Devils Below

🧮Playing the Long Game At one point, the recent post-election protests in Tanzania even led to the blockade of the country’s main port in Dar es Salaam — but soon this may never be a problem again. 🌐Tanzania announced the start of construction of the Bagamoyo deep-water port in December — a project first envisioned ten years ago. In 2013 the plan was to secure funding from China and Oman, but then the negotiations collapsed. Who exactly will invest this time is still unclear. All that is known is that preliminary memorandums have been signed with Saudi, Chinese, and Egyptian firms. 🔸 The port’s capacity is projected to reach 20–25 million containers per year. For comparison, Morocco’s Tanger Med, currently the largest in Africa, can handle around 10 million containers. The construction period is an astonishing 20 years. Given the long and unsuccessful negotiations with investors in the past, the Tanzanian government may have decided to take a leading role this time. The key now is political consistency, so that an already long-term project does not stall halfway through. Devils Below

Jealous Sudan Gods may do what cattle may not 🌐 On Monday, Sudan allegedly released intelligence data indicating that in 2024 and early 2025 the RSF smuggled more than $850 million worth of gold out of Darfur and Kordofan, mainly to the UAE. Gold is supposedly the main source of RSF financing. ⏩But it is not only the RSF. According to fresh data from the UAE itself, in 2024 Sudan’s total exports — from both government-controlled territory and RSF-controlled areas — amounted to about $1.97 billion. Even if one takes the published figures at face value, official Khartoum’s exports to the UAE are far larger than those of the militants, and this is despite the break in diplomatic relations. The situation demonstrates how morality once again becomes a tool of ruthless politics. The UAE treats the tragedy in Sudan like a football match in which it supports its favourite team, and all three parties profit from Sudanese gold while soldiers die. Devils Below

Jagersfontein Dam Collapse [ Cost of Negligence ] In Dutch, the word “fontein” has a strong linguistic connection to the word “fountain” - something many residents of South Africa's Free State learned the hard way in September 2022. 🌟On a Sunday morning in September 2022, a wall of mining waste broke loose in Jagersfontein and collapsed onto a nearby settlement like a sudden flood. Homes were submerged within minutes, cars and trees were swept away. Three people were killed, including a small child. ➡️ Jagersfontein is an old diamond mine in South Africa’s Free State. It was established in the 1870s by what would later become De Beers, and became the deepest hand-excavated hole in the world. Large-scale mining ended decades ago, but in recent years a private company returned to the site to reprocess old mine dumps and extract the remaining diamonds. The waste from this reprocessing was pumped into a nearby tailings dam. ➡️ In the weeks leading up to the collapse, local residents reported water seepage and wet spots on the dam wall. Between 2019 and 2021, consulting engineering firms and South Africa’s Department of Water Affairs concluded that the tailings dam was nearing capacity and had a future life of nine to 26 monthss. On 11 September 2022, part of the embankment collapsed, releasing an estimated one million cubic meters of tailings waste... #CostOfNegligence Devils Below

❓ AndWhere Is the PRC??? In many countries there's a saying: for a factory to run well, its ribbon must be cut by a Chinese investor. And now it TURNS OUT one can open their own industrial projects even without the Chinese! 🌐Kenya’s Devki Group and the government of Uganda have opened a major plant to process local iron ore into steel — did it entirely on their own (well, almost). 🔸 The project, presented by Presidents Yoweri Museveni and William Ruto on November 23, is valued at about $500 million, and by 2027 it is expected to add roughly 30–60 percent of Uganda’s current steel output. 🔸 The plant is financed and operated by Devki Group, a private Kenyan industrial conglomerate led by Indian-Kenyan industrialist Narendra Raval. The project represents a successful bet on regional industrial integration - one might even say without foreign investors, if you do not count Narendra Raval, who has lived in Kenya since childhood. Devils Below

🔖A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing China continues to pretend that it is a developing country rather than a neo-colonial superpower. 🌐 At the G20 summit, China had to defend itself over its restrictions on the export of rare earths and critical minerals - restrictions Beijing has been actively toying with since last year as part of its trade wars with the United States. ⏩ These moves displeased not only the US, their target, but also many non-western G20 members, including China’s own partners Russia and Brazil. This is where classic Chinese crisis management kicked in, the main trick of which is to hijack the narrative and turn it into a "Made in China" policy, as if they had invented it in the first place: ❗️ China’s premier said that critical minerals should be used peacefully and on the basis of mutually beneficial cooperation. ❗️ He said that China supports the stability of supply chains and opposes any weaponization thereof. ❗️ He called for a more balanced distribution of benefits within production chains to protect the interests of developing countries. Finally, the Chinese proposed yet another Green Minerals Initiative with the participation of 20 states, including African countries — an initiative aimed, as always, against everything bad and for everything good. The nuance here is that China is no longer a country of the Global South, but a new exploiter that simply wants everyone else to notice this as late as possible. Devils Below

🌟Nothing Happened on November 21, 2025... It is hard to imagine an event that absolutely no one cares about - but such events do exist, and one of them was theministerial meeting of the Kimberley Process in Dubai from 17 to 21 November. The Kimberley Process was created in the early 2000s to put an end to the financing of rebel movements in Africa through the trade in "blood diamonds". Never fully alive to begin with, the process stalled completely by the mid-2010s as various countries tried to turn it into a tool of geopolitical pressure. The main theme of the group’s recent sessions has been the proposal to expand the definition of “blood diamonds” to include violence committed not only by rebels, but also by militias linked to governments, private military companies, or criminal groups against local communities in diamond-producing areas. ➡️At the recent meeting in Dubai the participants once again failed to accomplish this humble paperwork. The idea itself is good, but with it the European countries and the US also try to stop any diamond flow from countries in conflict. In other words, the pretext is protecting African communities from PMCs, but the expected outcome actually is to strip Russia of income from diamonds that only very indirectly help finance the conflict in Ukraine and have nothing to do with any local communities. “A very small minority refuse to move. Only 4 participants … were unwilling to support progress that the overwhelming majority, including all African participants, clearly endorsed. The countries most historically tied to the trade, profit and legacy of what the world came to know as blood diamonds — countries that built reputations and fortunes while Africa paid the bill in blood and soil — are today the very ones slowing Africa’s attempt to turn that history into something better.” The funniest part of the situation is hearing lectures about Africa’s resource exploitation from the Arab chairman of a meeting held in Dubai, UAE. Devils Below

🌐 Weekly News Digest on Africa’s Mineral Industries [ November 17 – November 23 ] This was a week of oil rush and various memoranda of understanding. 💡Here are the key highlights: 🇧🇫 Burkina Faso - Burkina Faso reveals budget hole in the mining sector. 🇨🇫 Central African Republic - The Chinese Embassy in the CAR warns its citizens of risk becoming “mining slaves.” 🇨🇩 DR Congo - The DRC extends its ban on minerals from territories under rebels' control. - Qatar's Emir and President Tshisekedi sign 6 new agreements 🇬🇭Ghana - Ghana to take control of the country's largest undeveloped field in order to halt the decline. - Ghana's forests are taken over by armed illegal miners 🇲🇱 Mali - Barrick and Mali have held new talks and are finalizing terms that will end their dispute 🇲🇿 Mozambique - The European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights files a complaint accusing TotalEnergies of complicity in war crimes - Mozambique grants TotalEnergies additional 4.5 years to implement its delayed LNG project in Cabo Delgado. 🇳🇦 Namibia - TotalEnergies and Chevron have set their sights on a $10 billion field in Namibia. 🇳🇪 Niger - Niger and Chad sign an agreement on fuel supply and a pipeline to Cameroon 🇳🇬 Nigeria - Nigeria and Equatorial Guinea have signed a deal to fast track a cross border pipeline 🇸🇳 South Africa - South Africa and the EU sign a MoU on critical minerals 🇸🇩 Sudan and South Sudan - South Sudan announces full resumption of oil exports after drones struck oil facilities in Sudan 🇺🇬 Uganda - Uganda brings in investors from the UAE to build its $4 billion oil refinery. - Uganda announces its future oil pipeline to Tanzania is 75% ready. 🇿🇲 Zambia -Chinese Premier Li Qiang arrives on a two-day visit to promote Chinese participation in the Tanzania-Zambia railway #NewsDigest Devils Below

Maybe Just Use A Wheelbarrow? [ Minerals In Numbers ] While everyone talks about global warming and helps Elon Musk’s Tesla hit its sales KPIs, serious guys do not bother at all and pump out as much CO₂ in a single day as your car produces in three years — and you yourself in about forty. ➡️ For example, one of the largest haul trucks used in mining today is the Caterpillar 797F. Over a normal working day, one truck burns up to 1,300 gallons of diesel fuel, which is roughly 5,150 liters, and releases around 14 tons of CO₂ into the air simply because it is DRIVING. That daily amount of fuel is enough to fill an average fuel tanker truck. ➡️ Machines like this operate everywhere - from gold mines in western Mali (although the models preferred there are smaller) to copper mines in Zambia. By the way, a single tire for one of these costs around $40,000–$45,000, so a full set runs a quarter of a million dollars before it even touches the ground. #MineralsInNumbers Devils Below

💡Resource Nationalism Index [ EQUATORIAL GUINEA ] Equatorial Guinea is one of Africa's richest nations judging by its GDP per capita (top 5), in terms of which it is even ahead of South Africa. But how did such a small country become so wealthy? The key here is oil and gas. Let's observe how successful (mostly) extraction policies may look like in our "Resource Nationalism Index" series. The policies of Equatorial Guinea in relation to its natural wealth are: ⏩"Process It First" – 4/10 🔸Equatorial Guinea does not impose an outright ban on exporting unprocessed oil or gas. 🔸Crude oil is exported without domestic refining, as the country historically lacked large refining capacity. 🔸Natural gas is exported mainly after processing into LNG or methanol, but this is done by necessity of transport, not due to a legal ban on raw gas exports. ⏩ "Share With the State” – 7/10 🔸The state typically partners with private companies via Production Sharing Contracts (PSCs), under which the government claims a share of production depending on production volumes 🔸Equatorial Guinea’s laws provide for domestic supply obligations, although the local market is very small. The Hydrocarbons Law ensures the state can take oil or gas in kind to satisfy national consumption before exports. 🔸For crude oil, historically the domestic requirement was minimal (since there was no refinery). ⏩ “We’re in Too!” – 8/10 🔸Under the Hydrocarbons Law and model contracts, the state, typically through GEPetrol (the national oil and gas company), is entitled to a free 20% equity stake 🔸Other local shareholders must hold equity interests in the relevant companies of at least 15% of their share capital ⏩ “The Money's Yours, the People Are Ours" – 6/10 🔸There is no fixed percentage of contracts that must go to local companies, but the policy mandates a strong preference and requires additional justification if foreign contractors are engaged instead of locals. 🔸Expatriate-to-national workforce ratio indicates a maximum of 30% expatriates vs. 70% nationals in the workforce ⏩“Just Pay Up" – 7/10 🔸Companies must pay the state a royalty at a minimum rate of 13% of gross production for oil 🔸Bidders for new blocks are encouraged to propose higher or sliding royalties – the rate can escalate with higher daily output 🔸For gas, royalties also apply (often lower than oil’s rate, depending on contracts), but all such details are contract-specific. ⏩"You Come – You Build" – 5/10 🔸Extractive companies are legally obliged to fund local development, spending on social welfare projects each year as per their contract ⏩“We’ll Do It Ourselves” – 6/10 🔸The government actively promotes domestic processing of its resources by investing alongside companies in downstream projects mainly through the state-owned SONAGAS and GEPetrol, offering tax incentives for value addition, and instituting policies (even regional bans) to encourage local beneficiation 🔸The government promotes a Gas Mega Hub initiative on EG's Bioko Island and the creation of local oil refinery ⏩“Come Here, You Bast*rd!” – 10/10 🔸Equatorial Guinea’s government maintains firm control over all its territory 🔸In the hydrocarbon sector, there have been no known instances of illegal oil production – all oil operations are offshore and tightly guarded by the state and international operators. Illegal bunkering or theft is not reported as a major issue. The result is 6.2.The only parameters that fall behind are local processing (the absence of an oil refinery) and weak community development obligations. The latter is pardonable, given that all oil extraction takes place offshore. #ResourceNationalism Devils Below

🇨🇲 Long Live the King! Few people are ready to openly admit any affection for 92-year-old Paul Biya - young women no longer pay him attention, and the country is tired after four decades of endless rule. But you would not guess that from the leaders of Equatorial Guinea, who show an almost ceremonial warmth toward Paul - and not without reason. Their shared gas and oil future depends on the maritime boundary, and for that they need Biya’s signature. 🌐 After Biya’s re-election, the son of Equatorial Guinea’s leader - and in his spare time the country’s vice president - Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue became the first African politician to fly to Yaoundé to congratulate Biya on his inauguration on 6 November. ⏩ But this is not just good neighborliness. The Guinean leader’s son also met with Cameroon’s state National Hydrocarbons Corporation to discuss cross-border energy projects that have been designated as priorities for joint development. 🔸 At the center is YoYo–Yolanda, a gas field discovered in 2007 and located across the territories of both countries. To simplify the process of exploitation, the two resource-rich autocracies decided to develop it together, with the distribution set at 84% for Cameroon and 16% for Equatorial Guinea. 🔸 It is clear that only a fool would agree to a 16/84 split. So Equatorial Guinea points to the unfinished delimitation of the maritime border and its intention to revise its share after the delimitation and the upcoming negotiations with Chevron on how the unified field will operate. 🔸 Meanwhile, Cameroon in turn through the National Hydrocarbons Corporation is trying to win Guinea’s favor by offering joint projects for fuel storage facilities and a modular refinery that could become the first in Equatorial Guinea. All these waltzes and curtsies look symbolic and elegant, but the main thing to remember is that behind them lies a tug-of-war over profit. Devils Below

🪙Let's Chip in, Gentlemen! Burkina Faso turns even more resource nationalist than it seemed to be. 🌐 The Cabinet of Ministers of Burkina Faso has once againfound budget hole in the mining sector. This time, it turned out that about $55 million that mining companies were supposed to contribute for environmental restoration was never paid. 🔸 Operators in the mining sector owe more than 31 billion CFA francs, or about 54.8 million dollars, to the Mine Rehabilitation and Closure Fund (FRFM) for 2023-2024. In 2023, only 29.59% of contributions was collected, and in 2024 the figure reached 49.55%. ⏩ Skeptics may say that the government of Burkina Faso has simply twisted the numbers somewhere and is now demanding the last pennies from poor companies. But it is not a matter of sophisticated accounting. Most companies just didn't pay a single cent into the fund. 🔸 In 2023, only 3 industrial miners made contributions to the fund, while the rest paid nothing. In 2024, 7 mining companies have already made their contributions. One can suggest that the companies were so negligent in 2023 counting on the expected change of Burkina Faso's new sovereign regime, which, to their dismay, did not happen. Now they must start operating in a civilized way - or leave. Devils Below

💎The Mother of All Diamonds [ History ] From November 17 to 21 serious guys gathered in Dubai atthe ministerial meeting of the Kimberley Process, a platform meant to ensure that diamonds do not finance violence or shady schemes. Although the process has long outlived its usefulness, it is interesting to look back at where this entire diamond story began. ⚠️Meet the Big Hole of Kimberley! It is a man-made crater so enormous that it still looks unreal at first sight. Around 50,000 people dug it by hand, and in just four decades extracted about 14.5 million carats of diamonds - roughly 3 tons. The pit reached a depth of about 240 meters and a width of around 463 meters. ➡️Diamonds were discovered here in 1871 on the Vooruitzicht farm, which belonged to the De Beer brothers. News spread quickly, and almost overnight a tent settlement called New Rush appeared - the settlement that later became the city of Kimberley. ➡️ But Kimberley was more than just a mine. This was the birthplace of De Beers, the company that would later dominate the entire global diamond market. ➡️ Interestingly, the company that still carries the name of those same farmer brothers was not founded by them. De Beers was created by Cecil Rhodes and Barney Barnato, who in 1888 established De Beers Consolidated Mines. By the 1980s the company effectively controlled around 90% of the global diamond supply. True, we can make bigger holes today. However, The Big Hole is a monument to the countless lives and harsh labor, which built a whole city nearby and gave rise to a company that set the rules of the diamond market for more than a century. #History Devils Below