KoBold Metals, the U.S.-based mining company backed by heavyweight investors including Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos, is stepping up its campaign to secure rights to the Manono lithium deposit in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), a site widely seen as having “the potential to become a large-scale, long-life lithium mine.” According to a January 2024 estimate, Manono could hold 669 million tonnes of resources grading 1.61% lithium.

On May 6, 2025, KoBold and Australia’s AVZ Minerals issued a joint statement titled Developing Manono for Peace and Prosperity, signed by their respective CEOs, Kurt House and Nigel Ferguson. The companies announced they had “reached consensus on a commercial framework to enable the rapid development of the Manono deposit.” 

The statement specifies: “This framework provides for AVZ to cede its commercial interests in the Manono lithium deposit to KoBold, at fair value.” The document further claims this agreement would allow KoBold to “quickly” mobilize more than a billion dollars “to bring Manono’s lithium to Western markets.”

But the Congolese government maintains that AVZ no longer has any rights to Manono, arguing those rights were lost when state-owned Cominière terminated its partnership with AVZ in 2022. AVZ is contesting the move before the International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce, where it has already secured an order for Cominière to pay €39.1 million in penalties for non-compliance with injunctions. However, the tribunal has yet to rule on the core ownership issue.

KoBold’s January offer proposes to resolve the dispute by granting “appropriate compensation” to AVZ in exchange for relinquishing its claims on Manono. The company says it is prepared to develop the southern part of the deposit, while the northern section would remain under the control of the Chinese group Zijin Mining.

Manono Lithium SAS-a joint venture 61% owned by Zijin (via Jinxiang Lithium) and 39% by Cominière-was granted an operating permit in September 2024 for part of the deposit. The company plans to begin lithium production in the first quarter of 2026.

An offer for “peace and prosperity”

So far, Congolese authorities have not commented publicly on KoBold’s offer. The May 6 joint statement suggests no favorable response yet. “AVZ has undertaken to propose to the Congolese government a temporary suspension of the ICSID arbitration proceedings to facilitate discussions,” the document states.

KoBold and AVZ may be trying to pressure Kinshasa by leveraging the current warming of US-DRC relations, considering the May 6 statement, which reads: “AVZ and KoBold are cooperating with all stakeholders, including the US government, the DRC government, and AVZ’s current development partner.”

AVZ and KoBold frame their proposal as a contribution to “peace and prosperity,” promising “thousands of well-paying jobs for the Congolese, over several decades.”

Kinshasa recently offered the Trump administration a mining agreement in exchange for its support toward resolving the ongoing conflict in Eastern DRC.  Since then, the issue has been the subject of bilateral discussions, and Washington is actively involved in the resolution process.

“A lasting peace in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo will open the door to greater U.S. and Western citizen investment, which will create an ecosystem conducive to responsible and reliable supply chains for things like critical minerals,” declared US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on April 25, 2025, in Washington, at the signing of the “declaration of principles” for a peace agreement between the DRC and Rwanda, the main supporter of the M23 rebellion.

This article was initially published in French by Pierre Mukoko

Edited in English by Ola Schad Akinocho

• Cameroon expects cotton production to rise to 350,100 tons in 2025

• This would mark the highest output since 2022

• China remains the top buyer of Cameroonian cotton

Cameroon is on track to produce around 350,100 tons of cotton in 2025, according to estimates from the Bank of Central African States (BEAC). If confirmed, this would be the highest level recorded by the state-run cotton company, Sodecoton, since at least 2022.

Sodecoton, which supports over 220,000 farmers in the northern regions of the country, reported a drop in production in 2023, down to 314,455 tons from 330,000 tons in 2022. That decline matched a reduction in planted land, which shrank from nearly 232,000 hectares in 2022 to just over 223,000 hectares in 2023.

In 2024, BEAC expects output to rebound to 340,000 tons. If the 2025 forecast holds, this would mean a year-over-year increase of just over 10,000 tons.

This upward trend brings Sodecoton closer to its long-term goal of producing 400,000 tons per year on average. Hitting that target would be a major win for the country, as cotton remains one of its leading sources of export earnings.

In 2023, Cameroon exported 127,506 tons of raw cotton, a 14.7% drop compared to the previous year. These shipments brought in CFA147.9 billion, down 4.8%, according to the National Institute of Statistics. Despite the decline, cotton still ranked among the country’s top five exports, accounting for 4.9% of export revenue.

It still trails far behind oil (37.7%), liquefied natural gas (14.1%), cocoa beans (12%), and sawn wood (6.7%).

Most of Cameroon’s cotton goes to Asia. Sodecoton says China alone has taken about 38% of exports on average in recent years, ahead of buyers in Bangladesh, Vietnam, and Indonesia.

The adoption of a digital traceability system facilitates better quality control and enhances the reputation of African produce globally. It will offer new opportunities for farmers and exporters while addressing the barriers that have historically hindered market access.

Uganda is adopting a digital traceability system aimed at boosting the global competitiveness of its fruit and vegetable farmers, Dr. Caroline Nankinga from the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries revealed at a press conference held on September 23.

Dr. Nankinga emphasized the system’s role in enhancing efficiency, noting that, starting September 30, 2024, agricultural inspectors will use the platform to verify consignments, expediting operations.

The system, developed by the Re-engineering of Uganda's Sanitary and Phytosanitary Inspection of Horticulture Exports (RUSH) initiative, seeks to improve tracking of fresh produce from farms to Entebbe International Airport, ensuring compliance with international standards and reducing market access barriers caused by past interceptions. It is set to transform the inspection and certification process, replacing the outdated manual documentation methods with a streamlined digital platform.

One of the major benefits of RUSH is its ability to address long-standing challenges, such as delays and interception risks due to manual processes. Exporters can now upload essential documents online, enabling real-time compliance checks and swift corrective measures if issues arise during inspections.

Pests and diseases are major causes of export interceptions in Uganda. According to HortiFresh, a business membership organization that supports Uganda's Fresh Fruits and Vegetables (FFV) sector, in 2022, over 200 interceptions were reported due to pests, leading to substantial revenue losses for exporters​. The RUSH system's digital traceability solution directly addresses these challenges by ensuring better monitoring, compliance, and real-time corrective actions. This can help reduce interceptions, safeguard revenue, and restore confidence in Uganda's agricultural exports.

Hikmatu Bilali

Cameroon’s cocoa production could climb to 306,800 tons by the end of the 2024–2025 season, according to new data from the Bank of Central African States (BEAC). This would mark the country’s highest cocoa output in over five years if the forecast holds. The season officially ends on July 15, 2025.

The BEAC's projection shows a 17,400-ton increase compared to the previous season, when the central bank estimated production at 289,400 tons. However, this figure differs from the one published by Cameroon’s National Cocoa and Coffee Board (ONCC), which reported 266,725 tons of cocoa sold during the 2023–2024 season — about 22,675 tons less than the BEAC estimate.

The BEAC’s forecast also comes a few weeks after a separate outlook from Fitch Solutions, which expects Cameroon’s cocoa production to rise by 6.7% in 2025 to over 280,000 tons. Based on ONCC’s figures, that would mean an increase of about 17,870 tons. Using BEAC’s data instead, the jump would be 19,389 tons.

Stronger prices, stronger supply

One of the main drivers behind the expected rise in production is the surge in farmgate prices, which have reached record levels. Since the 2023–2024 season, cocoa farmers in Cameroon — already known to be among the best-paid globally — have been receiving up to CFA6,000 per kilogram in some regions. Prices have stayed above CFA5,000 per kilogram since the start of the current season, offering a strong incentive for producers to expand output.

Cocoa remains one of Cameroon’s most important cash crops. The projected increase in production could bring in more export earnings, which are already substantial. By the end of 2023, Cameroon had exported a little over 180,000 tons of raw cocoa beans, generating close to CFA360 billion, according to the country’s National Institute of Statistics.

Meanwhile, a growing number of cocoa processing plants across the country have helped diversify exports. In 2023, Cameroon shipped 49,411 tons of cocoa paste and 23,825 tons of cocoa butter, earning CFA97.4 billion and CFA55.5 billion respectively, the same report showed.

Togo pushes new forestry regulations to modernize its environmental laws. Sector players met in Lomé from April 24 to 25, 2025, to validate a revised draft forestry code.

The Ministry of Environment and Forest Resources (MERF) leads the reform to align national rules with global sustainable management standards and multilateral agreements. The update falls under the government’s 2020-2025 roadmap, especially under efforts to modernize environmental legislation.

The revised code contains 173 articles. For this new code, 140 old articles were amended, 13 deleted, and 33 added. Colonel Koffi Dimizou, MERF’s Secretary General, stated: “It’s about adapting our legislative framework to the new paradigms of environmental preservation and sustainable development.”

The new draft will be reviewed by the government’s General Secretariat for legislative review before adoption by the National Assembly. The reform aims to boost forest governance, protect ecosystems, and advance Togo’s climate goals. This follows the recent adoption of a climate change law by the National Assembly.

Ayi Renaud Dossavi

Cameroon has officially launched its first chemical fertilizer production plant, marking a key step in cutting back on costly imports and supporting local agriculture. On May 7, Gabriel Mbaïrobé, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, inaugurated the facility in Bonaberi, Douala.

The factory was built by Hydrochem Cameroun, a subsidiary of the Noutchogouin Jean Samuel Group (NJS). It has an annual production capacity of 120,000 tons, expandable to 150,000 tons. The cost of the project has not been disclosed.

According to Jean Marie Manga, Deputy Director of Hydrochem Cameroun, the plant imports raw materials in bulk and formulates fertilizer blends locally, based on the specific needs of its clients. Minister Mbaïrobé welcomed the initiative, stating that it fits Cameroon’s new farming policy, which encourages a focus on soil health first, using fertilizers to correct deficiencies with targeted nutrients.

The minister added that this new facility should allow Cameroon to cut its annual fertilizer imports in half, currently estimated at 300,000 tons. Data from the National Institute of Statistics (INS) shows that between 2021 and 2023, the country spent CFA173.9 billion on fertilizer imports. In 2023 alone, Cameroon imported 228,326 tons, a 76.2% increase from the previous year, with a total cost of CFA70.9 billion.

The spike in volume and prices has worsened Cameroon’s trade deficit, which exceeded CFA2,000 billion for the first time in 2023. According to INS, the inflation in fertilizer imports was partly caused by the Russia–Ukraine conflict—Russia being a major supplier to Cameroon—as well as the lack of domestic production.

To address this challenge, the government announced in 2023 the construction of three fertilizer plants, following the failure of a stalled project led by German firm Ferrostaal, which had been pending for more than 12 years. The Hydrochem facility is the first of the three to become operational.

This launch also deepens the presence of the NJS Group in Cameroon’s agricultural input market. In December 2023, the group acquired the local operations of Norwegian fertilizer giant Yara, expanding its footprint in the sector.

Bayobab’s continued investments in fibre infrastructure reflect its mission to power Africa’s digital economy by connecting people, businesses, and markets across the continent. The new Kampala–Malaba link positions Uganda as a hub in the East African digital ecosystem, opening new opportunities for cloud service providers, hyperscalers, and enterprise customers.

On May 6, Bayobab Uganda, a subsidiary of MTN Group, announced the successful launch of its newest and shortest fibre optic route: the Uganda Railway National Long Distance (NLD) connection from Malaba to Kampala.

Speaking at the unveiling in Kampala, Bayobab Uganda Managing Director Juliet Nsubuga emphasised the importance of this project in accelerating Uganda’s digital transformation. She noted that by partnering with the Uganda Railway to deploy fibre along the existing rail infrastructure, Bayobab is bringing reliable, high-speed internet to communities along the route and reinforcing regional interconnectivity.

Spanning 260 kilometres from Kampala through Tororo to Malaba at the Kenya border, the route forms a critical part of the regional digital backbone, connecting directly to Bayobab’s subsea cable landing stations in Mombasa, Kenya. Constructed between December 2024 and February 2025, this route completes a seamless digital corridor from Kampala to the coast, following the recent launch of the Mombasa–Malaba/Busia fibre link in Kenya.

Supporting over one terabyte of capacity, the route offers high-speed, low-latency connectivity to major data centres in Kampala, including Raxio, Airtel House, and MTN Uganda. It is expected to significantly enhance service delivery for telecoms, ISPs, and global tech firms operating in the region.

This new route complements existing MTN fibre infrastructure across multiple corridors, including Busia–Jinja–Kampala and Malaba–Lira–Masindi–Kampala, offering network redundancy and increased reliability. It is a vital addition for Uganda, a landlocked country whose international internet access relies on robust cross-border connectivity.

Julianne Mweheire, Director of Industry Affairs and Content Development at the Uganda Communications Commission, welcomed the milestone, noting its alignment with Uganda’s national agenda to expand digital services and bridge the rural-urban connectivity gap. She said the new route enhances network resilience and provides valuable redundancy for Uganda’s digital infrastructure.

Bayobab serves telecom operators, ISPs, cloud providers, hyperscalers, and enterprise clients, and the new Malaba–Kampala fibre route significantly strengthens its service offering. By delivering faster service through reduced latency, improved reliability via route diversity, and cost efficiency as a shorter and less congested alternative to existing paths, the route directly addresses key industry demands. These advantages enhance Bayobab’s competitiveness, positioning it as a preferred partner in East Africa’s connectivity ecosystem and enabling it to capture a larger share of clients. With its existing 114,000km of fibre infrastructure, it plans to expand to 135,000km by 2025 as part of its business strategy.

Hikmatu Bilali

The DR Congo government is looking for a firm to repair and modernize the Bumba-Aketi-Buta-Mungbere railway, stretching 870 km in the northeast part of the country. On May 2, 2025, Kinshasa launched an international tender to find a company. 

The line, with a 0.60 m gauge and rails ranging from 18 to 33 kg/m, once anchored the region’s economy by moving agricultural and mining products, but has fallen into disrepair since the late 1990s.

The Ministry of Transport said contractors must have at least 10 years of major rail project experience and proven technical and financial strength. The project scope may include additional feasibility studies, upgrades to track, signaling, and telecoms, and the establishment of a sustainable operating model, such as a PPP, concession, or other institutional arrangement. The deadline for applications is June 30, 2025.

The project ultimately aims to open up Bas-Uélé and Haut-Uélé, strengthen inland rail connectivity, and lay the groundwork for sustainable transport in one of the DRC’s most isolated regions. 

Reviving this line would unlock new opportunities for supply, marketing, and processing for local economic actors, crossing areas rich in forestry, agriculture, and mining-including gold in Watsa and Mungbere-and could improve links to the port of Mombasa via Uganda.

From 1924 to the late 1990s, this railway line structured the economy of the Uélé provinces, facilitating the evacuation of agricultural and mining products. Its gradual deterioration led to the collapse of Société des chemins de fer Uélé-Fleuve (SCFUF), formerly known as Vicicongo.

This article was initially published in French by Boaz Kabeya (intern) and Timothée Manoke (intern)

Edited in English by Ola Schad Akinocho

Zambia’s power watchdog greenlit the Kalumbila-Kolwezi Interconnection Project (KKIP) on May 6. The project will see the design, financing, construction, and operation of a 330 kV high-voltage line stretching roughly 190 km to connect Zambia with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Backed by Enterprise Power DRC (Enpower), a private electricity trading company, the KKIP has been years in the making. While its approval by the Zambian regulator is laudable, it still needs to be approved by the Congolese power regulator, according to Enpower.

So far, feasibility studies, detailed design, and environmental and social impact assessments have all been completed and validated by authorities in both countries. Concession and implementation agreements are in place, signed by the Ministries of Energy in Zambia and the DRC.

The next hurdle is finalizing the project’s financing. The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the World Bank Group’s private sector arm, was appointed lead arranger in November 2024, with financial close targeted for mid-2025. The total project cost is estimated at $250 million.

The KKIP aims to increase power transmission capacity between Zambia and the DRC, especially to supply the mining regions of Lualaba and north-western Zambia, where energy demand is rising alongside mining expansion. The only existing interconnection line is already saturated. Enpower reports it has signed a 350 MW supply contract with Zambia’s national utility, ZESCO, and has secured a permit to import electricity into the DRC.

This article was initially published in French by Pierre Mukoko

Edited in English by Ola Schad Akinocho

A few months ago, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) partnered with former US Navy SEAL officer Erik Prince to secure mining revenues. Concluded before the ongoing conflict with the Rwandan-backed M3 rebels broke out in January, the partnership was reported by Reuters.

According to the international media, which quoted an unnamed source, the move aims to ensure that "extractive and other industries operate transparently, and that their production and revenues are properly distributed under the Congolese Mining Code."

Erik Prince and his team have been contracted to help the DRC earn more mining revenues by combating smuggling and corruption. However, no details have been provided on how the agreement will be implemented. All that is known is that the teams were to start in the south of the country, notably in Katanga, where the DRC is said to be losing up to $40 million in monthly revenues at the border between Kolwezi and Zambia alone, according to a source quoted by Reuters.

This year, the DRC is projecting mining revenues of over $5 billion, up 11% on the 2024 forecast. But according to the authorities, these revenues could be much higher if the country succeeds in reducing smuggling and corruption in this key sector.

Against this backdrop, the government is stepping up initiatives to secure mining resources. Since October 2024, President Félix Tshisekedi has ordered tighter border controls in mining areas.

Born on June 6, 1969, Erik Prince is an American businessman and a former Navy SEAL officer. In 1997, he founded the private military company Blackwater Worldwide (now Academi), which he sold in 2010 after several of its employees were indicted for killing civilians in Iraq. The latter were convicted, then pardoned by Donald Trump during his first term in office.

Erik Prince could benefit from the mining agreement on the table between Washington and Kinshasa–through one of his companies, Frontier Services Group (FSG). In December 2020, the newspaper Africa Intelligence revealed that FSG had signed an agreement with Sicomines. A few months earlier, the same media had reported the existence of a contract with China Nonferrous Metal Mining Corp (CNMC).

This article was initially published in French by Ronsard Luabeya (intern)

Edited in English by Ola Schad Akinocho