Zimbabwe: Can the Government Succeed in Beneficiating its Vast Lithium Resource?
An important announcement… In December 2022, the Zimbabwean Minister of Mines and Mining Development issued the following government notice: “No lithium-bearing ores, or un-beneficiated lithium whatsoever, shall be exported from Zimbabwe to another country.” The notice went on to state that the ban did not extend to any lithium concentrates which mining houses operating in […]
Mauritius: Can the Island Become a Major Logistics Platform for Relief Aid Supply in Africa?
An important mission I’m sitting in an Air Mauritius aircraft on my way to the island. The plane is full of tourists and honeymoon couples in casual attire – flowery shirts, short pants, sandals – and I’m stuck at the back wearing longs and a white shirt, clearly at odds with the passengers’ pervasive holiday […]
Gabon: An ‘Old’ Oil Country Finds Other Resources A Rich Country Getting Richer
Why is Gabon so rich?… Easy question to answer: It has plenty of oil and gas and also huge rainforests covering nearly 90% of its total land area delivering some of the best hardwoods in the world. And then there is also its well-developed manganese mining sector. But oil has been the country’s wealth mainstay. […]
Nigeria: A Massive Electricity Supply Problem, Brave Decisions & Small but Innovative Successes
A more than daunting power supply problem… Let’s start with the facts. There are various estimates of Nigeria’s true population count, but it must be around 220 million – the largest market by population by far in sub-Saharan Africa. An installed electricity supply capacity of some 12 500 megawatts but production that varies between 4 000 MW […]
RWANDA: THE ‘SINGAPORE’ OF EAST AFRICA?
A country emerging from the deep dark … It’s the late nineties and I’m visiting Rwanda for the first time. I’m attending a COMESA conference and I tell the Rwandan delegate next to me how excited I am to be in his intriguing country and I mention that I will be visiting the Genocide Museum […]
Côte d’Ivoire: The ‘Jewel of West Africa’ Makes a Major Move from Agriculture to Mining
Once the ‘Jewel of West Africa’ I first visited Côte d’Ivoire way back in 1982. It was my first foray into West Africa and I was alone without any bookings and feeling pretty nervous. My anxiety was heightened by the chaos on my arrival at Abidjan airport – young ragged touts pulling at my […]
Ethiopia: Strong Privatisation Developments in Telecommunications, Logistics & Banking Sectors
Government making long-awaited privatisation moves When I led a large business mission to Addis Ababa in 2016, it was impressed on me by the government authorities whom I met then that state controls and monopolies, and limitations on foreign company involvement were prevalent. One state shipping company representative told me that exporters and importers must […]
Namibia: Business Implications from Major Oil & Gas Finds
There has been much media coverage of the relatively recent major oil and gas finds in Namibia. Let’s set the scene before discussing the resultant business implications. First, there were the announcements by Shell and TotalEnergies of the offshore discoveries in the Orange Basin of the Graf and Venus deposits respectively and now there is […]
Zambia: The Return of Anglo-American & Revival of the Mining Sector
The news that Anglo American has returned to mining activity in Zambia has drawn the attention of global operators and investors. The move came in the form of a joint venture with the junior exploration company Arc Minerals for participation in copper operations in the North-Western Province. The venture may be considered relatively tentative at […]