Southern Africa

The Congo Republic held a presidential election on Sunday, which was expected to extend the reign of Denis Sassou Nguesso - one of Africa's most experienced leaders. A low turnout highlighted the lack of suspense about the result. Sassou is facing a "weak" field of opponents, as two of the most well-known opposition leaders are in prison or exile. Many opposition parties boycotted this election because they felt the process was untrustworthy. Analysts and civil society groups predict that the turnout will be lower than the 68% in 2021 when Sassou was elected to his five-year term with 88.4%. A...

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....

South Africa's Energy Regulator said that after recognizing errors in earlier calculations, it had granted Eskom a larger increase on its electricity rates for the next two years than originally set. Eskom prices will rise by 8.76% this April and 8.83% next April, instead of the?5.36% or 6.19% that were previously announced. Eskom's financial stability and customer affordability were balanced by the revised tariff increases, it was added. Eskom, the former monopoly which still supplies the majority of electricity to Africa's largest economy, has been mired in a financial crisis since years. It blames this partly on Nersa tariff decisions....

Investors became cautious in anticipation of the U.S. Federal Reserve interest rate announcement, and UK blue-chips index fell on Wednesday. It was weighed down by banks and healthcare companies, as it missed a 'tech-led rally' that had boosted Wall Street's indexes. The FTSE closed down by 0.5% while the domestically focused FTSE 250 ended little changed. Axel Rudolph is a senior financial analyst with IG. He said that there was a shift away from European and U.K. stock to U.S. tech stocks before earnings, which weighed down the FTSE 100. The FTSE 100 is a relatively smaller technology share compared...

South African miners have increased thermal coal exports after Colombia, the top supplier, banned shipments to Israel in August. Data from Kpler LSEG, and DBX Commodities revealed this. Colombia and South Africa are among Israel's loudest critics. The South American nation issued a presidential decree that enacted the export ban, after accusing Israel for killing tens-of-thousands in Gaza, including children. South Africa accused Israel of genocide before the International Court of Justice. Israel's Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu rejected this claim. Data from Kpler shows that Colombian coal exports into Israel fell to zero during the three-month period ending November after...

Investors said that BHP should focus on its own growth strategy and move away from Anglo American, following the Australian firm's last minute appeal to the London listed company, which is close to a $60 billion deal with Canada's Teck Resources. In recent days, the world's biggest miner contacted Anglo's board to determine if there was any interest in a merger. This was reported by Sunday. BHP announced on Monday that it would not pursue the bid, but instead focus its efforts on growth. The decision to leave comes before the votes of Teck and Anglo shares - scheduled for...

Botswana, Angola and their mining ministers will meet in Botswana’s capital for talks on Friday. The two Southern African nations are seeking to control the Anglo American diamond company De Beers. Botswana considers De Beers, which owns 15% and produces 70% of its rough diamonds, as a strategic asset for the country, despite the global price slump that has hurt their economy. Angola originally sought a minor stake in De Beers, but submitted a bid later for a major stake. This could lead to a bidding war between Angola and its neighbour. According to a program shared by the Botswana...

Investors also looked at Argentina, where President Javier Milei’s party won the midterm elections with a decisive win. These moves will help emerging markets start the week strong, in anticipation of a possible trade agreement between two of the largest economies on the planet that could remove a major cloud on global growth prospects. The MSCI index that tracks emerging market stocks rose by 1.3%. The currencies index, on the other hand, remained flat and rangebound. Later on, the focus will shift to Latin America where the party of Argentina's President Milei won the midterm legislative elections that were held...

Angola bid on Friday for the majority of Anglo American De Beers. This could lead to a standoff between Botswana and Angola.Botswana also wants control over De Beers. The company has operations in Botswana Namibia Angola South Africa and Canada. According to a June report, Anglo put it up for sale amid falling diamond prices. At least six consortiums had expressed interest. Bloomberg News reported that the source confirmed that Angola’s state-owned diamond firm Endiama submitted an offer to De Beers for a majority share. Botswana owns 15 percent of De Beers and considers it a strategic asset for the...

Rhino Resources, a South African oil and gas firm, plans to drill a well for appraisal on a Namibian prospect in 2019 and conduct a flow-test on another to beat TotalEnergies as the first oil producer in this southern African nation. The appraisal well is scheduled for Capricornus, where a flow rate up to 11,000 barrels per day was tested. Meanwhile, the drill stem is scheduled for Volans, which is its latest find of high-yield liquid gas condensate. The new data can help the company to accelerate its discoveries off Namibia where TotalEnergies is expected to make a final investment...

Anglo American offered to purchase ferronickel for resale to Europe from MMG, for a period of up to 10 year to alleviate EU antitrust concerns over the sale of their nickel business to an unit of Hong Kong listed company. This was revealed by a source with direct knowledge on Wednesday. Anglo American, a London-listed company, announced in February the $500 million sale of its nickel business to a unit of MMG. The European Commission has now begun to examine the sale. Source: The remedy offered would alleviate any regulatory concerns about the deal cutting off some metal supply to...

Eskom, the South African utility company, said it would not expect any power outages during the summer months in southern hemisphere, barring an increase in breakdowns. Eskom's problems supplying electricity to Africa’s largest economy have slowed economic growth by more than 10 years. But a change in performance at the power plants has reduced outages from 176 to 13 days during last summer, down from 176 the previous year. At a press event on the electricity outlook between September 2025 to March 2026 (roughly equivalent to the summer in South Africa), company executives stated that they were confident of providing...

S&P Global Ratings cut Botswana’s long-term currency and foreign sovereign credit rating to “BBB-” from “BBB”, citing structural weaknesses?in global diamond markets?that are expected to weigh on the country's mineral-dependent economy longer than anticipated. The agency also maintained its negative outlook and lowered short-term sovereign credit ratings in foreign currency and local currency to "A-3", from "A-2". The downgrade reflects the mounting pressures on Botswana as it is the second largest producer of natural rough diamonds in the world. This sector, which historically represented 70% of exports, and a third of government revenue, faces unprecedented challenges due to synthetic diamonds...

Angola wants to buy a 20-30% stake in Anglo American De Beers' diamond division. This proposal is currently being discussed with other African diamond producing nations, according to a senior official of the Angola mining ministry. Anglo has put De Beers up for sale amid the falling prices of diamonds and the rise of synthetic diamonds. Angola made a bid in October 2025 for a majority share in De Beers, although it originally sought a minor stake. Paulo Tanganha is the national director for mineral resources in Angola. He said at the African mining conference held in Cape Town that...

Anglo American, a global miner, announced on Thursday a 10% decline in its?copper output last year, to 695,000 tons. This is the lower end of their guidance. They also cut their 2026 forecast for?the transitional metal. The London-listed company now expects copper production in 2026 to range between 700,000- 760,000 tons. This is down from the previous forecast of 760,000-820,000 tonnes, due partly to lower production at its Chilean mine, Collahuasi. Anglo expects to record charges of around $200 million for the second half 2025 in relation to "rehabilitation provisions" at its Chile copper operation. The London-listed company announced in...

BHP Group, the mining company, has renewed its takeover bid for rival Anglo American, according to a source with knowledge of the situation. This comes just months after BHP and Teck Resources, the Canadian miner, agreed to merge to form a global heavyweight in the copper industry. Anglo American refused to comment. BHP didn't immediately respond to an outside normal business hours request for a comment. Bloomberg News, citing sources familiar with the situation, reported that BHP made overtures to Anglo American recently. The report added that discussions are still ongoing and a deal is not certain. Anglo American has...

Duncan Wanblad, a South African mining veteran, lamented Wednesday the country's missed investment in mining as gold prices surged above $4,000 per ounce - a record high fueled by expectations of reduced interest rates and demand for safe haven assets. Anglo American Plc's CEO Duncan Wanblad said that the mining potential of South Africa was not fully explored "due to the unsupportive exploration policy in the past 20 years". "That is a critical part of the mining life cycle." Wanblad explained that the data shows that it takes 17 years to get a deposit permitted, ramped up and in full...

Angola’s state-owned diamond company Endiama bid on a minority stake of Anglo American’s diamond unit De Beers, said the African nation’s Ministry of Mineral Resources, Petroleum and Gas. De Beers, one of the largest diamond companies in the world, has operations across Botswana Namibia Angola South Africa and Canada. According to a June report, the diamond company that Anglo has put on sale due to falling diamond prices had drawn interest from six consortia. The ministry stated that Angola’s proposal did not include a majority stake in De Beers, a Botswana-based company. Instead, it believes the firm should remain a...

According to delegates, no consensus was reached in Geneva during the talks on the first legally-binding treaty for combating plastic pollution. "South Africa regrets that this session was unable to reach a legally binding agreement and the positions are still far apart", its delegate said at a meeting on Friday morning. After a failed meeting of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee in South Korea at the end of last year, more than 1,000 delegates gathered in Geneva to begin the sixth round. The United Nations Environment Assembly established the INC in 2022. Its mandate was to create a global, legally-binding treaty...

Peabody Energy announced on Monday that if it is not satisfied with the resolution of issues surrounding Anglo American's Moranbah North Mine, then they may terminate their pending agreement to purchase some Australian steelmaking coal assets from this British mining company. Peabody shares rose over 4% at the opening of trading. An underground fire at Anglo American’s Moranbah North Coal Mine, located in Queensland, Australia's Bowen Basin, has caused the suspension of production. The assets agreement signed by the two companies last year includes the mine. Peabody has informed Anglo American that it has sent a Material Adverse Change notice...

Anglo American, a global miner, reported on Thursday a 15% drop in its production of copper for the first three months of the year. However, the company left the yearly forecast unchanged. The London-listed company said that copper production dropped to 169,000 tons in the first quarter of this year. It attributed the drop in production in Chile. The copper production in 2025 is expected to range between 690,000 - 750,000 tonnes. As the world shifts to cleaner energy sources, it is expected that metals will be used more for electric vehicles and renewable facilities. Prices for industrial metals have...

The environment minister announced on Monday that South African coal-fired electricity stations had received some exemptions from the air quality laws, and regulations aimed at reducing harmful emissions. However, he stressed that these measures were not a "blanket respite". The government struggles to find a balance between the calls to reduce carbon emissions and to stop them and the need to supply electricity to Africa's largest economy which is stagnant due to power outages. Eskom, the power utility that generates South Africa's majority of electricity from its fleet of coal-fired plants, applied to exempt 8 of these plants from air...

A South African government agency that is influential recommended Thursday that the country phase out its coal-fired energy stations. It published a study over ten years which showed people who lived near these power plants were 6% more susceptible to dying than those living elsewhere. South African officials, as well as citizens, are arguing over how quickly the country should implement a programme partly funded by donors to move away from coal and towards solar and wind power. The fossil fuel is responsible for three-quarters of the country's power, and 90,000 jobs are supported by it. The South African Medical...

Some finance ministers did not attend a Group of 20 meeting in South Africa, while other high-ranking officials cut short their trips to the event marred by disagreements over climate change, debt, and inequality. It has never been easy to agree on a statement for a group that includes China and Russia, as well as the European Union, the United States, and other countries. The differences between the countries are more pronounced than ever before, and some of the finance ministers did not attend because they were preoccupied with their domestic politics. The finance ministers of many of G20's largest...