West Africa

The Ghanaian economy grew by 5.5% a year on an annual basis?in 2025's third quarter, according to the Statistics Agency. This was mainly due to?improvements in the agriculture and services sectors, it said. Alhassan Iddrisu, a government statistician, told reporters that growth was down from 7.0%, which had been revised, in the same time period of last year. The industrial sector, however, only grew by 0.8%. Iddrisu stated that fishing?and crop production boosted the growth of the agricultural sector to 8.6%. He added that the services sector, which includes finance, insurance and trade, as well as education, grew by 7.6%....

The Senate of Nigeria approved President Bola Tinubu’s deployment of troops to Benin Republic on Tuesday after Benin’s government asked for assistance from its larger neighbour on Sunday. Tinubu wrote to legislators that Benin had requested "exceptional and urgent air support" from Nigerian armed forces following a report of an "attempted unconstitutional seizure and disruption of democratic institution." According to Nigerian law?the president is required to seek Senate approval before deploying troops into a foreign country. Benin's Government said on Monday that Nigerian fighter jets carried out airstrikes in order to?thwart an attempted coup by mutinying troops who tried to...

The companies announced on Friday that Gecamines, Congo's state-owned miner, is working with Swiss commodities group Mercuria in order to increase transparency and revenue for the world's largest cobalt producer. The Democratic Republic of Congo is also a major supplier of copper. It has undertaken reforms to gain more control over the mining output of its country and increase its global influence. In October, it introduced a cobalt export quota to reduce oversupply. Last month, the country launched its first batch traceable artisanal copper. Gecamines, based on the memorandum it signed earlier this summer, will have direct control over its...

Nigeria's oil-and-gas content regulator announced on Tuesday a $100 million equity scheme to increase indigenous participation in energy sector. It also said that it will tighten the compliance rules starting next year. Felix Ogbe (executive secretary of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board, NCDMB) told the Practical Nigerian Content Forum at the Bank of Industry that the fund would be launched in partnership to provide equity financing for high-growth local energy services firms. Ogbe stated that the board would also introduce, from January 1, 2026 onwards, a certificate of compliance, which will confirm companies' compliance with a mandatory 1%...

Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz Bin Salman stated on Monday that a new mechanism adopted by OPEC+ for assessing members' maximum production capacity will help stabilize markets and reward those investing in production. OPEC announced on Sunday that the OPEC+ group has approved a mechanism for assessing members' maximum production capacities to be used to set baselines starting in 2027 against which output targets will be set. Prince Abdulaziz claimed that the production level determination mechanism was "fair" and "transparent". He said, "Now, we have the most detailed and transparent approach to managing the market in the future, as well...

Umaro Sissoco Embalo, the President of Guinea-Bissau, struck a confident tone when he launched his reelection campaign in early November. He claimed that "stability" had been achieved since he assumed office in 2020. Embalo told journalists that he was deposed ahead of the results to be announced Thursday. Army officers announced on Wednesday that they had been deposed on state television. seized power In the country prone to coups. The unrest is consistent with Embalo’s turbulent tenure, during which his government attempted three coups. Critics claim that, as long as the political instability continued, Embalo failed to control the notorious...

Honeywell has been contracted by Nigerian oil refinery Dangote to help double the capacity of its refinery to 1.4million barrels per day in 2028. This is the clearest sign yet that the company's plans to become the largest refinery in the world are taking shape. Honeywell's equipment and catalysts will help Dangote process a wider range of crude grades, which is needed to support their planned expansion of output. Dangote also plans to license Honeywell's Oleflex Technology to increase its polypropylene production - a material used in plastic containers and auto parts. The financial terms of the agreement were not...

The downstream regulator announced on Thursday that Nigeria had abandoned plans to impose an import duty of 15% on petrol and diesel, after assurances were given about adequate supplies during the holidays. A leaked memo revealed the tariff approved by Bola Tinubu in fiscal reforms to increase non-oil revenue. The tariff was to go into effect in December. The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority said that the implementation of the 15% ad valorem duty on imported premium motor spirits and diesel was no longer in sight. Fuel marketers had lobbied against the measure, warning it could restrict imports...

Aliko Dangote, the founder and CEO of Nigeria's Dangote Group, said that his company will invest at least one billion dollars in a pipeline in Zimbabwe as well as a power plant and cement factory. On Wednesday, Dangote, Africa’s richest man met Zimbabwe President Emmerson Munagwa, and signed an agreement for investment with the government. Dangote, speaking to reporters in Harare, said: "We just signed an agreement with Zimbabwe and the Dangote Group for various investments in different sectors. Some of these are cement production, power generation and pipelines to transport petroleum products." The pipeline will complement plans by the...

Nigeria's anticorruption agency announced on Monday that a warrant had been issued to arrest former Petroleum Minister Timipre Slva for allegations of conspiracy and dishonestly converting $14.86million. In a press release, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission stated that the funds were part an investment made by the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board in Atlantic International Refinery and Petrochemical Ltd to fund a refinery. Anyone with information about Sylva’s location is asked to contact the company’s offices across the country or to report to their nearest police station. Sylva was the former Petroleum Minister of Muhammadu Buhari from 2019...

In an email, IIR, a industry monitor in Nigeria, said that the Dangote oil refining company restarted its 204,000 barrels per day gasoline production on October 19, as planned. The run rate was 60%. IIR said that the unit will be expected to maintain this rate until a planned shutdown in December 2025 or January 2026 has been completed. A spokesperson from Dangote didn't immediately respond to a comment request. The unit's outage, which began late in August, improved export economics to West Africa, covering the shortfall. This helped boost European gasoline refinery margins. According to calculations, the news of...

Two Milan prosecutors were sentenced to eight months in prison by an Italian appeals court for not filing documents that would have backed up the position of energy group Eni in an international case of corruption. Eni, Shell and all defendants were acquitted by a jury in March 2021, in what was dubbed the biggest corruption case in the oil industry, which involved the $1.3 billion purchase of an oilfield in Nigeria a decade earlier. The judges in Brescia, a northern city in Italy, confirmed the verdict of last year that Fabio De Pasquale & Sergio Spadaro had failed to...

Fortuna Mining's West Africa Operations Chief said that the company is looking for mid-tier gold assets and accelerating new projects as it works to achieve its 500,000 ounces annual production target, after selling mines located in Burkina Faso, Mexico, and?Burkina?Faso. Canadian miner sells Yaramoko mines in Burkina Faso, and San Jose operations in Mexico, cutting short-term, high-cost assets but also reducing production. It has made new deals including a joint-venture with DeSoto to explore in Guinea, and a larger stake in Awale Resources a West Africa focused?gold-explorer with operations on the Ivory Coast. This is in line with a global...

Ghana has banned mining within forest reserves, as part of an environmental protection program aimed at protecting water bodies and halting the deforestation. Africa's leading gold producer, which is also the world's largest, is fighting a "surge" in?poorly-regulated small-scale mining, which is destroying cacao farms, degrading rivers and forests, and increasing sustainability risks for its mining industry, sparking protests. Industrial miners have reported frequent incursions of illegal operators on concessions. This has forced key operators such as Gold Fields AngloGold Ashanti Newmont and Asante Gold, to increase their investments in surveillance drones, security systems, and community engagement programmes. According to...

Iron ore prices continued to fall on Tuesday as the Simandou project, located in Guinea in west Africa,?shipped out its first ore. This increased prospects for more supply, at a time when China, the top consumer, is expected to see a decline in demand due?to falling steel production. The most traded iron ore contract at China's Dalian Commodity Exchange was down 1.51% as of 0229 GMT. Its lowest price since July 10, and headed for its fifth straight session of losses. As of 0219 GMT the benchmark January iron ore price on the Singapore Exchange fell for a third session...

The United States Development lender announced on Friday plans to take a stake to market Congo minerals, which could give U.S. users of copper and cobalt the right to first refusal. The U.S. and China are in a heated competition to gain access to minerals that are crucial to the manufacture of everything from cars to iPhones. Congo has 72% of the world's cobalt reserves, and supplies 74% of that amount. Many of these mines are artisanal. The plans for investment were revealed a day after U.S. president Donald Trump hosted leaders of Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo...

Ivanhoe Mines said that its recovery plan is progressing and it expects the copper production at its Kamoa/Kakula complex to reach between 380,000-420,000 tons of copper in 2026, and 500,000-540,000 tonnes in 2027. It will update its life-of-mine plans towards the end the first quarter next year. In its report on production guidance, Ivanhoe said that copper sales are expected to exceed output in 2026 as it clears 20,000 tons concentrate stock once its new smelter, Africa's biggest, starts up in December and shifts production to copper anodes. Robert Friedland, Ivanhoe's co-chairman, said that the company was "on the brink...

Barrick Mining announced on Monday that it is exploring the possibility of an initial public offering for a subsidiary which would hold its North American assets in gold amid a record rise in gold prices. The U.S. listed shares of the Canadian mining company rose by nearly 4% during premarket trading. Barrick would be reversing its 2019 merger with Randgold Resources. Investors are also pressing the miner to take advantage of the historic rise in gold prices in order to boost profits, while selling off riskier assets such as those in Africa, Papa New Guinea, and Pakistan's Reko Diq. The...

Barrick Mining, a Canadian mining company, has signed an agreement with the Mali government to settle all disputes relating to the Loulo-Gounkoto Gold Mining Complex until 2023. The dispute centered on the implementation of the new Mali mining codes that increases taxes and gives a larger share of gold mines to the government. The miner - formerly known as Barrick Gold - said that it would drop its arbitration case with Mali before the World Bank dispute tribunal. Mali, in return, will drop all charges and release employees against Barrick, its affiliates and the Canadian miner. The following is a...

Barrick Mining announced on Monday that it had reached a settlement with the Mali government regarding all their disputes regarding the Loulo-Gounkoto Gold Mining Complex. Shares of the Toronto-listed firm rose by nearly 3%. The Friday report stated that Barrick had agreed in principle to settle the dispute with Mali. In a press release, the Canadian miner announced that it would drop its arbitration case against Mali before the World Bank dispute tribunal. Mali, in turn, will drop all charges and free four employees who are currently in jail and will return operational control to Barrick. Mali's miner ministry didn't...

The Chinese embassy in Central African Republic (CAR), has warned that its citizens could become "mining slaves", in the gold trade of the politically insecure nation. Chinese workers are now looking to sub-Saharan Africa for work as gig economies in Asia dry up. The embassy released a statement Thursday stating that Chinese nationals were killed or kidnapped, and some even scammed of large sums and deported because they illegally mined. China has sent workers to resource-rich sub Saharan Africa in search of fortune. Gold prices have soared amid massive Chinese state purchases, while factory and construction jobs are disappearing as...

China's official Xinhua News Agency reported that Vice Premier Liu Guozhong visited the Simandou Iron Ore Mine Project in Guinea this past week. The project, which is 75% owned by China, will be the largest iron ore mine in the world, with a production capacity of 120 million tons per year. It will also be key to the green transformation in the global steel industry. Xinhua reported that the Chinese vice-premier called the project a result of the friendship and cooperation of China with Guinea and Africa for nearly 70 years. He added that the project would contribute to Guinea’s...

Guinea's mines minister has told reporters that the country will accelerate the development of iron ore pellet and alumina refineries to stop decades of raw ore shipments. The first shipments of iron ore from the huge Simandou mine are expected this week. The World Bank stated in July that alumina and ore processing within Guinea could be a game changer for the country's economy, creating industrial jobs while reducing Guinea's exposure to swings in commodity prices. Guinea exports about 60% of its bauxite to China as a feedstock, and a third is iron ore from the Simandou Mine, which is...

Africa is home to 30% of the world's minerals Africa is looking for more profits as global demand surges African leaders want to drive value for money at the COP30 Clar Ni Chonghaile & Kim Harrisberg To capitalize on this burgeoning market, the continent needs to address the power shortages and skills gaps. It also has to tackle trade barriers, industrial capacity limitations, and the lack of skilled workers. Hany Besada is a senior fellow and professor at Wits School of Governance, as well as a senior fellow at London School of Economics' Firoz Lalji Institute for Africa. Africa's mineral...