The fallout from China’s economic downturn is a risk to the economies with which it has deep trade ties. The combination of slow economic growth, high unemployment, a struggling real estate sector and low household demand in China will have ripple effects for countries that have a high export concentration in hard commodities. SA is particularly exposed — 93% of our exports to China are hard commodities. ...

Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa have invited six other countries to join the BRICS grouping next year to create a geopolitical counterweight to the G7 and potentially a framework to reduce dependence on Western financial systems. The expansion of BRICS could have important implications for energy investment and trade, since it brings together large mineral resource holders and major oil producers, as well as some of the fastest growing energy consumers....

In the race to secure critical minerals for the energy transition, the United States is looking abroad to counter the dominance of China. Even if the United States were to dramatically improve prospects for domestic mining, there is no way to meet growing global demand without a larger and more diverse supply chain. That is why the United States has begun to form plurilateral and bilateral partnerships and extended tax credits and subsidies for mineral development in closely allied countries....

Though it has been successful, widening the number of eligible countries will be critical to meeting global demand for critical minerals...

There are two elephants in the room. The first is the Lady R saga and what did/did not happen that December night, how it was handled by the US and whether there will be consequences. The second is Eskom — whether SA’s energy sector can be revived, thereby helping the economy escape from the current chokehold....

Policymakers resistance will not stop the transition, it will simply make it economically damaging...

We spend a lot of time talking about how to address climate change: we’ll drive electric cars, use renewable energy, fly less and eat less meat, and so on. But there’s been a matter that’s simply not discussed enough — how do we get our workforce through this? We have a labour crisis coming at us....

Gold mining is a sunset industry that can go out with pride after having built the economy...

Namibia exports beef to the US but has banned the export of unprocessed lithium and other critical minerals...

In the years leading up to the August 2021 election of Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema, the government of the Republic of Zambia (GRZ) rolled out a series of fiscal policies that undermined the profitability of Zambian mining, a major obstacle for one of Africa’s leading copper and cobalt producers. This included the 10th royalty increase in 16 years, double taxation by which royalty payments were not tax deductible for corporate income tax, withheld value-tax refunds, and a 5% import levy that made domestic processing uncompetitive and increased uncertainty of tenure as the government sought to take mines over....

China’s flailing economy should force it to rethink the implications of brash geopolitical decisions in Taiwan. Despite being the second largest economy in the world, the loss of investor confidence and resulting challenges has highlighted the country’s precarity....

An alternative way is needed to manage risk as companies withdraw from the most vulnerable markets...