The most important developments in sub-Saharan Africa. Six days a week.
Ghana's lands ministry has cleared China's Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt to take control of the companies behind the Ewoyaa lithium project, allowing two linked deals to complete on 26 October. Huayou paid Elevra Lithium about $71 million for its 22.5% interest and offtake rights, and will now fund alone up to $66 million of development costs to raise its stake to 50%. Parliament ratified the mining lease in March, and Elevra agreed in May to sell out to focus on North America. With a funder in place, project operator Atlantic Lithium can move towards building Ghana's first lithium mine, whose spodumene concentrate would feed a Chinese battery-materials group. Huayou's separate bid for all of Atlantic Lithium is still pending.
Australian miner Lotus Resources said on 26 October that Namibia's radiation regulator had granted the last key permit for the first uranium export from Malawi's Kayelekera mine since it restarted in August 2025. About 145,000 pounds of uranium oxide will travel by road through Zambia to Walvis Bay, with a ship booked for November, and then to Orano's conversion plant in France. Kayelekera produced about 11 million pounds in 2009–2014 before low prices closed it; the Malawian government holds 15%. The shipment gives Malawi a new export earner and lets Lotus draw on a prepayment facility of up to $30 million from trader Mercuria. Watch whether the acid plant, now at 50–60% of capacity, can lift output.
Drone strikes on 26 October hit five power stations in Gezira, Sennar, Gedaref and White Nile states, causing a complete blackout of Sudan's southeastern grid, the state-owned Sudan Electricity Holding Company said. A government official told Agence France-Presse (AFP) that the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), at war with the army since April 2023, carried out the coordinated attack on the army-held states. The company gave no date for restoring supply. Power imports from Ethiopia, which delivered 90 to 150 MW over a 220-kilovolt line, have been halted since late July, so the region has no outside source to fall back on while damaged transformers are replaced.
Honeywell said on 26 October that it is launching Forge Plant Cognition, a new artificial intelligence (AI) platform for refineries and gas plants, first at the Dangote refinery near Lagos. The system combines live plant data with engineering and physics models built with NVIDIA and Dell technology; Honeywell estimates gross benefits of over 29 cents a barrel, or more than $60 million a year at full output, before implementation costs. The US firm is already helping Dangote expand capacity from 650,000 to 1.4 million barrels a day. Africa's largest refinery thus becomes the launch site for industrial AI that Honeywell plans to sell worldwide, and Dangote says it will help it cut reliance on foreign experts.
ASP Isotopes said on 26 October that Tetra4, operator of the Virginia gas project in South Africa's Free State, has finished commissioning and reached stable liquid helium production. The first phase is designed for about 70,000 cubic feet of helium and 2,500 gigajoules of liquefied natural gas (LNG) a day, with full capacity expected in the fourth quarter. ASP Isotopes took over owner Renergen in January; first deliveries, once targeted for September, have not yet started. Steady output gives industrial users a supplier outside Qatar, which produced almost a third of world helium last year according to the US Geological Survey, and supports a second phase about 13 times larger, backed by up to $750 million of conditional debt.
Ghana hosted the opening for signature of the United Nations (UN) Convention on Negotiable Cargo Documents in Accra on 26 October, where 26 countries, including Guinea, signed, according to Ghanaian media. The treaty, adopted by the UN General Assembly in December 2025, extends the role of the maritime bill of lading to road, rail and air transport and gives electronic documents the same legal effect as paper ones. Goods moving overland could not until now easily be sold or pledged while in transit. Once ten states ratify it, traders and small firms could use cargo on the move as collateral for bank credit, but the gain depends on banks accepting the documents. Ghana and Guinea say they will start ratification.
