East Africa

Nigeria's Dangote Group plans to finance a ?proposed 700,000-barrel-per-day oil refinery in Kenya through ?internal cash flow, bonds and an initial public offering, a ?senior company executive told ?. It is estimated that the refinery will take three years to complete. The project would provide refined petroleum products for Kenya and other neighbouring countries. This would reduce East Africa’s dependency on imported fuels. It would also fulfil Dangote's ?ambition to expand fuel-processing capacity across Africa following the start-up of its 650,000-barrel-per-day refinery ?in Lagos. The site has been chosen, soil testing is underway, and the design?and engineering has begun. Edwin...

According to a document seen on Wednesday, the London High Court upheld an 'injunction' in favor of commodities tradiing house BB Energy that prevented the republik of South Sudan from executing?new contracts for prepayment of oil cargoes. The order was dated June 15, but it was read on Wednesday. It upholds a May ruling that South Sudan cannot enter into 'any new prepayment contracts' for Dar Blend and Nile Blend crude oil until it pays off its outstanding debts to BB Energy, and pending further hearings. BB Energy welcomed the High Court’s?decision? to continue the injunction? prohibiting the Republic of...

London's High Court ruled Friday that South Sudan cannot enter into new?oil?prepayment contracts until it clears outstanding debts with commodity??trading???house BB Energy. A second hearing will be held on June 5th. BB Energy began a legal challenge last year through the London courts against South Sudan for allegedly failing to deliver oil purchased under prepayment agreements in 2024 or 2025. The court document read by states that a second hearing will be held on June 5 to discuss?the decision, since the first hearing was conducted?without the presence of defence lawyers. The penal notice states that South Sudan must not accept...

Vodacom Group, a South African mobile telecoms company, announced on Monday that it had upgraded its long-term customer growth target following the addition of millions of?customers in the last year. The group focused on Africa, owned by Britain's Vodafone in majority, has cited its rapidly growing financial services business as well as its mobile core business. Vodacom has announced that it will increase its total number of customers to 275 millions by 2030, up from the previous goal of more than 260 million. Its customer base had reached 237.3million in the financial year ending March 31. Vodacom is 'enforcing its...

The Financial Times, citing a recent interview with Aliko Dangote, reported that the Nigerian billionaire is considering?Kenya for the location of an oil refinery capable of producing 650,000 barrels per day. Dangote stated in the interview that he was leaning towards Mombasa, because it has a larger and deeper port. This report follows Kenyan President William Ruto's?statement last month that East African nations were discussing plans to build a 'joint oil refining facility at the Tanzanian Port of Tanga, which is modelled on Nigeria's Dangote operations. Dangote, in an interview, compared Mombasa, Kenya, to the port of Tanga, Tanzania, and...

Sonangol, the state-owned oil company in Angola, has said that it did not receive any formal communication from Botswana indicating its desire to purchase a stake in Angola’s $6.6 billion new?Lobito?refinery. A senior executive of the company confirmed this late on Tuesday. Angola is looking for partners to help fund the delayed refinery, the largest in the country and intended to reduce its dependence on imported fuel. Finance shortfalls and possible partnerships have drawn interest from neighbours. Media reports, citing Botswana’s energy minister Bogolo Joy Kennewendo in parliament on the 27th of March, suggest that the government is considering options...

Medecins Sans Frontieres reported on Tuesday that it had'recorded two deaths' and treated 56 injured people after five drone attacks carried out by the Sudanese Armed Forces in Darfur. MSF provides medical assistance and responds to emergencies in nine Sudanese states, amid a conflict between the Sudanese Army and?the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. In a press release, the Geneva-based medical charity said that the attacks of the Sudanese?Armed Forces demonstrated complete disregard for civilian lives as Sudan entered its?fourth war year. "We urge the 'warring parties' in Sudan to protect civilians." U.N. Human Rights Office has stated that drone strikes...

South Africa's Valterra Platinum said that the Zimbabwean government owes it $100 million for 2025 export proceeds. The Zimbabwean government has begun making payments to settle these arrears. Zimbabwe only allows exporters to keep 70% of their foreign currency proceeds, and convert the rest into local currency. According to the Zimbabwean mining chamber, Valterra and other companies in the platinum industry have been delayed payments by the government due to the retention rule. The government has cited cash-flow constraints as the reason for the delays. Zimbabwe's Ministry of Finance and Reserve Bank didn't immediately respond to an inquiry for comment....

This week, senior executives from artificial intelligence companies around the world joined world leaders for an AI summit in?India. Here is a list of the major deals that were struck during the India AI Impact Summit in New Delhi. JIO INVESTS $110 BILLION IN INDIA'S RELIANCE INDUSTRIES Mukesh Ambani, the billionaire chairman of Reliance Industries, said that Jio and Reliance Industries will invest $109.8 Billion over the next seven-year period to build artificial intelligence infrastructure and data infrastructure. INDIA'S ADANI GROUP WILL COMMIT $100 BILLION?FOR AI-DATA CENTRES THROUGHOUT 2030 Adani Group, a port-to-power company, announced on Tuesday that it would...

Uganda's central bank left its main lending rate unchanged for the sixth time in a line on Monday, citing an uncertain economic climate as a reason to be cautious. Since October 2024, the Bank of Uganda Central Bank Rate is 9.75%. At a recent press conference, Governor Michael Atingi Ego said that the current policy stance was appropriate to maintain economic activity and ensure?that the inflation stabilizes around the bank’s 5% medium-term target. Inflation increased to 3.2% in January, up from 3.1% in the previous month. Atingi-Ego stated that inflation is projected to be slightly below the target level in...

South Sudan's Government urged opposition forces on Tuesday to stop fighting, claiming that a rebel advance in Jonglei State and ongoing clashes which have already caused mass displacement threaten to reignite civil war. According to the United Nations, the scale of clashes between government forces and fighters loyal to 'the Sudan People's Liberation Army-in-Opposition' (SPLA-IO), has not been seen since 2017. The government claimed that its forces had defeated rebel advances in Jonglei. This region stretches from the border of Ethiopia to central South Sudan. Ateny Wek Ateny, the government's spokesperson and minister of information, said that "the ongoing security...

Four executives from refineries in India said that the United States is the main destination for Venezuelan crude oil, and this has slowed down the return of South American supplies to the third largest importer of oil. Trafigura and Vitol, two trading houses, began selling Venezuelan oil in this month following an agreement reached between Caracas Washington to sell the?U.S. After the capture of Venezuelan President?Nicolas Maduro by the U.S. on January 3, Trafigura and Vitol began marketing Venezuelan oil this month. Reliance Industries Ltd, Indian Oil Corp Hindustan Petroleum Corp, and Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd are among the...

An official stated on Friday that Zimbabwe's only lithium sulphate facility, owned by China’s Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt?, has no capacity to process minerals from other producers. This is ahead of an export ban for concentrates next year. Africa's largest lithium producer will implement a ban in January to encourage miners to process the battery metal at home, creating higher-valued export earnings and more jobs?in its economy. The government told lithium miners to send their concentrates directly to local plants. One of the plants in Zimbabwe, owned by Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt and operated by Prospect Lithium -Zimbabwe has not yet been...

Zambia is preparing for an upcoming?election on August, where President Hakainde Hichilema has a good chance of winning a second term. However, opposition leader Brian Mundubile may be a strong challenger. The vote is shaping up to be a referendum on?Hichilema’s economic record, since he assumed office in 2021 and inherited a country that was reeling from an sovereign debt default. After restructuring its debts, Africa's second largest copper producer enjoyed an economic recovery supported by high copper price, but many people are still squeezed by their cost of living. The opposition will seek to exploit this. Zambia's annual inflation...

CopperTech Metals aims to raise up to $3.57 'billion? in its U.S. IPO, joining a 'wave' of companies aiming for the crowded IPO market this summer. It said that the U.S. copper and cobalt company is looking to raise up to $423.5 by selling 23.5 million shares at a price between $16 and 18 per share. After a short lull, the IPO market is now booming. The stock markets are bouncing back and investors' appetite has increased. This week, e-bike startup Lime and silver?miner Sinda launched their U.S. initial public offerings. ITG, a digital infrastructure company, and Italian technology company...

A Mozambique executive said that the new law, which requires the state to have a 15% share in all mining ventures, could discourage foreign investment. The'southern African nation' is among the world's leading producers of graphite. This material is used to make batteries for electric cars and energy storage. Mozambique claims it has amended its mining law to "strengthen its management of strategic resource in defence of?national interests", but the Chamber of Mines of the country fears that it may upset?investors. Geert Kok, vice-president of the industry group, said at a mining conference held in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, "We regret...

A Zimbabwean executive revealed on Thursday that the Mimosa Platinum Mine, owned jointly by Impala and Sibanye Stillwater in Zimbabwe, has revived its $130m North Hill Life-extension Project after a recovery in metal prices. Mimosa, Zimbabwe’s second-largest?platinum manufacturer after Impala’s Zimplats suspended the project in 2020 as prices plummeted amid destocking and weak automotive demand, with expectations of rapid adoption of electric vehicles. The price of platinum group metals, used as autocatalysts, has recovered since then. This is due to a tight supply coming from the top producer in South Africa. Mimosa is looking at an extension of its mine...

Kenya is nearing a deal to process its own minerals in the U.S., said its president on the'sidelines of the G7 Summit on Thursday. He called for a wider reset between Africa and the 'West. In recent years, countries across Africa have been pushing to process more minerals produced domestically. This is a move towards keeping more value in Africa. William Ruto, who represented one of the several partner countries at the summit held on the shores Lake Geneva, told an interviewer that the agreement covering rare earths, other strategic minerals and the like was already being worked on and...

According to the 'production reports' made available to journalists on Friday, Zimbabwe's state owned gold mining company Mutapa Gold Resources plans to double its annual output to 220,000-ounces-worth by 2029. This is after it secured?funding? for an expansion project. According to documents, Mutapa, the largest gold producer in the country, produced 104,626 pounds of gold during the financial year ending March 31. This is a 10% drop from the previous year, mostly due to lower quality. The company announced that it had received $75 million in funding from?Zimbabwean bankers, about half of the required amount for its Shamva Hill project....

CopperTech Metals, which is pursuing the Trump administration's push for mineral self-reliance, reported an increase in revenue when it filed for its initial public offering in the United States on Tuesday. The IPO market in the United States has recovered with big names like Elon Musk’s SpaceX, and AI giant Anthropic seeking to go public. Vedanta Resources, the global mining conglomerate, set up CopperTech Metals as a U.S. based integrated copper and cobalt manufacturer to own and run the Konkola Copper Mines located in Zambia's Copperbelt Province. Vedanta has announced that it will launch CopperTech in November of 2025. The...

Zambia's ZCCM IH, the state investment company, announced a joint venture on Monday with Mining Mineral Resources in order to explore and mine gold. The copper-producing African country is looking to diversify its mine sector. ZCCM Investments Holdings announced in a statement that Kyalo Goldfields Limited was formed on May 6, to explore, develop, and mine gold in the Kikonge Mining Area of?Zambia’s North Western Province. KGL said it would support the formalisation?of artisanal and small-scale mining in the region to ensure safe and regulated gold production. It will also enhance processing capabilities to increase value retention within Zambia. ZCCM...

Rwanda's Trinity Metals plans to list on an international exchange in order to raise between $100 and $200 million as it expands its tin and tungsten mines, and moves forward with what could be one of the top lithium deposits in the world, according to its CEO. The soaring demand for metals known as 3T, which are used in electronic, defence, and energy supply chain, is driving a move toward traceable non-Chinese suppliers, bringing Rwanda's 3T mine belt near the Democratic Republic of Congo into sharper focus. Trinity has consolidated three undercapitalised properties in 2022, the Nyakabingo mine for tungsten,...

Kakenenwa muyangwa, the CEO of ZCCM Investments Holdings, said that ZCCM Investments Holdings was keen to increase its stakes in mining assets, but only on a commercial basis and not by forcing sales. African nations are making efforts to increase their share of the revenue generated by the region's natural resources, especially as new investments are being made due to global demand for vital minerals. ZCCM has stakes as low as 10%, in mines owned by China Nonferrous Metal Mining Group and Canada's First Quantum Minerals. Muyangwa said on Thursday that there was a clear intention to increase our stakes...

According to court documents and legal filings by the company, an Indian court has halted the 'antitrust investigation' into the state-run Steel Authority of India after the company questioned the Indian watchdog over alleged 'procedural errors. Exclusively reported in January, the Competition Commission of India conducted an investigation into the antitrust scandal involving India's Steel Sector. The investigation found that 28 companies colluded to fix steel prices. This included Tata Steel, JSW Steel, and state-run SAIL & RINL. Online Madras High Court records show that the judge at an April 21 hearing halted the investigation of?SAIL. ? is reporting for...