.png){kind=small}
Africa’s Minerals Overstated | 07.15.2025
- Admin
- 1 day ago
- 3 min read
Your curated selection of weekly Africa business and investment headlines.
Welcome to Afrika Vantage, your insider's guide to investing and doing business on the African continent. Stay informed about the Lobito Corridor with our "Thoughts on the Corridor" section, and keep up with general business trends across Africa through "Afrika Vantage."
📋 Afrika Vantage is evolving and now provides Africa-focused consulting and advisory solutions, supporting international companies with market entry, investment execution, and strategic leadership across the continent.
🤝🏻 Subscribe to join more than 13,000 decision-makers at pension funds, endowments, private equity firms, family offices, DFIs, and corporates. No fluff, no spin, just clear, practical analysis from experts who understand the continent.
Headlines
📷 Africa Is Rich in Minerals, Just Not as Rich as You Think
🎦 Akon’s “Wakanda” Future-City Project Collapses
📷 U.S. Posts 30% Reciprocal Tariffs on South Africa
🎦 [WATCH] President Trump’s First Africa Business Summit
Africa
📷 Africa Is Rich in Minerals, Just Not as Rich as You Think
For example, combined copper reserves in the DRC and Zambia are smaller than Mexico’s and barely larger than the reserves in the USA. Exceptions to the myth are cobalt (51% found in Africa, mostly the DRC), platinum (91% found in Africa, mostly SA), and Chromium (70% in Africa, mostly SA).
📰 More Frontier Stocks Gains Seen After Best First Half Since 2007
Frontier shares have been viewed as undervalued by investors and served as a hedge against a weakening dollar. Ghana led the index, with shares surging on the back of a 45% rebound in the embattled cedi. Zambia is up 31% in local currency terms this year, driven by improved rainfall, rising copper production, and progress on debt restructuring… Read More
📰 Angola, Zambia Push Lobito Corridor Rail Project as Financing Talks Advance
Lobito Corridor remains mostly talk with little action. Stay tuned… Read More
📰 Africa Doubles New Hydropower Capacity as Funding Risks Remain
Africa doubled new hydropower capacity in 2024, adding 2.4 gigawatts of generation, with Tanzania and Ethiopia leading the way. Hydropower now accounts for 20% of the continent’s electricity, but nearly half of Africa’s hydro infrastructure is over 30 years old and in need of upgrades and maintenance… Read More
🎦 Akon’s “Wakanda” Future-City Project Collapses
In 2020, Senegal granted 136 acres for the $6 billion project. Phase one was to open in 2026, but years later only a single building stands on the Wakanda site.
[videos for subscribers only]
📰 Grand Prix Track Owner in South Africa Plans Upgrade Amid F1 Bid
The $10 million overhaul is anticipation of a bid to host the country’s first Formula 1 race in three decades. Formula 1 is owned by U.S. firm Liberty Media Corp which it purchased in 2017 for $4.4 billion… Read More
📰 Over $1.3 Billion in New Mining Deals Announced Involving the DRC
About 80% of major mines in the DRC are linked to China, but the government is now bringing in new partners. Over $1.3 billion in new mining deals were announced recently, including Japan’s $1 billion pledge in 2023 and a manganese project targeting 4.4 billion pounds of output and 2,500 jobs. The UAE’s IRH also acquired 56% of Alphamin, a leading tin producer, for $367 million. New players from Japan, India, the UAE, and the U.S. are gaining ground… Read More
📷 U.S. Posts 30% Reciprocal Tariffs on South Africa
"We have had years to discuss our trading relationship with South Africa, and have concluded that we must move away from these long-term and very persistent trade deficits engendered by South Africa’s tariff and non-tariff policies and trade barriers."
The tariffs are projected to result in the loss of over 80,000 jobs in South Africa and reduce GDP by nearly 1%.
📰 Total Edges Closer to Restart Work on $20 Billion Mozambique LNG
The mega project stalled four years ago due to a militant insurgency. Steps have begun preparing to resume work on the venture. The plant will liquefy and export the extensive gas reserves found in Mozambique 15 years ago… Read More
🎦 President Trump’s First Africa Business Summit
The presidents of Gabon, Liberia, Guinea-Bissau, Mauritania, and Senegal traveled to Washington, D.C. for the U.S.–Africa Business Summit. These nations offer geographic advantages the U.S. values, along with a willingness to engage on security cooperation and access to critical and rare earth minerals.
[videos for subscribers only]
