the critical minerals space, environmental, social and governance (ESG) compliance has become part of the commercial equation. It now plays a role in deciding who gets supply contracts, who can grow and who can raise money.
Ivanhoe Mines Begins Anode Production at Kamoa-Kakula Smelter
Ivanhoe Mines has officially begun production at Africa’s largest direct-to-blister copper smelter at its Kamoa-Kakula mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The facility has produced its first 99.7% pure copper anodes as the operation moves into the ramp-up phase. Market participants are closely monitoring progress as output rises across the mining complex. Smelter Capacity
What 2025 Revealed About Risk, Resilience and Opportunity for SMEs and Startups
By the end of 2025, most African SMEs and startups had stopped treating the year as a temporary rough patch. Truth be told, the pressure did not ease. Costs continued to rise, money moved more slowly and forecasts rarely held for long. What became clear was that survival depended less on bold strategy and more
The Practical Side of Automation in African Mines
Automation in African mining is often discussed in broad, aspirational terms: autonomous fleets, AI-driven optimisation and fully digitised operations. On the ground, adoption has been far more measured. For most mines on the continent, automation does not occur in isolation or as a single surge, but as a sequence of decisions driven by cost, infrastructure,
African Startups Prioritising Stability Over Speed
For much of the past decade, the dominant startup narrative in Africa mirrored Silicon Valley logic: raise fast, grow fast, scale fast. Expansion into multiple markets, aggressive customer acquisition and headline funding rounds became markers of success. Today, that playbook has quietly changed across the continent. Startups are slowing down on purpose, choosing stability, cash
Fuhai Energy Enters Equatorial Guinea’s EG-08 Offshore Block
China’s Fuhai Energy has taken a stake in the Barracuda gas project offshore Equatorial Guinea through a farm-out agreement on the EG-08 block, according to partner Europa Oil & Gas. The move brings Fuhai into the licence alongside operator Antler Global, which continues to lead the project. Deal Structure, Partners and Funding Under the agreement,
THE MINING WRAP
Zijin Mining has outlined plans for aggressive global acquisitions as it sharpens its focus on gold and copper assets across multiple jurisdictions. the strategy is a deliberate push to secure long-life resources while also diversifying geopolitical exposure. At the same time, the miner is targeting substantial growth in lithium production in 2026, thereby reinforcing its
What Modern SME Finance Got Wrong in 2025
As 2025 winds down, a familiar pattern keeps showing up. SMEs keep trading, finding demand and holding things together, while their financing continues to work against them a reality finance institutions and organisations should not ignore. Credit is available, but it hardly fits the way these businesses actually run, and what looks workable on paper
Axis Minerals Files $28.9bn Arbitration Claim Against Guinea
Guinea’s sweeping crackdown on mining permits has moved straight into the courts, with Emirati backed Axis Minerals filing a $28.9 billion arbitration claim against the state. Axis, founded by Indian businessman Pankaj Oswal, said on December 29 that it had taken the dispute to the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes after negotiations with
THE MINING WRAP
Metso secures Tonkolili processing order Metso will deliver a full suite of mineral processing equipment to Leone Rock Metal Group’s Tonkolili iron-ore operation in Sierra Leone. The package includes crushers, vertical mills and a high-rate thickener to support higher throughput and more stable processing. Supplied under Metso’s “Plus” portfolio, the equipment is designed to lower
Apple Pay Expands to 300,000 Merchant Locations in Nigeria Through Nomba Payment
Apple Pay has returned to Nigeria with a renewed focus on in-person payments, four years after its initial entry through Paystack’s online checkout. Nomba, the Nigerian fintech formerly known as Kudi, announced on December 23, 2025, that it has enabled Apple Pay across its platform, extending tap-to-pay functionality to over 300,000 physical merchant locations. Unlike
CMA Licences Safaricom, Airtel Money as Market Intermediaries
Kenya’s Capital Markets Authority has approved Safaricom Plc and Airtel Money Kenya Limited to operate as Intermediary Service Platform Providers, allowing telecom operators to link mobile money users directly to regulated capital markets. Rather than relying on standalone brokerage platforms, the new model integrates capital markets access into mobile money systems already used for routine
Opinion | Cry, My Beloved Zambia | A Kazungula Border Nightmare That Should Shame Us All
By Daisy Mulenga I write this as a Zambian daughter who simply wanted to go home for the holidays, see my children and parents in good time before the busy period on the road. Instead, I spent four painful days stranded at Kazungula, reduced to humiliation and confusion, unable to enter my own country with
THE MINING WRAP
Barrick Mining has officially regained operational control of the Loulo Gounkoto gold complex in Mali following the resolution of a prolonged dispute with the government. The handover restores production oversight to the company and stabilises one of West Africa’s most important gold assets after nearly two years of operational uncertainty. Mali Returns Seized Gold to
What’s Working Now for African Startups and SMEs
The African startup and SMEs story is usually told through its problems. Funding gaps. Power cuts. Policy swings. Currency pressure. None of that is exaggerated. But it is incomplete. Away from pitch decks and conference stages, a quieter, more useful story is becoming clearer. Many African startups and SMEs are not waiting for conditions to
AI, Accuracy and Risk in African Mining Exploration
For decades, mineral exploration in Africa has leaned heavily on experience, intuition and incremental data interpretation. Geological judgement remains indispensable, but the growing scale and complexity of exploration datasets have stretched the limits of manual analysis. This gap between data availability and human processing capacity has created space for artificial intelligence, not as a novelty,
Have African Mines Kept Pace with ESG Standards?
ESG has become mining’s most repeated acronym across African regulation, but repetition does not guarantee execution. Across the continent, sustainability pledges are multiplying faster than operational change, exposing a widening gap between what mines promise and what they can consistently deliver. This raises a more difficult question: have mining firms actually kept pace with ESG
Why Online Presence Now Determines Small Business Credibility
Business credibility for startups and SMEs has ceased to begin with a handshake, a brochure, or a referral. It now takes shape in search results. Before a meeting is booked or a proposal is opened, potential clients, partners, and funders check whether a young or growing business is active, traceable, and worth engaging. That first