insert_link Africa India sends geologists to Zambia Zambian mine. Photo: India Mining website India has dispatched a team of geologists to Zambia to explore copper and cobalt deposits. The plan is to secure critical minerals essential for India's energy transition and industrial expansion. Reuters reports that under a government-to-government deal, Zambia has granted India rights to explore approximately 9,000 km² in its resource-rich Copperbelt region. The exploration drive is led by the Geological Survey of India (GSI) and […] today1 July, 2025
insert_link Business / Economics China says US plan to toughen semiconductor curb will backfire Beijing says the US plan of coercing other countries into going after China's semiconductor industry will backfire. It follows a report by Bloomberg that said Donald Trump's administration is sketching out tougher versions of US semiconductor curbs and pressuring key allies to escalate their restrictions on China's chip industry. Laura Westbrook has more. today26 February, 2025
insert_link Science & Technology Taiwan may offer help for industry over Trump tariff threats Taiwan's premier says the government will soon look at whether it needs to help its domestic industry over threats by US President Donald Trump to put tariffs on semiconductors. Trump said on Monday he plans to impose tariffs on imported chips, pharmaceuticals and steel to get the producers to make them in the United States. Laura Westbrook reports. today29 January, 2025
insert_link Environment Gum arabic from Africa’s acacia trees in the Sahel is used in hundreds of products: what’s worth knowing By Asgar Ali, University of Nottingham The conflict in Sudan has turned attention to a rarely discussed commodity: gum arabic. This product, the dried sap of certain species of acacia trees, is used mainly as an additive in the soft drinks industry. Sudan accounts for about 70% of global gum arabic exports. Asgar Ali, an expert in sustainable food systems, answers questions about the commodity and its […] today30 April, 2024
insert_link Africa ‘We miners die a lot.’ Appalling conditions and poverty wages: the lives of cobalt miners in the DRC Labourers load sacks of cobalt onto bicycles at Mutoshi mine in July 2021. Roy Maconachie Roy Maconachie, University of Bath It was a cool, dusty morning in July 2021, when I first visited the Kamilombe cobalt mine in Lualaba Province in south-eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Situated just outside Kapata on the south-west outskirts of Kolwezi, a mining town that has historically served as an important centre for copper and […] today31 January, 2024
