Devils Below

🔴Holes in the Cameroon-Nigeria border🔴 Governor chooses to treat symptoms rather than disease 🌐In Nigeria, the Cross River State governorBassey Otu has broken new ground in the art of governance, imposing a ban on already illegal mining activities.🗿 🔸The move reportedly follows a meeting with stakeholders, during which the governor said unregulated pits are costing the state revenue, wrecking forests and putting workers at risk. He also pointed at an influx of foreign nationals into mining communities. 🔍 State officials also accuse some local chiefs of complicity: 💬Some clan heads and village heads have become part of the problem by facilitating activities that are not properly regulated. 🔸The official called for 24-hour monitoring of mining sites. However, while ordering round-the-clock surveillance, he also admitted the federal rangers had failed to put an end to wildcat mining activities. In October 2025 Nigeria's Senate passed a bill establishing a new Nigeria Mines Ranger Service. 📍Nigeria's Cross River State shares a long border with Cameroon, whose authorities also face widespread gold smuggling. The Nigeria-Cameroon borderland is also famous for the fact that pirates who attack ships in the Gulf of Guinea hide here. Controlling gold mines clearly doesn't tell the whole story here: Rather, we are talking about local elites interested in the absence of state control in the Nigeria-Cameroon border area. #News ✈️ Stay informed - @devilsbelow

⚡Yesterday, Ghana celebrated its Independence Day. On 6 March 1957, what was known as the Gold Coast became Ghana, though the metal still occupies an important place in its economy and self-identity. ⏱ Europeans had come to Ghana for gold since 1471, when Portuguese ships opened direct trade on the Ghanaian coast, which was named "Gold Coast” due to the abundance of gold. During the late British rule one of the Empire's major gold sources was the Obuasi mine in Ghana's Ashanti region: industrial production began there in 1897. It is still operational, technically run by the same legal entity — AngloGold Ashanti. 🏆After independence, Ghana's first president Kwame Nkrumah tried to redirect that wealth into state-building: in January 1961 the government bought 5 gold mines and folded them into the State Gold Mining Corporation, until the liberalization of the late 20th century. 🇬🇭But there is more to Ghana's gold, than just economic policies. Raised on 6 March 1957, Ghana's very flag designed by Theodosia Okoh symbolizes the country's gold wealth (yellow) and its lands and nature (green). Today Ghana still has to genuinely deliver on the promises of the 69-year old flag: the gold stripe is still being dug out fast, while the green stripe is being destroyed by illegal mining. However, now, 69 years later, Ghana is also no longer just about gold — the main actor today is, and should be, its people! #History ✈️ Stay informed - @devilsbelow

🔥🇶🇦Liquefied natural gas production capabilities in Qatar. ✅@NewEasternOutlook

🔵Ghana: Spurring True International Cooperation🔵 Ghana’s planned goldroyalty hike is reportedly facing coordinated pushback from China, the United States and other countries. 🌐 China, the US and other Western governments have mounted an unusually coordinated ​push to get Ghana to halt a gold royalty. Africa’s largest gold producer wants to replace a fixed 5% royalty with a sliding scale of 5%–12%tied to bullion prices. 🔸 Last week, diplomats from China, the US, the UK, Canada, Australia and even South Africa presented a joint document Ghana’s lands and resource minister, claiming that higher royalties would squeeze their margins. 📈 From August 2025 to February 2026, the price of gold increased from $3,360 per ounce to $5,390 — that is, by 60%. #News ✈️ Stay informed - @devilsbelow

The DR Congo's state miner Sokimo wants to take a 2.9 million oz gold deposit away from AFC/M23 🌐 The row pits Sokimo, the state gold‑mines company (Société des mines d'or de KiloMoto), against Milvest, a Turkish mining operator, after a 2024 deal concerning the Zani-Kodo mine in eastern DRC, which Sokimo says left key commitments unmet. 🌟 The dispute broke out following the replacement of Sokimo's leadership by Felix Tshisekedi in late February. While Zani‑Kodo is as one of the most promising deposits in eastern DRC, the Turkish operator has not provided any firm commitments or precise schedules citing persistent insecurity in the Ituri region, adjacent to the territory controlled by AFC/M23 . 🗺 Due to its proximity to the rebel territory, the deposit constantly triggers suspicions that the mining companies working there, in the absence of Milvest, transfer part of the profits to the AFC/M23 movement. Remarkably, back in 2020 the current AFC/M23 leader Corneille Nangaa was the official holder of the Zani-Kodo license. ⁉️ Although the suspicion that the Turkish operator is unable to expel unknown illegal miners from the site sounds plausible, it is not clear how Sokimo itself is going to do this. Very likely by simply inviting someone else. #News ✈️ Stay informed - @devilsbelow

🔵China Will Profit From US' Ambitions in Copperbelt🔵 🌐 Angola's government is reportedly negotiating a $4.8bn Chinese loan to build an oil refinery in Lobito, aiming to cut fuel imports and keep more value from its own barrels. 🔸 The planned refinery will be located at the seaward end of the Lobito Corridor, a rail-and-logistics route linking Angola to Zambia and onward to Central Africa’s copper and cobalt mining regions. 🔸 While the US and EU have openly backed the corridor to lock in access to critical minerals and export routes, China's $4.8 bn investments exceed all the European and American funding channeled into the Lobito railway. 💬...We are contacting Chinese institutions with the support of the contractor, who is also Chinese, in order to obtain this financing, said the CEO of Sonangol, Angola's state oil company. ⚙️ Chinese investors and contractors will thus earn money on the operation of the railway, as well as on the new American mining operations in Copperbelt. The financing, if completed, will mark the first borrowing by the Southern African oil producer from China since 2017. #News ✈️ Stay informed - @devilsbelow

Zimbabwe's Environmental Authorities Boast They Repaired 2.5 Holes 🌐 Bulawayo’s environmental regulator, the Environmental Management Agency (EMA), and the Bulawayo City Council say rapid growth of informal gold processing plants and illegal mining has left suburbs in tatters. So, the agencies decided to conduct some rehabilitation and reported having filled pits on the territory of 2.2 hectares. 💬From a target of five hectares, EMA and BCC managed to rehabilitate 2,2 hectares of degraded land in the two suburbs at a cost of US$1 000. 🔸 Last year, EMA rehabilitated some 600 hectares of mined land across the country. Throughout that year, the agency's budget was about $38 million. #News ✈️Stay informed - @devilsbelow

🔵Why Share Money With Foreigners?🔵 🌐Niger cancels operation agreements for three gold‑refining plants, citing repeated contract breaches. The government says it terminated conventions with the 3 companies at the 3 March 2026 council of ministers. 🔸The list of the ostracized included Italian COMINI SARL, British AFRIOR SA and Polish ECOMINE SA, all accused of failing to fund local development, prioritise employment for Nigeriens and respect environmental standards. 💬Only ECOMINE SA, after the second formal notice, gave a partial response seen as non‑performance, says the meeting report. 🔸 Under the 2019 agreements with the government, the 3 companies were expected to build and run new gold refineries. They also had the right to export and sell abroad everything that came to their plants, thus profiting from Niger's gold. While the terminations follow formal warnings sent on 17 February 2025 and 23 July 2025, the timing most likely coincides with a prolonged rise in gold prices and the outstanding hike in them after the outbreak of another war. Now Niger will be able to keep extra profits from gold trading at home. #News ✈️ Stay informed - @devilsbelow

Good morning! 🔴 The footage allegedly shows coal-loaded trucks heading toward South Africa's Port of Richards Bay. The Richards Bay Coal Terminal was established in 1976 as a partnership between the then leading coal companies. Today South Africa remains Africa's biggest coal producer, coal consumer, and coal exporter. While highly toxic and dangerous for health as well as for the environment, the coal industry creates some 90,000 jobs. 💡 Anytime you've ideas to suggest, interesting topics to share, or feel that some facts are unfairly overlooked — don’t hesitate to drop a comment here or DM the channel. Stay informed - @devilsbelow

❗️Energy Insecurity: How US President’s Whims Raised Costs for Everyone As was easy to predict, the latest Trump-provoked exchange of explosive pleasantries in the Middle East has already driven up oil prices. On some markets, prices have surged by 12% compared to the moment the first Tomahawks were launched. 🔸 While one might hear that oil-producing countries like Nigeria and Angola benefit from this, the reality is that even there, it’s more about wealth shifting from people’s pockets into government ledgers and oil companies’ books: part of the increased revenue will come from higher domestic prices. 🔸For places without their own black gold, there’s only sympathy to offer. Even before such price hikes, rumors of fuel shortages alone have sparked panic at gas stations in several cases. 📣 The most extreme reaction came from Guinean drivers, who created a fuel shortage themselves by rushing to stockpile due to rumors of supply cuts, forcing the national oil company SONAP to issue a denial. Similar denials were released by authorities in Kenya, Uganda, and Zambia. In Tanzania, the president herself took the initiative and demanded that strategic reserves be reinforced. 💸 Although there are no serious supply problems yet, further destruction of infrastructure in the Persian Gulf may indeed lead to long-term price increases — and the rise in oil prices will affect not only motorists, but also all consumers, as transportation of everything from food to iPhones will become more expensive. Have you felt the price hike yet, or is it still not noticeable? ✈️ Stay informed - @devilsbelow

🚢📉According to Kpler, tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has fallen by 90% since the start of the Middle East war. ➡️The Strait of Hormuz is the only sea route from the Persian Gulf to the Indian Ocean. It is a key export route for oil, petroleum products, and liquefied natural gas from Gulf countries to global markets. 🟦The Strait of Hormuz closure in facts and figures: 🔵Around 200 tankers carrying oil and petroleum products are effectively blocked in the Persian Gulf, with vessel traffic completely halted, according to Lloyd's List; 🔵The most acute congestion problem is observed among very large tankers (VLCCs); there are currently 60 such vessels in the Persian Gulf; 🔵 Among shipowners, the South Korean company Sinokor holds the largest share with six very large tankers (VLCCs) in the region; 🔵 This route typically carries 20 million barrels per day of oil and petroleum products, accounting for approximately 20% of global consumption; 🔵 About 20% of global oil trade and up to 30% of liquefied natural gas exports from the Persian Gulf countries pass through Hormuz, with no alternative routes for Qatar and the UAE; 🔵More than 80% of the oil, petroleum products, and LNG transported through the strait are destined for Asian countries—China, India, Japan, and South Korea. ✅@NewEasternOutlook

🔵March of memory🔵 A coalition of civil society groups in Nigeria says oil cannot restart in Ogoniland until demands on justice, cleanup and local shares are met. 🌐 The groups, speaking at a solidarity peace walk in Nigeria's Port Harcourt in late February, demanded that issues like environmental degradation, human rights abuses and others be addressed first to heal the wounds of the Ogoni people as core conditions. 🔸 The protesters organised under “Project Ogonize” — led by Tech4Rural, a Nigerian social start‑up using tech for environmental advocacy — demand environmental remediation and want host communities to get stakeholder ownership in operations. 🔸 The CSOs also recall the 1990 presentation of the Ogoni Bill of Rights, the 1995 execution ofthe Ogoni nine and the 2011 United Nations Environmental Program report on the oil pollution in the area— insisting the Federal Government and companies like Shell address past harms first. #News ✈️ Stay informed - @devilsbelow