Who really owns Africa’s minerals?
Malawi bans raw exports, Tanzania bans rabies, the PKK withdraws from Turkey, Bolivia has a new president (and he's not a leftist), and Timor-Leste joins ASEAN.
Hey, this is Sham Jaff, your very own news curator.
Issue #446: This issue feels like a quiet revolution. Malawi just told the mining world to keep its hands off: no more exporting raw minerals unless you process them here. It’s a risky move that could either spark a new kind of industrial independence or blow up in bureaucratic smoke.
And a few borders away, Tanzania’s betting it can wipe out rabies in five years. The plan just got the world’s approval, and it’s working with dogs, data, and a whole lot of coordination.
Two small countries, two massive swings at control: of resources, of health, of their own futures.
Also in this issue: Sudanese Gen Z jailed in Greece, Cameroon on election edge, Pakistan threatening war, and Colombia’s president (and wife plus son) sanctioned by the U.S. Plus, Japan’s first female PM, Timor-Leste joins ASEAN, and Kenya’s runners say “not in our camps.”
Talk soon,
Sham
Malawi wants to keep more of its resource wealth within the country
What happened
Malawi just banned the export of raw minerals. The government wants foreign companies to stop digging up its resources and shipping them out for processing elsewhere. Instead, it’s saying: if you want Malawi’s minerals, process them here. Create jobs here.
Why this matters: In Europe and the so-called West, the real economic power isn’t just in factories, but also in owning the profitable parts of the chain: design, branding, finance. A lot of the physical processing has actually moved to Asia, but Western economies still call the shots higher up. That’s the structural gap. They built their wealth on centuries of extraction, yes, but also on infrastructure, credit, and tech that keep value cycling within their borders. Malawi and its neighbors are trying to break into that loop, but that jump isn’t easy. So while Western economies scramble to secure minerals for its green transition, Malawi’s trying to profit from the ones it already has. A reminder that “who owns the minerals” and “who profits from them” are still two very different questions.
Tell me more
President Mutharika framed it as “economic independence.” He claims the move could bring in about half a billion US dollars a year if Malawi builds its own refining and manufacturing industry; think turning graphite into battery parts instead of just exporting rock. The ban targets big mining areas like Kasiya (known for rutile, used in paints and plastics) and Kangankunde (rich in rare earths, vital for electronics).
Is Malawi the first African country to do this?
No. It’s part of a wider African trend. Countries from Zimbabwe to Namibia have tried similar “resource nationalism” policies, basically saying, “we’re tired of being raw material suppliers.” The results, though, have been mixed. Zimbabwe’s lithium ban led to smuggling. Tanzania’s gold export limits backfired when miners went underground, literally and economically. So Malawi’s move could either spark a small industrial boom, or choke off investment if companies decide it’s too complicated to operate there.
Is everybody on board in Malawi?
Civil society organizations have largely welcomed the announcement but called for strict oversight mechanisms to prevent corruption and exploitation in the sector. An opinion piece by Ephraim Nyondo in the Nyasa Times suggests that there’s indeed some skepticism. “Our borders are porous, our enforcement resources are stretched thin, and our institutional frameworks for mining regulation remain fragile. The Ministry of Mining is still fighting basic battles over licensing fraud, unregistered artisanal miners, and outdated geological data. The government has no functioning large-scale refinery, no internationally accredited assay laboratory, and no mineral exchange system capable of verifying and pricing exports. In such an environment, declaring that no minerals should leave the country unprocessed is like locking a door whose hinges have already rusted off.” But: “The logic behind Mutharika’s decree is not wrong. In fact, it is visionary.”
Rabies is 100% preventable, and Tanzania has come up with a new plan to eradicate it
What happened
Tanzania’s National Rabies Control Plan was officially endorsed by the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) last month. It is the first in East Africa to get that nod. The target is bold: stop dog-associated rabies transmission in five years and hit zero human deaths by 2030.
Why this matters: Rabies kills. In Tanzania, about 1,500 human cases are reported each year, most after dog bites. An endorsement by WOAH means trust, money, and momentum.
Zoom out: Globally, rabies causes around 59,000 deaths a year, mainly in Africa and Asia. There’s a global plan in place, too: the Zero by 30 strategy aims for zero human deaths from dog-mediated rabies by 2030. The World Health Organization launched it, and many others are on board, too; like the FAI, WOAH, and GARC.
Tell me more
And it should be doable. Rabies is almost entirely preventable via the right tools: dog vaccination (to stop transmission), post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) for humans after a bite, and just basic public awareness. And, some countries have already made meaningful progress with dog-vaccination campaigns and improved PEP access, which shows this isn’t purely theoretical. But: Many low and middle-income countries still face major gaps: under-reporting of cases, not enough dog-vaccination coverage, weak surveillance, and limited PEP access.
How does Tanzania plan to do it?
They’ve figured out the “high-risk zones” in their country, and government, vets, NGOs, and communities follow a “we are one team” kind of approach. A new public-private setup is running awareness drives, dog vaccinations, and spay-neuter programs, while vaccine stockpiles and a national portal keep things moving fast. After wiping out rinderpest, the country’s betting it can do the same with rabies.
What about Asia?
Here, too, rabies is a major public health challenge with an estimated 27,700 deaths annually, specifically in India. Most victims are children under 15, often from underserved communities with limited access to life-saving post-exposure prophylaxis and preventive care. If you like to dive deep into one specific country, NBC News’ Mithil Aggarwal wrote about Delhi’s (stray) dogs, and how the country is dealing with public-safety issues there. In short: India’s Supreme Court can’t seem to make up its mind about what to do with them. In August, it ordered that all strays be rounded up and sent to shelters. Then, after protests broke out, it reversed the order, saying the dogs should be vaccinated, sterilized, and sent back to their streets.
Good to know: In Nepal, it’s dog season right now. Every autumn, despite all the rabies talk, during the Hindu festival of Kukur Tihar, people wrap dogs with marigolds, feed them treats, and bless them for protecting humans. Rightly so.
what else happened
Bad
Tunisia: At least 40 migrants from different African countries have died after their boat sank off the coast of Tunisia last Wednesday. This is in one of the deadliest maritime tragedies in the region this year. (Reuters)
Greece / Sudan: Two 20-year-olds from Sudan, Nourdeen and Mohamad, just got sentenced to ten years in Chania, Greece, for “facilitating entry.” Their crime? Steering the boat they fled on while escaping Sudan’s war. (De:Criminalize) In the same week, two other Sudanese men, were sentenced to 58 years in prison in Samos. Same “crime”. (De:Criminalize)
Cameroon: Authorities have detained about 30 opposition politicians and activists linked to presidential challenger Issa Tchiroma, just hours before official election results were due. This is a developing story, and I wrote this on Sunday, 4pm. (Reuters)
UK: Britain’s immigration debate was already tense. A clerical error just poured gasoline on it. Police in Essex have launched a manhunt for Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu, an Ethiopian national convicted of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl. He was accidentally freed from prison, and now that’s triggered angry anti-immigration protests in the town of Epping. (BBC News)
Afghanistan / Pakistan: Pakistani defence minister Khawaja Asif said that if peace talks with the Taliban fail, Pakistan will declare an open war on Afghanistan, as Pakistan accused the Taliban of sheltering Pakistani militants, which Kabul denies. (Reuters)
US / Caribbean: Six people were killed in a U.S. missile strike on a suspected drug-running boat in the Caribbean Sea. (AP)
Israel / West Bank: An 18-year-old Palestinian man died after being shot and critically injured on Thursday during an Israeli raid in the Askar Camp in Nablus, occupied West Bank. (Al Jazeera)
Haiti / Dominican Republic: At least four people were killed in the two countries by Tropical Storm Melissa. (The New York Times)
Colombia / US: The US imposed sanctions on Colombian president Gustavo Petro, his wife Verónica Alcocer, his son Nicolás, and Interior Minister Armando Benedetti, accusing them of involvement in the global drug trade. (AP)
Interesting...
Sudan: Khartoum’s airport is open again, after two years. (africanews) In the same week, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) said they captured the Sudanese army’s headquarters in al-Fashir, the last government stronghold in Darfur. If confirmed, it’s a major win for the RSF, which has taken over the city for 18 months, starving residents and bombarding civilian areas. Rights monitors warn that RSF fighters have carried out ethnic killings, sexual violence, and looting during this take-over. The UN has called them crimes against humanity. (Reuters)
The Philippines: Juan Ponce Enrile, the 101-year-old former Senate president, just got acquitted of his last graft charges in the country’s long-running pork barrel scandal. Never heard of this? In 2013, the Philippine Daily Inquirer revealed that lawmakers were putting public funds into fake NGOs for ghost projects. Enrile was accused of stealing ₱172.8 million (around €2.7 million). He was indicted in 2014, acquitted of plunder in 2024, and now, case closed. (The Philippine Daily Inquirer)
Côte d’Ivoire and Argentina are having elections.
Turkey / Kurdistan: The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) announced that it is withdrawing its fighters from Turkey and moving them to Kurdistan Region of Iraq as part of ongoing peace talks between the Turkish government and the group. (AP, The Amargi)
Timor-Leste: The country becomes the eleventh member state of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. (Antara)
Africa: Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest man, has officially hit a US$30 billion net worth, becoming the first African to reach that level, according to Bloomberg’s billionaire index. Dangote now owns 11 cement plants across Africa. (Business Insider Africa)
South Africa / Zimbabwe: In these two countries, the legal weed boom is making the rich richer while longtime local growers are shut out. Getting a license or setting up a legal farm costs far too much, so most small farmers can’t join the industry and keep growing illegally instead. Experts say the system needs cheaper licenses and co-ops, so ordinary farmers can benefit, too. (The Conversation Africa)
Japan: Sanae Takaichi is elected as the first female prime minister of Japan by the National Diet. (The Asahi Shimbun)
Bolivia: Rodrigo Paz Pereira, a member of the Christian Democratic Party, was elected president of Bolivia. Bye, bye, leftist politics in the country. (The Guardian)
US / China: The world’s two biggest economies are almost friends again trade-wise. The U.S. and China have agreed on a “trade framework” just days before Donald Trump and Xi Jinping are set to meet. (Reuters)
Good
Kenya: In Iten, Kenya, home to many elite runners, male athletes and coaches have launched a campaign called “Not in Our Camps” to stop sexual abuse against female runners. They’re setting up reporting systems, training coaches to prevent exploitation, and pushing to change the culture in athletics where abuse was often ignored. (Daily Nation Kenya)
South Africa: In Cape Town, doctors and NGOs help high-risk babies get early therapy in their first 1,000 days. The Bhabhisana Baby Project trains parents to support development at home. The program fills major gaps in South Africa’s public health system, stressing that in a baby’s first 1,000 days, waiting for care isn’t an option. (spotlight South Africa)
Nigeria: The Niger State government in Nigeria is covering all medical costs for victims of the Essa tanker explosion. Around 50 people were injured, many with severe burns, and are being treated in hospitals across Bida and Abuja. The state supplied over ₦10 million worth of medicines and cash support for victims’ families. A mass burial was held for those who died. Officials blamed the accident partly on bad roads and urged the federal government to fix them. (The Guardian Nigeria)
Syria: Syria’s new government just struck a ceasefire with a jihadist group in the northwest. The fighters are led by Oumar Diaby, a French-Senegalese preacher. (France24)
Cambodia / Thailand: The two countries have signed an expanded ceasefire to end their worst fighting in years, with US President Donald Trump playing peacemaker on stage in Kuala Lumpur. Both sides will pull back tanks and rockets, free 18 prisoners, and let ASEAN monitors watch the border. (Reuters)
recommendations
Read about… why the idea of “South–South solidarity” still matters. Seventy years ago, newly independent countries from Asia and Africa met at the 1955 Bandung Conference in Indonesia to resist colonial powers and imagine a fairer world. But the same old problems, like inequality, Western not-minding-their-business, and economic dependence, still hang around. Writer Otobong Inieke argues that while today’s “Global South” alliances like BRICS or China’s Belt and Road look powerful, they’re mostly about business, not solidarity. He says it’s time to bring back the real Bandung spirit, a cooperation that challenges Western dominance, puts people first, and redefines what development means. Read the article on The Republic here.
Watch… how Starbucks went from China’s coolest coffee brand to just another overpriced latte. Back in the late ’90s, China was modernizing fast. Everyone wanted to look successful, global, and a little Western. Starbucks sold that dream in China, too. It wasn’t just about the coffee, but a whole lifestyle, and its cafés became the place to study, network, or just show off a cup that said, ‘I’ve made it’. Then came Luckin Coffee, a local startup that flipped the script. No cozy couches, no jazz, no long lines. Just an app, a QR code, and a latte for half the price, sometimes with flavors like coconut milk or boba. Within a few years, Luckin had more stores than Starbucks and made coffee feel local, fun, and affordable. (Reminds me of a controversial Berlin coffee brand…) Now, according to Euromonitor data as cited by Reuters, Starbucks’s market share has collapsed from 34% in 2019 to 14% in 2024. The YouTube channel Asian Boss breaks down what went wrong, and what it says about how fast China’s consumer culture moves. Watch the full story here.
Listen… to why people are dying from fake alcohol in Brazil. Drinking is a big part of Brazilian culture. But lately, there’s been some anxiety around an all-too-common social activity. At least three people have died, hundreds more have been poisoned from methanol, a type of alcohol that’s found in cleaning products or antifreeze. The anxiety is so high that some people have stopped drinking altogether. BBC Brasil’s Luiz Fernando Toledo has been investigating how the country’s methanol poisoning crisis started, and why it’s so widespread. He talks to Hannah Gelbart in the BBC News World Service’s “What in the World” podcast about it. Listen to the conversation here.
music video of the week
Le Sserafim – Spaghetti | Sakura, Kim Chaewon, Huh Yunjin, Kazuha, and Hong Eunchae make up the K-pop girl group Le Sserafim. If you’re thinking, ‘what the f is that name supposed to mean?’ – it’s an anagram of the phrase, “I’m fearless” as well as a reference to the heavenly beings with six wings, seraphim. The first time I heard about them was when I was researching what was happening with the wildfires in the Ulsan, Gyeongbuk, and Gyeongnam regions in March 2025; the group had donated 50 million KRW (about €30K) for wildlife relief efforts. At least 30 people had died, some 37,000 people were displaced. Back to the music: If you’re expecting something innovative from their new single, don’t. It’s just silly and fun, in my opinion, but I too love that sometimes.
on a funny note
The Gibraltar International Bank (GIB) just wanted to wish everyone Happy Diwali...
Instead, it managed to offend two cultures with one photo they posted on their site and Facebook before anyone noticed how wildly off it was. The image was featuring people in Indian attire (totally OK) – except three of them showed up dressed as Indigenous people in the US.
Cue outrage, memes, and a quick apology. The CEO called the image “extremely disrespectful” and promised an internal review.