
South Africa Seeks US$2.2 Billion to Modernize Transnet Rail and Ports, Revive Exports
South Africa's Transnet modernization drive seeks about US$2.2 billion to upgrade freight rail and ports and revive coal and iron...
August 18, 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.

South Africa's Transnet modernization drive seeks about US$2.2 billion to upgrade freight rail and ports and revive coal and iron...
August 18, 2026
Africa Intelligence Brief August 17: Zambia's count nears its end, South African unemployment hits 33.6%, and Congo's Ebola outbreak becomes...
August 17, 2026
An unsent US draft letter would tell 35 partner countries to choose the American AI coalition over China's new WAICO...
August 17, 2026
Global goods trade reached US$13.7 trillion in the first half of 2026, up 12.5%, but UNCTAD says higher prices drove...
August 17, 2026
The National Assembly Gold Processing Bill cleared its second reading in February 2025 and has sat at committee stage ever...
August 17, 2026
SADC leaders met in Durban to push critical minerals, while the free movement protocol adopted in 2005 still lacks the...
August 17, 2026
Mauritius secured UN recognition of a 147,000 km² extended continental shelf around Rodrigues Island on 30 July 2026, boosting seabed...
August 16, 2026
The SADC summit in Durban on 17 August gathers 16 heads of state under a theme built around infrastructure, agriculture...
August 16, 2026
Airtel Starlink DRC went live on 14 August, connecting ordinary Android handsets to satellites with no dish, in a country...
August 16, 2026Brazil runoff date: Sunday, October 25, poll closing times and when results start · Brazil runoff polls: Flávio 51%, Lula 49% · Kalshi and Polymarket odds