
Congo’s Copper Mines Are Building the Power Stations the State Never Could
DR Congo solar installations are set to rise 544% in 2026, Ember says, after a 233 MW array began powering...
September 8, 2026Africa holds the minerals the energy transition cannot happen without: more than two-thirds of the world’s cobalt in the Democratic Republic of Congo, vast copper in the DRC and Zambia, lithium in Zimbabwe, plus manganese, graphite and the rare earths every great power now wants to control. The Rio Times tracks the mines, deals, export rules and the contest among China, the US and the Gulf for Africa’s critical-minerals supply chain – and what it means for resource-rich Latin America, which faces the same price-taker-or-leverage choice. This hub gathers our coverage of Africa’s minerals economy.

DR Congo solar installations are set to rise 544% in 2026, Ember says, after a 233 MW array began powering...
September 8, 2026
Africa Intelligence Brief for September 7: insurgents take a South African mechanic hostage near Mozambique's Cabo Delgado, Kenya's nurses' strike...
September 7, 2026
Africa critical minerals race turns on DRC cobalt quotas and Zimbabwe lithium bans as the US, China and EU fight...
September 7, 2026
A Harare court heard that 720 tonnes of unbeneficiated lithium ore left Zimbabwe in 23 trucks on fraudulent export documents,...
September 7, 2026
Central African Republic diamonds are exportable again after the Kimberley Process lifted an 11-year ban, but the mining register still...
September 6, 2026
Sierra Leone is winding up the Mineral Wealth Fund company and ending its Tonkolili North stake, in what officials call...
September 6, 2026
Simandou 2040 now carries five non-negotiable rules on execution, spending quality, project maturity, local content and ministers in the field.
September 6, 2026
The Motsepe graphite case is back: Pula has appealed a Tanzanian ruling that struck its US$195 million claim off the...
September 6, 2026
Zimbabwe extends mining regularisation deadline to 31 December 2026, as state agency logs 18 suspected smuggling cases covering about 2,660...
September 6, 2026Brazil runoff date: Sunday, October 25, poll closing times and when results start · Brazil runoff polls: Flávio 51%, Lula 49% · Kalshi and Polymarket odds