Phosphates

Australia, Morocco, Western Sahara
OCP resumes Western Sahara phosphate exports to Australia

Faced with supply difficulties linked to Russia's war on Ukraine, the Australian fertiliser producer Incitec Pivot has restarted its imports of phosphates from the Boucraa mine in the Sahara, operated by OCP. It had stopped sourcing there in 2016, after protest from Scandinavian shareholders.

Ghana
Cocobod faces soaring fertiliser costs and large-scale illicit resales

Cocobod hasn't changed the price it charges cocoa farmers for fertiliser even though the international market price has gone through the roof. Meanwhile the illegal resale of the heavily subsidised fertilisers that it distributes to its Ghanaian affiliates is flourishing.

France, North Africa
Patrick Durel to stay on as Macron's North Africa adviser

Conseiller chargé de l'Afrique du Nord et du Moyen-Orient à l'Elysée depuis 2020, Patrick Durel devrait voir sa mission prolongée.

Ethiopia
Cash-strapped Addis faces fertiliser shortage

The Ethiopian government stockpiled fertiliser before the crisis and price hike. At a time when foreign exchange reserves are at their lowest, this hoard could help finance farming subsidies.

Palace Intrigues
Macky Sall, Assimi Goïta, George Weah, Evariste Ngamana and Marine Le Pen

Intrigues big and small... Every Tuesday, Africa Intelligence takes a peak into the corridors of power in Africa and beyond.

Senegal/MaliMacky Sall telephones Assimi Goïta

LiberiaGeorge Weah to be guest of honour at Prince Johnson's birthday celebrations

CAR/FranceParis refuses medical transfer of deputy speaker Evariste Ngamana

France/AlgeriaMarine Le Pen hones her stance on relations with Algiers

Tunisia
Tunis seeks backers for struggling PPP infrastructure projects

In addition to existing projects such as the Sfax tramway and desalination plants, the Tunisian government has several longer-term ecological and energy-based ideas in the pipeline. These include a phosphate pipeline facility and the development of green hydrogen.

Togo
Miners eye up Togo as the new uranium frontier

Previously known for investments in countries with a well-established mining sector, British junior Power Metal Resources (PWR) has decided to tackle a territory previously explored only for its phosphates: Togo.

Morocco
OCP fails to get visas to attend the Vivatech trade fair in Paris

The giant Moroccan phosphates group has become the latest victim in the visa war raging between Paris and Rabat. Relations between the two countries are currently at a low ebb.

Nigeria
Government plans PR campaign on natural resources to attract foreign investors

In order to increase the mining sector's contribution to the country's GDP, the Nigerian government is preparing a PR campaign to promote its national resources. But it first has to wait for the findings of a geological survey currently in progress.

Morocco
Out of the stock market, Innophos restarts import of Western Saharan phosphates

Despite having stopped imports of phosphate from Western Sahara as a matter of "social responsibility" in 2018, the US company Innophos resumed these in 2021 according to the NGO Western Sahara Resource Watch. President Donald Trump had recognised Moroccan sovereignty over the disputed territory the year before, around the same time Innophos pulled its stock listing.

Guinea
New A-team takes over Mount Nimba iron ore project from disputed Sable Mining

Nimba Development Co has obtained the mining rights on a Guinean iron ore permit previously held by Sable Mining, which was accused of irregular practices in 2016. Several Guinean mining experts are on the Nimba board and management, among them the former head of the Simandou iron ore project and the former managing director of GAC, who is also the daughter of Guinea's transition prime minister.