Africa

1. US mulls fresh travel ban
2. Afrikaners head to DC
3. Activists sue on abuse claims
4. Dangote plans fuel delivery
5. FDI flows plummet
6. Ghana’s smuggling problem

A musical collaboration between Indian and Nigerian pop stars.

US may crank up Africa travel bans

The Trump administration is reportedly considering extending its travel restrictions to 25 more African countries. The expansion would include Africa’s most populous country, Nigeria, as well as other large nations including DR Congo, Egypt, and Ethiopia. Angola, which US President Donald Trump’s predecessor Joe Biden visited in December, is also on the new list, according to The Washington Post and The New York Times.

US concerns about the listed countries range from doubts about government competence in issuing authentic identity documents, to anti-semitism, and visa overstays. Country-specific data from a 2023 Department of Homeland Security report, cited by the White House when announcing its restrictions, showed around 400 people from Chad overstayed — 49.5% of visitors from the country that year. And 200 from Equatorial Guinea (21.9%) did the same. But this compares to 20,000 overstays from Spain, at a rate of 2.4%, and 15,000 from the UK (0.4%).

An affected country could gain a reprieve by agreeing a deal with the US to be a “safe third country” to receive deported citizens from another nation, the Times reports.

Afrikaner delegation heads to Washington

A delegation of prominent Afrikaner-led groups is heading to Washington, DC, next week, to discuss the treatment of South Africa’s white minority — an issue that has strained relations between Washington and Pretoria. US President Donald Trump has criticized South Africa for its land-expropriation law, supported claims of “white genocide,” and launched a refugee program to bring white farmers to the US. Among the delegates is the leader of the rightwing Freedom Front Plus party, who has criticized South African President Cyril Ramaphosa for downplaying the problems faced by white farmers in his tumultuous Oval Office meeting with Trump in May. Another delegate echoed those concerns, saying “many commercial farmers have the same sentiment as President Trump.” While South African officials have repeatedly emphasized that their land policies do not specifically target white Afrikaners, the delegation’s visit could reignite skepticism among US conservatives and redirect attention towards South Africa’s internal politics.

— Mathias Hammer

‘Tortured’ activists sue governments

Two leading East African political activists who allege they were abducted and tortured by security agents in Tanzania are suing that country’s government, as well as Kenya and Uganda for being complicit.

Boniface Mwangi, a veteran Kenyan activist, and Agather Atuhaire, a Ugandan human rights lawyer, have filed lawsuits at the East African Court of Justice, the East African Legislative Assembly, and the International Criminal Court for incidents they say took place between May 19 and May 22. Both have previously stated publicly that they were subjected to various forms of sexual torture and physical intimidation at the hands of agents after being abducted in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania’s commercial capital.

The rights activists were in Tanzania at the time to show support for detained opposition politician Tundu Lissu, who was arrested in April and charged with treason after calling for electoral reforms ahead of general elections in October.

Tanzanian security authorities have denied the allegations.

Dangote to reshape Nigeria’s fuel supply

Nigerian petrol distribution companies have expressed alarm at Dangote Refinery’s plans to deliver products directly to consumers, which could reshape the country’s petrol supply chains.

The $20 billion refinery owned by Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, said it will begin the service in mid-August, distributing directly to pump stations and manufacturers, as well as telecoms and aviation companies who are among the largest daily consumers of fuel in Africa’s most populous country. The operation will be powered by 4,000 newly acquired tankers made by Chinese automaker Dongfeng.

A trade group of petrol distributors said Dangote’s plan “could lead to a monopoly in disguise” while causing mass job losses in the sector. But the company, which plans to win over buyers with incentives like access to credit, said its plan is aligned with President Bola Tinubu’s “bold and reformative economic policies.”

FDI flows dry up

Sub-Saharan Africa received the lowest share of foreign direct investment inflows of all developing economy regions during 2012-23, new World Bank research showed. Globally, flows of FDI for developing economies fell to their lowest level since 2005 due to “rising trade and investment barriers,” the report found, reaching only $435 billion last year. Sub-Saharan Africa received around 5% of cumulative FDI flows in this period. The report’s authors told Semafor that the region has been “generally lagging” behind other developing economies “in fostering conditions that are important for both attracting FDI and maximizing their economic effects,” such as human capital development and trade openness. Stepping up integration efforts through regional trade and investment treaties — such as the African Continental Free Trade Area — will be “instrumental for fostering FDI” in the region, they said.

— Preeti Jha

Ghana grapples with gold smuggling

The amount Ghana lost due to gold smuggling between 2019 and 2023, according to a new report. The study, by nonprofit Swissaid, found a 229-tonne trade gap between gold exports and imports over the period. Most of the precious metal smuggled out from the country’s artisanal gold mining sector ended up in the United Arab Emirates. The report noted that the imposition of a tax on artisanal gold exports in 2019 was followed by a sharp fall in exports and a spike in smuggling. The withholding tax was halved to 1.5% in 2022, resulting in formal exports rebounding in Africa’s top gold producer. The tax was scrapped altogether in March.

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Business & Macro

🇧🇼 Botswana’s mining company Debswana is looking to raise money from international capital markets to fund a $6 billion plan to convert its flagship diamond mine into an underground project.

🇳🇬 Nigeria’s inflation rate fell to 22.97% in May from 23.71% in April, continuing a trend of slowing price rises since inflation data was rebased in January.

Climate & Energy

🇲🇬 Energy investor CrossBoundary Group and Anka, a renewable energy consultancy, will jointly finance, build, and operate a $20 million portfolio of electricity mini-grids in Madagascar.

🇬🇭 Protected wetlands in Ghana are dumping grounds for discarded garments from UK fashion brands including Next, and Marks & Spencer, an investigation by Greenpeace Africa found.

Geopolitics & Policy

🇹🇬 Togo suspended the operations of French media houses RFI and France24 for three months for allegedly broadcasting “inaccurate, biased” content.

🇰🇪 Kenya’s deputy police chief stepped down to allow for an investigation into a blogger’s death that has sparked protests in the country.

Tech & Deals

🇿🇦 Starlink wants to provide internet services in South Africa “as a legally compliant company,” it said in a letter to authorities, denying that it is pushing to be exempt from Black ownership rules.

🌍 US investor Endeavor Catalyst, whose portfolio of more than 40 African investments includes Nigerian unicorns Flutterwave and Moniepoint, is raising a $300 million investment fund.

A musical collaboration between Indian and Nigerian popstars is making waves. Chaap Tilak — a track by India’s Kanika Kapoor and Nigeria’s Lade and Alpha P — was described as “a genre-blending masterpiece” by the media platform Culture Custodian. The song fuses classical Indian instruments, such as the tabla, with Afrobeats and vocals from all three artists. Kapoor draws from the verses of the 13th-century poet and Sufi devotee Amir Khusro, while Lade and Alpha P sing in English. The result, says the Lagos-based outlet, is “a truly borderless sound.”

American YouTuber IShowSpeed’s viral trip to China, amplified by Chinese state media, is part of a broader Beijing effort to reshape its global image using foreign influencers, Zichen Wang writes for Semafor.

A video of the influencer marveling at a Chinese SUV that floats in water, as well as Huawei’s new foldable phone, amassed nearly 9 million views — a clear soft power coup.

Wang’s surprising advice? Beijing should disclose its sponsorship and embrace American-style transparency.

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— Alexis Akwagyiram, Preeti Jha, Alexander Onukwue, and Yinka Adegoke.