East Africa

The Ugandan electoral commission announced on Tuesday that the general elections will be held in the country on January 15. At the election, the octogenarian president Yoweri Museeveni will try to extend his reign to almost half a century. Museveni, Africa's fourth-longest-serving leader, has had his government change the constitution twice in order to remove term and age limits. This allows him to stay in office ever since 1986. As in the 2021 election, Museveni's main rival is expected to be 43-year-old pop star-turned-politician Bobi Wine, who has parlayed his singing stardom to amass a large support base among young...

Refining executives in Europe said that European refineries have to invest in energy conversion projects because of the modern, complex competitors from Asia, Middle East, and Africa. Tony Fountain, Essar's managing partner, said at the Argus global markets conference in London: "I guess we're all playing a game of last man standing to ensure we don't shut down." European refineries are under pressure from environmental regulations and modern plants to increase production of cleaner fuels such as biofuels and sustainable aviation fuel to meet the regulatory demand. The regulatory environment does not just tell us what we can do. This...

The Financial Times reported that ExxonMobil CEO Darren Woods asked President Daniel Chapo for assurances last week regarding security at a $30 billion proposed gas terminal in Mozambique before deciding to approve the project. Woods expressed concern about the dangers of a jihadist-led insurgency, which is threatening to disrupt Exxon's plans to build Africa's biggest LNG facility in the north-eastern Cabo Delgado area in Mozambique, according to the report, which cited sources familiar with the talks. The report could not be verified immediately. Exxon didn't immediately respond to an 'ask for comment. The Mozambican Presidency could not be immediately reached....

TotalEnergies hoped to sell the oil assets onshore that were prone to spills last year The deal between Chappal Total and Chappal has not been closed despite multiple deadline extensions Total relied on the cash generated from sales to reduce debt Isaac Anyaogu & America Hernandez LAGOS/PARIS - TotalEnergies has failed to sell a minority stake to a Nigerian oil producer, Nigerian regulators announced on September 23. This is a blow to the French oil giant's strategy of selling mature, polluting oil assets to pay off debt. Total agreed to sell 10% of its Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria...

According to a report by the Italian-American automaker and the government, Chrysler's parent Stellantis was fined $190.6 Million for failing to meet U.S. fuel efficiency requirements. In an annual report, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration stated that Stellantis had paid $112.3 in June and $78,3 in March as payments for shortfalls in 2019 and 2020 models. Stellantis paid a total of $773.5 Million since 2018. NHTSA informed automakers last month that they would not be fined for failing to meet fuel-efficiency rules going back to 2022, as per a law signed into law by President Donald Trump. Stellantis confirmed...

Winston Chitando, the mines minister of Zimbabwe, said that Zimbabwe will ban exports of lithium concentrates in 2027. This is part of its efforts to increase local processing. Africa's leading producer of lithium (used in batteries that power renewable energy technologies) has banned the exportation of ore by 2022, and is pushing its miners to increase their domestic processing. Most of the lithium miners in Zimbabwe are from China. They export concentrates back to their country. Chitando stated that lithium sulphate plant are currently being developed in two Zimbabwean mines: Bikita Minerals owned by Sinomine, and Prospect Lithium Zimbabwe owned...

South Sudan stated on Monday that the U.S. decided to revoke visas for South Sudanese nationals because Juba refused to accept a deportee of another nationality. The U.S. announced on Saturday that it will cancel all visas for South Sudanese passport-holders because South Sudan has refused to accept its repatriated citizen's return. Juba's Foreign Ministry said that the deportee from the Democratic Republic of Congo was denied entry to South Sudan by South Sudanese officials. He claimed in an interview with immigration at the Juba Airport that he had been forced there. "Comprehensive Verification Processes confirmed that this individual was...

The Ugandan President Yoweri Mueveni arrived on South Sudan's border on Thursday. This was the highest-level mission to the country since the clashes in the region and the arrest of the vice president raised fears that civil war could return. Salva Kiir of South Sudan met Museveni at the airport. His administration accused First Vice-President Riek Makar of igniting rebellion and placed him under house arrest. In public remarks made at Juba Airport, the Ugandan leader did not directly refer to the crisis. His military had been invited to South Sudan to assist in securing the capital last month. This...

When South Sudan declared independence from Sudan in 2011 to a chorus of worldwide congratulations and celebrations, rebel-leader-turned-president Salva Kiir promised his people freedom and democracy. He fired his vice president, Riek Makar, two years later. This sparked a civil conflict that splintered his young nation on ethnic lines. The international and regional powers demanded a resolution. Kiir has now detained Machar for a decade, and his administration is threatening to ignite conflict once more in an impoverished nation in the middle of a fragile region. The scandal has highlighted the depth of ethnic and social rifts in the country...

Copperbelt Energy Corp. in Zambia will invest $500m over the next 2 years to double its capacity of an electricity transmission line into the Democratic Republic of Congo and increase the output of solar power, according to a senior official of the company. Copperbelt Energy Corporation owns the only power transmission line connecting Congo with the Southern African Power Pool. CEC's Chief Financial Officer Mutale Mukuka stated that CEC was looking to attract investors in order to finance projects, as the country is emerging from a four-year default on its sovereign debt. Mukuka said that he was looking to invest...

The German Foreign Ministry announced on Saturday that the embassy had temporarily been closed in Juba, the capital of South Sudan. This was due to rising tensions which have brought this East African nation to the brink of civil war. Salva Kiir, the president of South Sudan, sacked this week the governor of Upper Nile State, where escalating clashes between government troops, and an ethnic militia he claims is allied with his rival First Vice President Riek Makar, have taken place. The standoff has raised concerns that the world’s newest nation, which emerged from a civil conflict that claimed hundreds...

Major party in South Sudan’s coalition government announced on Tuesday that it had suspended its participation in a key part of a 2018 deal to end violence and improve relations between Riek Machar, its leader, and President Salva Kir amid clashes. The agreement ended a 5-year war between forces loyal both to Kiir, and Machar who is now the First Vice-President of the SPLM-IO. The two men do have a fractious relation, and it has gotten worse in recent weeks after clashes occurred in the east of the country. Earlier this week, security forces arrested several SPLM-IO leaders, including the...

Dennis Grimm has left Thyssenkrupp’s steel division, according to two sources familiar with the situation. The unit is now without its leader, as the talks about a possible sale to India’s Jindal Steel International are still ongoing. Grimm is the spokesperson of Thyssenkrupp Steel Europe (TKSE), or its defacto CEO, as of August 30, 2024. This was after former CEO Bernhard Osburg resigned following a conflict with Thyssenkrupp leadership regarding strategy. TKSE declined to comment. Sources say that Grimm's departure coincides with Thyssenkrupp deepening its talks with Jindal Steel International about a possible sale of TKSE. A delegation from the...

Two people familiar with this matter have confirmed that Germany's Thyssenkrupp is going to start giving India's Jindal Steel International greater access to the financial details of their Thyssenkrupp Steel Europa (TKSE), business, starting next week. Last month, Jindal Steel submitted an indicative offer for TKSE. TKSE is Europe's second largest steelmaker, after ArcelorMittal. Thyssenkrupp CEO Miguel Lopez said on Monday that the talks were intense. People said that the deepening due diligence coincides the visit by a Jindal Steel delegation to TKSE headquarters in Duisburg in advance of the crunch negotiations planned for later this year. Thyssenkrupp declined to...

The company said that rebels who occupy Twangiza Mining’s gold concession located in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo have stolen at least 500 kg of bullion from May. It also accused some of its employees of assisting the theft. The looted gold, at current prices is worth approximately $70 million. The mine is in South Kivu, where M23 rebels, backed by Rwandans, staged an offensive lightning fast this year which allowed them to capture more territory than they ever had before. The mine was seized in May. Twangiza Mining, in response to questions about losses after M23 took over the...

The company announced on Thursday that Zhejiang Cobalt, a Chinese company, will begin producing lithium sulphate in the first quarter 2026 at its $400 million plant located in Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe is pushing for more local processing. A senior executive told a group of journalists that the newly-completed plant at Huayou’s Prospect Lithium Zimbabwe’s Arcadia Mine has a capacity of more than 50,000 metric tonnes of lithium sulphate per year. Lithium Sulphate is a product intermediate that can be refined to a battery grade material, such as lithium hydroxide and lithium carbonate. Henry Zhu, general manager of Prospect Lithium Zimbabwe, told...

Gemfields Group announced on Thursday that a group illegal miners invaded the Montepuez ruby mining site in northern Mozambique and killed two guards. Gemfields released a statement saying that "a group of about 40 illegal miners" marched to the mine entrance at Montepuez Ruby Mining. The company said that "they proceeded to assault Mozambican officers at the gate and killed two of them, including a leader of the Natural Resources Protection Force of Mozambique." Gemfields said that no company employees or contractors have been injured and the site is now calm. Gemfields stated that the attack was linked to an...

International Copper Study Group (ICSG), a group of researchers, said that the global refined copper market will be in deficit by 2026. This is due to a slower growth of production. The copper price briefly reached a 16-month high on Wednesday, due to fears about possible shortages caused by a recent series of mine disruptions in Indonesia. Chile and Congo. In a statement released on Wednesday, the ICSG said that these incidents prompted it to lower its forecast of the global mine production growth in 2025 to just 1.4% instead of the 2.3% expected in April. These incidents will reduce...

Tharisa Plc, a South African company, announced on Friday that it plans to invest $547 million in an underground mining project for platinum group metals over the next decade. The company is betting on these metals as being essential to the global switch to cleaner energy technologies. It said that the company plans to convert its Tharisa open pit PGM and Chrome co-producing mine in South Africa's Bushveld Complex from an open pit mine to underground mining by 2020. Phoevos Poullis, CEO of the company, said in a conference call that the underground project was a natural progression. It has...

The Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky agreed to sell his 20 percent stake in Thyssenkrupp’s steel business and scrap plans for joint ventures, according to a statement released by both parties. This could pave the way for an agreement with Jindal Steel. The sale of the stake ends long-running discussions about what could have been a German and Czech steel and energy giant. Discussions that have made no measurable progress since Kretinsky purchased a fifth in Thyssenkrupp Europe (TKSE) late last year. Thyssenkrupp shares, which had earlier reached a high of six years, briefly fell on the news, before recovering and...

The joint statement from both parties revealed that the Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky sold his 20% stake in Thyssenkrupp’s steel unit, and scrapped plans to create a 50/50 joint venture. This could pave the way for an agreement with Jindal Steel. The sale of the stake ends long-running discussions about what could have been a German and Czech steel and energy giant. Discussions that have made no measurable progress since Kretinsky purchased a fifth in Thyssenkrupp Europe (TKSE) late last year. Thyssenkrupp can now move forward with its talks with India's Jindal Steel International. Jindal Steel International last month made...

According to the U.N. Human Rights Office, M23, a rebel group backed by Rwanda, Congolese forces, and other armed organizations have committed grave rights violations, including some that may be considered war crimes in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. A new report from the U.N. Human Rights Office Fact-Finding Mission stated that M23, Congolese forces, and other groups were responsible for gross violations to international humanitarian law ever since fighting broke out in North and South Kivu late last year. In a press release, U.N. Human Rights High Commissioner Volker Turk called for accountability for the victims. There was no...

Some farmers in eastern Congo, who fled their land during the violent advance of M23 rebels to escape M23, have received a shocking surprise when they return: their fields of cabbage and cauliflower have been occupied by newcomers including Rwandans. Tensions may arise, complicating efforts to bring peace to a region devastated by war, which produces strategic minerals like coltan and cobalt. In June, the Trump administration mediated a peace agreement between Rwanda and Congo. Last month, peace talks between Congo and M23 were supposed to result in a deal. However, they have been postponed. According to a senior rebel...

Uganda's first large-scale mine for gold has been inaugurated. The project, which is owned by China and costs $250 million, will refine the gold to 99.9% purity. The east African landlocked country has copper, cobalt, and iron ore among other minerals. It wants to expand the mining industry, and become a major gold exporter and producer. According to data from the central bank, Uganda's gold exports accounted for $3.4 billion in revenue last year, or 37% of its total export revenues. This figure includes gold that was brought into the country and is re-exported. Nearly all of the domestic production...