Beijing now describes its African partnership through six characteristics of modernization, positioning itself as a fellow traveller rather than a creditor.
Section
Intellectual
Building the Next Decade of Lusaka as the Capital of Exile Politics
Can Lusaka be recognised as a major African city of liberation memory by 2031? Three scenarios and the indicators to track toward that outcome.
Congo’s cobalt ban turned a regulator’s decision into the market’s price sheet
London cobalt rose from US$21,171 a tonne on 3 February to US$33,466 on 22 August 2025 after Congo suspended exports. For buyers and lenders, the regulator’s decision text is now primary market evidence.
Cobalt’s rulebook: how one Congolese notice moved the global price
ARECOMS extended Congo’s cobalt export suspension on 21 June 2025, and London cathode rose about 58 per cent from February. The episode shows why enforceable rules and verifiable evidence now decide cobalt due diligence.
Cobalt’s rulebook in June 2025: Congo extends its ban, and the evidence is thin
On 21 June Congo’s strategic-minerals regulator extended its cobalt export suspension by three months, citing stockpiles. The BCC’s June data shows what can be checked, what cannot, and why price quotes differ by US$3,000.
The cobalt rulebook of May 2025: a decree, a market report and a mine certificate
An ARECOMS decree, a Cobalt Institute report and a Copper Mark award reshaped cobalt due diligence in 2025. The price rose 40 per cent, but the documents decide who may sell and who may buy.
Congo’s cobalt suspension: the rule, the thin evidence, and the price it set in April
ARECOMS suspended Congolese cobalt exports on 22 February 2025, and London cobalt rose 59 per cent by 25 April. The rule is public, the evidence of its effect is not, and contracts should be written around the review date.
Eleven per cent or six: reading Congo’s inflation evidence in March 2025
In March 2025 Congo’s inflation could be quoted as 10.4, 9.9, 2.2 or, in one headline, 6.2 per cent. The differences come from how the index is built and which rule reads it, and contracts should say which.
What Congo’s cobalt pause shows about rules and evidence: ARECOMS, February 2025
On 22 February 2025 ARECOMS suspended cobalt exports for four months. The BCC’s price and output series, CRU and SFA analysis, and the decision’s own conditions show how rules and evidence combine.