The most important developments in sub-Saharan Africa. Six days a week.
Oil above $100 a barrel is now hitting currencies and business activity, not only pump prices, in African fuel importers. South Africa's petrol price passed 30 rand a litre for the first time on 7 October, and Uganda's purchasing managers' index (PMI) fell from 55.0 to 53.0 in September as firms cited fuel and transport costs. Uganda's shilling hit a record low beyond 4,000 to the dollar on 5 October as energy importers bought dollars, while the Central African Republic raised diesel prices by 12% on 1 October, saying it could no longer fund subsidies. Costlier imports raise inflation and make rate cuts less likely, while oil exporters such as Nigeria and Angola gain revenue.
Cobalt hydroxide prices fell about 31% in the third quarter despite the export quotas the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo) uses to restrict supply. Benchmark Mineral Intelligence data, published on 1 October, show the spot price dropped from about $56,300 a tonne in early July to $39,140 on 29 September, while DR Congo's exports rose from 17,053 tonnes in the first quarter to 24,086 tonnes in the second. Kinshasa banned cobalt exports in February 2025 and then replaced the ban with quotas, which allow 96,600 tonnes this year. Lower prices cut the export earnings and royalties DR Congo hoped to raise, and suggest that the quotas now exceed demand from battery makers.
DR Congo's Mines Minister Louis Watum Kabamba launched an airborne geological survey programme on 6 October to map the country's mineral potential. Spanish geophysics firm Xcalibur will survey Kongo Central, Kwango, Kwilu and the Greater Kasai region for the national geological service, raising modern mapping coverage from 22.27% to 46.1% of the country. DR Congo is the world's largest cobalt producer and Africa's leading copper producer, but less than 10% of its territory has been explored in detail. Better data would lower exploration risk for investors and strengthen the government's hand in talks with mining companies and with partners such as the United States that seek critical minerals.
Sudan earned a record $2.292 billion from official gold exports in the first nine months of 2026, the state-owned Sudanese Mineral Resources Company said on 6 October. Its managing director, Mohamed Taher Omer, said revenue beat projections by 31% and output exceeded the annual target by 5%, while the minerals minister said first-half exports alone matched the whole of 2025. Sudan produced about 70 tonnes of gold last year but formally exported only about 14 tonnes, as smugglers took the rest across its borders. Gold is the army-backed government's main source of foreign currency in its war with the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), and higher formal exports give it more dollars for fuel and food imports.
