Rich Links: Rising Cocoa Prices and Shadowy Oil Deals

Le cacao grimpe à son plus haut niveau en trois ans

"Le cacao a atteint son plus haut niveau en trois ans (2000 livres la tonne à la Bourse de Londres et 3 234 dollars à celle de New York) grâce à une bonne demande mais aussi en raison d'un regain d'intérêt de la part des spéculateurs."

South African Mining: What an Iraqi in Norway can teach us all

"Mining, more than anything else, fixed the economic, social and racial relations we see today. It is probably too much to expect that relationship between a government elected by the descendants of the victims of mining and the mining sector itself would not be a fraught one."

Sub-Saharan Africa's Biggest Oil Producers in Shadowy Deals With Swiss Commodity Traders

"Governments in sub-Saharan Africa are selling crude petroleum in shadowy deals worth hundreds of billions of dollars without publicly accounting for the money, according to a new report."

Rosewood plunder in #Guinea-Bissau

"From interior regions of Guinea-Bissau, the trucks openly haul tree trunks, said Constantino Correia, an agro-engineer and former director of the country’s forest management agency. The cargo, mainly African rosewood, is destined for China, according to Abílio Rachid Said of the government Institute of Biodiversity and Protected Areas (IBAP)."

#Uganda to Review #Mining Laws

"Fred Kabagambe-Kaliisa, the permanent secretary of the energy ministry said globalization has opened up new investment frontiers leading to an increase in the pool of risk capital available for exploration and mining development. Kaliisa said for Uganda to sustain the attraction of mobile international capital, it is imperative to review the current legal regime."

Will China Be Buying African Rice?

"As our recent SAIS-CARI conference on Chinese agricultural investment in Africa pointed out, China is not exploring ways to feed its growing population using food grown in Africa. At least, not yet."

A Sweet Outlook for #Cocoa Investors

"Surging global demand for chocolate should keep the rally going, even if the cocoa crop hits a record. And an El Niño could boost prices even more."

Abidjan veut passer aux "diamants du développement"

"Le ministre ivoirien de l'Industrie et des Mines, Jean-Claude Brou, a officiellement lancé ce lundi 21 juillet le projet "Droits de propriété et développement du diamant artisanal" (DPDDA II), qui vise à améliorer la production et la traçabilité du diamant en Côte d'Ivoire, avec le soutien de l'USAID."

Kenya: Extractives Industry Cautioned Over Transfer Pricing

"Government's failure to crack down on firms undervaluing mineral exports has resulted in "significant losses" for the Treasury, according to tax advisory firm RSM Ashvir."

Southeastern #Tanzania, 2050: Texas, Dubai, Cabinda, or Makondeland?

"The forthcoming exploitation of sizable reserves of gas, expected to accrue billions of dollars in the coming decades, pave the way for a different scenario for the future. […] Amongst other changes, the ‘peripheral’ status of the South East might shift. Let us speculate a little bit about some potential trajectories in the coming decades."

#Ethiopia, #Egypt and #Sudan resume talks over Nile dam

"Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt will resume tripartite negotiations over the construction of Ethiopia's hydro power plant project known as the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD)."