🇬🇭 Ghana Loses Agriculture

🌍 Speaking on Ghanaian radio this morning, the EU Ambassador to Ghana Rune Skinnebach said that the EU may ban the import of local agriculture due to mercury contamination of products, caused by illegal gold mining - locally called “galamsey”.

I wouldn’t want any consumer to have polluted goods or farm products. I wouldn’t get Ghanaian or European consumers to eat sweet potatoes with mercury residues in them.

☝️And what do human rights defenders think?

🔴 At the same time, Ghanian human rights activists are demanding that the authorities stop deporting foreigners engaged in illegal mining.

‼️ Unlike their counterparts around the world, for Ghanaian human rights activists deportation is too soft a punishment for foreigners who should be tried and punished with full severity of the Ghanaian law.

Although the agricultural export to the EU accounts for only 7% of Ghana's total exports, other countries may also refuse to import food from Ghana for fear of getting a portion of mercury along with tomatoes.

After all, if things get really bad, what will the Ghanians themselves eat?

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💡Resource Nationalism Index

After our recent experiment, we’re launching a brand-new series of articles dedicated to evaluating how West and Central African governments are trying to make their natural resources actually work for their people and economies.

Behold — the Resource Nationalism Index!

Each country will be judged according to the following (entirely unscientific, but funny) criteria:

🔸 “Process It First” — Are there any bans or restrictions on the export of raw resources?

🔸 “Share With the State” — Must companies hand over part of their output to the government or make first a sale offer to state funds?

🔸 “We’re in Too!” — Are mining companies required to transfer a stake to the state or sell it to local investors?

🔸 “The Money’s Yours, the People Are Ours” — Are there mandatory local-content rules for hiring staff or contractors?

🔸 “Just Pay Up” — How heavy is the tax/levies on resource extraction?

🔸 “You Come – You Build” — Are investors obliged to fund or build infrastructure for local communities?

🔸 “We’ll Do It Ourselves” — Is there a national policy promoting domestic processing and refining?

🔸 “Come Here, You Bast*rd!” — Does the government actually control its natural resources (or at least try to stop illegal mining and rebel-run operations)?

All our ratings will be, of course, purely humorous — and absolutely not investment advice.

💡 Resource Nationalism Index [ MALI ]

The first country in this series is Mali - a Sahel state that, after the 2021 change of power, many in the West started labeling “resource nationalist” and “pro-Russian” (even though not a single Russian company operates in Mali, while plenty of European and American firms do).

With the 2023 Mining Code, Bamako has clearly hardened its stance toward miners - though very much in line with a broader global trend to capture more value at home.

So how strong is “resource nationalism” in Mali?

🔸 "Process It First" – 7/10 – Local processing is mandatory, prioritizing state-owned plants, however, necessary facilities don’t always exist.

🔸 "Share With the State” – 0/10 – No requirements to transfer or sell a portion of output to the state on a priority basis.

🔸 “We’re in Too!” – 9/10 – The state gets a mandatory 10% free carry in new projects, with the option to lift its stake by another 20% + 5% are reserved for local investors.

🔸 “The Money's Yours, the People Are Ours" – 9/10 – The 2023 Mining Code requires approximately 95% of staff to be Malian nationals and at least 35% of services to be sourced from local contractors.

🔸 “Just Pay Up" – 10/10 – Tax of 7.5% take scales with the gold price, plus extra levies if production transcends planned volumes.

🔸 "You Come – You Build" – 6/10 – Companies must contribute just under 1% of revenue to local community development.

🔸 “We'll Do It Ourselves” – 4/10 – There is a state miner SOREM, but its extraction capacity is unclear and causes doubts, also a state refinery has been announced in mid-2025, but it hasn't been completed so far.

🔸 “Come Here, You Bastard!” – 4/10 – Major deposits are under control, but insurgent activity persists on the periphery and illegal artisanal mining remains an issue.

Overall, Mali received a solid score of 6.1 out of 10 with strong emphasys on taxes, local content and state participation and modest requirements in other spheres.

#Mali #ResourceNationalism

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🇳🇬 Nigeria Сlones Oil Refinery

🌍 Less than two years after the opening of Africa's largest refinery owned by Nigerian mogul Aliko Dangote, Nigeria is planning to double its size.

The refinery will thus become the largest in the world.

📈 In a recent interview, the refinery's owner, Aliko Dangote, announced plans to achieve output of 1.4 million barrels per day, or twice the current volume of 650,000 barrels per day.

If the project is implemented, the refinery will not only be able to fully meet the needs of Nigeria's growing economy (now its output in theory reaches 80% of the country's fuel demand), but also help other countries overcome dependence on oil spoilage from China and India.

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🇳🇬 Nigeria to OPEC: Raise Our Cap

🌍 At the next OPEC annual meeting, Abuja plans to ask for a 30% increase to its current 1.50M barrels/day quota.

🔸 For a long time, OPEC, on the contrary, has been discussing lowering limits for Nigeria due to problems with oil production and theft.

Despite great success in import substitution and the development of domestic refining, the main problem of oil in Nigeria is not the low OPEC quotas, but the country's TOTAL dependence on exports of petroleum products (about 90% of Nigeria's total exports).

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🇦🇴 Angola: No More Wireless

🌍 Angola is stepping into Africa’s copper game with a $250 million Tetelo project. The mine aims for about 25,000 tonnes of copper concentrate at first, with production startign around October 29. The owner is Shining Star Icarus, a China-Angola partnership.

📈 The timing is good - copper prices have pushed toward record highs on worries about supply and strong demand from electrification. Some analysts now even predict a market deficit for 2025 after major disruptions this year.

The country still depends on diamonds and oil, which together constitute more than 90% of the country's exports.

If Tetelo ramps as planned, Angola joins neighbors like Zambia and the DRC on the copper map—and does so at a moment when every extra tonne matters. The global energy transition creates additional copper demand of approximately 6 million tons annually by 2030, according to International Energy Agency projections.

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💡 Resource Nationalism Index [ BOTSWANA ]

In the second part of our "Resource Nationalism Index" series, we take a closer look at Botswana - a country whose economy still rests on two pillars: diamonds and copper.

Right now, Botswana is going through a rough period due to low diamond prices. Yet, compared with many neighbors, its government still defends national interests fairly well — although it is clearly too fond of laying down all the basic requirements for companies in individual concessions, but not in the law.

So, what does resource nationalism look like in Botswana?

🔸 "Process It First" – 3/10 – The government negotiates some domestic processing, but the requirements are not solidly specified in the law.

🔸 "Share With the State” – 6/10 – The state-owned Okavango Diamond Company is entitled to buy an increasing share of diamond output — yet again, this exists by contract, not by law.

🔸 “We’re in Too!” – 6/10 – The state may acquire up to 15% of new mining ventures, and if it doesn’t, up to 24% must be offered to local investors - but nothing of it comes for free.

🔸 “The Money's Yours, the People Are Ours" – 4/10 – Social obligations and local spending are written into individual agreements, but somehow never mentioned in the law.

🔸 “Just Pay Up" – 7/10 – Royalties reach 3% for copper and 10% for diamonds - relatively high by regional standards, though still without a progressive scale.

🔸 "You Come – You Build" – 4/10 – There’s no uniform legal duty to invest in community development - once more only “understandings” negotiated case by case.

🔸 “We’ll Do It Ourselves” – 4/10 – Tax breaks exist for investors willing to build local processing facilities, but the incentives are rarely decisive.

🔸 “Come Here, You Bastard!” – 8/10 – Illegal mining is mostly confined to small-scale gold diggers; diamonds and copper remain under tight control.

Final score is 5.3 out of 10 — respectable, but hardly revolutionary, mainly due to the government's love of fixing the working conditions of companies in contracts rather than laws.

#Botswana #ResourceNationalism

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🇬🇭 Ghana’s Gold From Orbit

📰 A questionanle, though very beautiful investigation of Ghana's illegal gold mining - galamsey - was released today by Forbidden Stories, an NGO sponsored by a bunch of Western funds and US State Department's puppet National Endowment for Democracy.

The piece mixes on-the-ground interviews with something far more striking - satellite imagery that exposes the visible scars of galamsey across Ghanaian land.

Here are just some plausible facts from the investigation:
🔸 Illegal gold sells 20% above the legal market price on Ghana’s black market
🔸 The report concludes that around 77% mining sites revealed through the satellite imagenery were outside of the concessions by the state - that is, illegal (allegedly 6 times the Washington, D.C.)
🔸 In south-western Ghana alone there is around 150,000 hectares of gold mines (both legal and not)

While the authors’ attempt to map the beneficiaries is thin, the visuals alone are worth a look.

We strongly recommend to follow the link above for impressive illustrations of the environmental impact of galamsey - captured via satellite and carefully compiled by "independent journalists".

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🇲🇱Mali: JNIM at Intahaka

🌍 A few days after the Malian army declared its intention to reassert state authority at the Intahaka gold mine, the site is being contested by the jihadist group Jama'at Nusrat ul-Islam wa al- Muslimin (JNIM).

🔴On October 16 the Malian government issued a warning prescribing artisanal miners to leave Intahaka by October 22.

‼️On the day of this announcement Malian separatist Azavad Liberation Front published a communiqué rejecting the decision.

⁉️ The Malian Armed Forces reportedly arrived at the site on October 23, and yesterday were attacked by the jihadist rebels.

It remains unclear whether the mine has fallen entirely into the hands of anti-government forces or is still controlled by the Malian army and allied groups.

Why drive away the artisanal miners?

All this raises the question of why Bamako moved to enforce control over the mine at this particular moment.

🔸 Initially it seemed that the decision indicated the upcoming start of operations of SOREM Mali S.A. - a state-owned gold miner which acquired exploration license at Intahaka in August, 2024.

But the assertiveness of antigovernment forces and the mine’s distant location make any large-scale operations highly unlikely.

🔸 Another possibility is that the authorities sought to cut off jihadist financing from the mine - implying the government may not intend to launch its own operations there at all for now.

If Bamako maintains control, we’ll probably see the logic behind this decision become clearer at last.

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🇦🇴🇧🇼 Angola In Anglo - Botswana Outbidded?

🌍 On October 24 Angola's state-run gem producer Endiama EP submitted an offer to buy Anglo American Plc’s majority stake (85%) in De Beers.

However, there is a catch - a similar deal was proposed to Anglo American by Botswana last month. Both countries are major African diamond producers, with Botswana already possessing a 15% stake in De Beers.

🔸 For Angola, participation in De Beers would mean access to the company's cutting-edge mining technologies and marketing system.

🔸 For Botswana, controlling shares are seen as a matter of national security and economic stability. Speaking about the country's bid, the President of Botswana said in late September:

“We want effective control of the industry, we want our voice to be heard…”

Though such a situation can hardly engender a real geopolitical standoff, as Angola clearly indicates its readiness to negotiate and accept a smaller share. Botswana, on the other hand, will probably face difficulties in mustering sufficient funds for its offer in any case.

🤝 The most probable outcome thus is that Anglo American's stake will be divided more or less equally between the two bidders if no one else steps in.

After all, even if Botswana's ambitions are not fully realized, buying a struggling company with public money seems a less promising solution than more intensive diversification policies, for example.

Devils Below

🇿🇼 Zimbabwe-China Dialogue

🌐 Another capture of a working dispute between a local citizen and a Chinese national is being currently disseminated on social media, showing a manager of Huayuo Cobalt confronting one of the employees.

Behind the Kung-Fu techniques performed in the video, one can easily overlook the fact that the company - Huayuo Cobalt - is China's leading cobalt supplier, Zimbabwe's major lithium producer, as well as the first company to move into domestic lithium sulphate production in Zimbabwe..

💬 And nevertheless the international master-minds of mining still fall short of finding the common ground with on-site workers.

The anti-Chinese sentiment is growing stronger in Zimbabwe these days, spurred by actual working malpractices at Chinese enterprises, general public frustration and the ruling party's attempts to manipulate public opinion.

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💡 Resource Nationalism Index [ DRC ]

In the third chapter of our "Resource Nationalism Index" series, we take a closer look at the Democratic Republic of Congo, a major copper and gold producer, who has gained fame this year by imposing a 6-month long export ban on cobalt threatening entire global supply.

What else makes DRC different from the two countries we have already covered (Mali and Botswana) is the availability of complex system of domestic processing promotion and strict local content requirements.

So, what does Resource Nationalism look like in the DRC?

🔸 "Process It First" – 7/10 – Intermediate products of copper and cobalt processing are prohivited from export, but due to the physical absence of facilities the rule is often suspended.

🔸 "Share With the State” – 2/10 – No requirement to transfer or sell a share of output to the state on a priority basis, however, the state-run Entreprise Générale du Cobalt wields a monopoly on buying artisanal cobalt.

🔸 “We’re in Too!” – 8/10 – The state has the right for a 10% stake free of charge in the capital of mining companies, which increases by 5% each time a company renews its mining license + another 10% share is reserved for local investors.

🔸 “The Money's Yours, the People Are Ours" – 9/10 – The law requires at least 20% of staff (for management) to be Congolese nationals and ALL subcontractors to be local firms.

🔸 “Just Pay Up" – 7/10 – Taxes reach 3.5% for copper and gold 10% for cobalt + extra levies on excessive revenues from commodity sales.

🔸 "You Come – You Build" – 2/10 – Companies are obliged to contribute some 0.3% of their revenues to local community development, though even this is often violated.

🔸 “We’ll Do It Ourselves” – 8/10 – The state has established a system of tax breaks for invetments in local processing and makes investments itself through the state-owned companies Gécamines, Entreprise Générale du Cobalt and Fonds de Promotion de l’Industrie.

🔸 “Come Here, You Bastard!” – 2/10 – The government cannot exercise its authority over mineral deposits in the eastern DRC controlled by rebels, and falls short of eradicating illegal artisanal mining in other parts of the country. The government officials are allegedly involved in illicit mining and exporting.

Final score is 5.6 out of 10 — the weak points include the absence of requirements to transfer a part of output to the state, poor enforcement of local community development laws and inability to extend state control to all major deposits.

#DRC #ResourceNationalism

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🇬🇭 Ghana Ends Gold Mining


🌍 ... at 278 small-scale mining sites in a sweeping license revocation, the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources announced on October 23, citing regulatory breaches and the expiration of licenses.

🔸 The blanket revocation is not ordinary for the country and may serve as a dogwhistle for those who urge the Ghanaian government to take more decisive steps in fighting illegal gold mining - known locally as galamsey.

🔸 Last time something similar could be witnessed was in March, when the government revoked ALL licenses issued since December 2024. The oversight authorities have clearly embarked on the path of sorting the mess in licesning, though its impact on the anti-galamsey fight remains vague.

Certainly, illegal miners are not very upset. Some don't care about formalities at all, while those who at least try to stay within the legal realm prefer working under soneone else's license for a humble fee.

Devils Below