🇳🇬 The Plight of Nigeria's Steel

🌏 Nigeria is reportedly seeking Chinese partnership in another attempt to revitalize the Ajaokuta Steel Plant and the National Iron Ore Mining Company (NIOMCO), out of action since the 20th century.

🇷🇺 In September 2024 Nigeria already signed an agreement with Russian Tyazhmashpromexport (TPE), the original builders of Ajaokuta, with the same objectives.

Due to constraints as a result of the Russia–Ukraine war, we are now exploring partnership with the People’s Republic of China for the revitalisation of both ASCL and NIOMCO,

said the country's Minister of Steel Development.

Ajaokuta project is a child of hard luck and soft managers:

♦️ After construction Ajaokuta was taken from TPE, which was going through countless hardships resulting from the collapse of the USSR

♦️ Then in 2003 American SOLGAS was awarded the concession, but lost it less than a year later

♦️ Since 2004 the plant fell into the hands of Indian Global Infrastructure Nigeria Ltd, which eventually also failed to kick off production at Ajaokuta

Now it's the Chinese's turn to try their luck in place where the rest of the world has not succeded.

Today Nigeria is in dire need of this plant because it still doesn't have its own production of materials for military hardware. However, initially it was seen as a potential driver of the country's industrialization, that never happened.

In my first presidency, there was the general belief that steelmaking was at the heart of industrialisation. India had built the first steel plant with Russian help, and they built their second almost without help,

noted the then-president Obasanjo.

Devils Below

🇩🇪 Deutschland Returns To Africa

🌏 Germany’s leading business lobby for Sub-Saharan Africa (SAFRI) urges Berlin to execute a decisive “Africa shift”, binding raw-materials pacts, bigger bets on AfCFTA, and fewer China-centric dependencies.

🚢 By 1914 Imperial Germany held four African colonies - Togoland, Kamerun, German South-West Africa (Namibia), German East Africa (Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi). Berlin’s next big attempt to project power into Africa came with Rommel’s Afrika Korps, landing at Tripoli on 11 Feb 1941 to duel for the Suez cahnnel and the Middle East oil.

However, now one should not expect that the Germans will simply come to extract resources. Having been bullied by the whole world after WWII, Germany learned to follow subtle ways - and what they will go for is "green" energy, solar panels, patches for ozone holes.

💵 While the German left will shout about "authoritarian African dictators" and the right will shout about squandering taxpayers' money on bike paths in Nigeria, German capital will impose the "green" agenda and sell overpriced wind turbines to countries where half the population lives without electricity.

Devils Below

🇲🇱 Mali: Separatists VS Investments

🌏 Mali's anti-government Azavad Liberation Front issued a communiqué, wherein it

rejects ... the illegal decision of the junta of Bamako to accord to SOREM Mali S.A. the right to exploit the Intahaka gold mine, situated in the region of Gao.

❓ SOREM is a Malian mining company with a 100% public ownership, that since its creation in 2022 has taken charge of several mines abandoned by their owners - the Intahaka mine, Morila mine and Yatela mine.

‼️ The most intriguing part is that the decision in question was effectively made by Bamako more than a year ago - on August 28, 2024.

If we cross out the option where the ALF merely has a very pitiable internet connection, the most viable explanation of such a delay is that the ALF is foreshadowing something - namely, another deal like one that has been concluded recently with Flagship on the Morila mine.

The ALF warns any foreign enterprise, institution or partner against any economic or mining activity...

🤝 Whether the ALF is aware of another upcoming agreement, which would imply cooperation with a foreign investor as is the case of Morila mine and Flagship, or it's just a false start, the message is clearly targeted at foreign audience.

However, if Intahaka could successfully operate under Bamako's oversight all this time and even serve as an alledged source of the Wagner / Africa Corps funding, why would anyone now believe such threats?

Devils Below

🌍 Who Is Most Demanding?

Today Western media is full of complaints about the treacherous "resource nationalism" of African governments. On the other hand, African politicians themselves in their speeches adore revoking the need to make resource extraction work for the benefit of the nation.

So, a curious person cannot help but wander: To what extent are different African governments actually committed to nationally oriented resource exploitation?

We took up the challenge of figuring out.

We chose 2 parametres as a litmus test for each country:
🔸 To what extent should raw materials be processed domestically before exporting? (Id est at what stage of beneficiation can a material be exported according to the national law?)
🔸 What share of newly created mining enterprises does each government legally assign to state-owned equity or local investors?

We only zeroed in on 22 countries of West and Central Africa. In addition, we've only considered the main type of resource exports of each country in accordance with its share in export revenues (e.g. gold for Ghana, oil for Nigeria etc).

📋 The results of this humble research are on the pictures above.

See the explanation below. 👇

🌍 After our post on Friday about the Malian Azawad Liberation Front dissatisfaction with the government's decision to transfer the Intahaka gold deposit to state-owned SOREM Mali S.A., the first photos from the place came out on Saturday.

The photos presumably show the process of artisanal gold miners leaving the territory of the deposit at the behest of the authorities.

In accordance with the address of General Mamadou Massaoulé Samaké, commander of the Eastern Theater, read out to the press on Tuesday, gold miners are required to leave the site due to the restoration of state authority over the deposit by the army:

We are going to proceed with the restoration of the authority of the State in the commune of Ntaka, in its entirety in the first instance, and very particularly on the mining sites which correspond to the 97.41 km² dedicated to SOREM.

It is reported that gold miners must leave the deposit before October 22.

🔴 Any decision of the government on any change in the status of the deposit has not been published yet. According to existing official papers, so far SOREM Mali S.A. has only Bamako's blessing for geological exploration at Intahaka. The exporation license, by which the general also justifies the new measures in his address, dates from August last year.

‼️ Whether Bamako is going to invite a foreign investor to the site, or SOREM will try to work there independently, the decision to expel the locals is controversial in any way.

In the worst-case scenario, it can increase social tensions and promote a rapprochement of the population with jihadist groups that are widely present in the area.

Devils Below

🇿🇼 New Scandal Around the Chinese In Zimbabwe

CONTEXT: A political struggle is escalating in Zimbabwe's ruling party over the issue of extending the President's term of office until 2030 and the anti-corruption dossier on him, allegedly submitted by the Vice-President Constantino Chiwenga on September 17.

🌍 Against this background, state-controlled social media accounts have recently launched a coordinated campaign against Chinese gold miners.

The purest evidence of this unfolding campaign is the publication (on the pics) about an alleged illegal export of about 100 kilograms of gold from Zimbabwe by a Chinese company.

Why is this a premeditated stuffing (possibly also fake)?:
🔸 For the first time, information about this was published in the state-owned newspaper The Herald, then published on Twitter by the account of ZANU PF Patroits and then copied by much and more outlets
🔸 It is impossible to find information about Podhill on the Internet, or about the investigative report to which all such publications refer.

At the same time, the head of the Zimbabwe Miners Federation, Henrietta Rushawaya, the sister of the president's Chief Secretary, is speaking up about the dangers of Chinese gold miners.

It is clear that abuses on the part of the Chinese are actually taking place, as we wrote earlier, however, here we are talking about the very fact of an apparent coordinated attack.

The campaign is probably aimed at several goals at once:
🔸 In this context, the president can rearrange govenrment ranks and possibly remove several high-ranking officials
🔸To shift public attention from the issue of extending the term of the presidency and other domestic issues to the Chinese "external enemy".

Devils Below

🇨🇩DRC Loses Gold

🌍 According to the Chinese gold mining company Twangiza Mining, since May this year, militants from the M23 and allied groups have received about 500 kilos of gold from the Twangiza Mining's gold pit in the eastern part of the DRC.

$70M is approximately the cost of gold looted from the Twangiza mine.

💰 DRC remains a battleground where the exploitation of natural resources is both a goal and a means of survival for the warring factions.

After M23 and allies took over the region, the mine and factory at Twangiza continued operating, presumably with technical support from Rwandan engineers.

There are more than 150 workers left on site. We cannot get in touch with them, the company said.

On October 15, drones hit the facilities at the site (on the pics above), aimed at stopping the activities there.

In any case, most likely, the gold will end up where it would've if Twangiza had mined it themselves - in the UAE, China, or Russia.

Devils Below