Botswana is set to take up to a 30% stake in Angola’s $6 billion Lobito refinery, marking a significant intra-African investment.

The move reflects a growing push by African nations to retain more value from their resources on the continent.

The Lobito refinery, with a capacity of 200,000 barrels per day, is expected to generate around $700 million annually for Botswana under current assumptions. Instead of building new infrastructure from scratch, Botswana is buying into an existing facility to secure reliable fuel supply for Southern Africa, including itself, Zambia, and Namibia.

This deal reflects a broader strategic shift across Africa. For decades, many African countries have exported raw materials only to import refined products at much higher costs.

Investments like Botswana’s stake in Lobito signal a move toward greater regional refining capacity and supply chain control.

While the Lobito refinery will primarily serve Southern Africa, analysts note it could eventually compete with Nigeria’s Dangote Refinery, which currently dominates West Africa and exports to international markets.

The development is being watched closely as a potential model for deeper intra-African industrial cooperation and reduced dependence on external fuel imports.

Angola has signed a contract with China National Chemical Engineering Co. on Friday to build the $6 billion plant in Lobito.

“The processing capacities of the Lobito refinery remain at 200,000 barrels per day and the estimated cost of the investment is around $6 billion,” Diamantino Azevedo, the minister of Minerals and Petroleum, said in Luanda after a meeting between President Joao Lourenço and the company’s Chairman Wen Gang.

Sonangol, the southwest African nation’s state oil and gas group, partnered with an “American company” to conduct studies that led to decreased investment costs and improved refinery quality, Azevedo said, without naming the firm.

In 2022, Sonangol said it was working with Houston-based KBR Inc. on “engineering works” for the facility.

Accra, Ghana / London, UK – Executive Chairman of the African Prosperity Network, Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko, has publicly rebuked UK Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch for her “disappointing” remarks opposing reparations for the transatlantic slave trade.

The borderless Africa champion has urged Badenoch, who has strong Nigerian roots, to use her position and heritage to foster constructive dialogue rather than defensiveness.

Otchere-Darko’s strong comments follow Badenoch’s criticism of the UK’s decision to abstain from a United Nations General Assembly vote on Ghana’s resolution declaring the transatlantic slave trade and racialised chattel enslavement of Africans as “the gravest crime against humanity.”

The resolution passed on March 25, 2026, with 123 nations voting in favour, three against (the United States, Argentina, and Israel), and 52 abstaining — including the United Kingdom.

In a post on X (formerly Twitter) on March 26, Badenoch expressed displeasure at the UK’s abstention under the Labour government, writing:

“Russia, China and Iran vote with others to demand trillions in reparations from UK taxpayers…and the Labour government abstain! Britain led the fight to end slavery. Why didn’t Starmer’s representative vote against this? Ignorance…or cowardice? We shouldn’t be paying for a crime we helped eradicate and still fight today.”

Otchere-Darko responded the following day, expressing disappointment and providing historical context.

He acknowledged Britain’s role in the eventual abolition of slavery — driven in part by Tory evangelical William Wilberforce — but noted that the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833 was passed by a Whig government under Charles Grey, which compensated slave owners rather than the enslaved.

“Britain, which played a central role in the transatlantic slave trade, also saw the early campaign against it driven by Tory evangelicals like William Wilberforce in the early 1800s,” Otchere-Darko wrote. “But it took a Whig government… to pass the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833, ending slavery across most of the Empire while compensating slave owners, NOT THE ENSLAVED.”

He argued that Badenoch’s stance fails to acknowledge the enduring legal and moral arguments for reparatory justice and urged her to leverage her background as a woman of 100% Black West African parentage to help shape a more progressive and honest response.

“Kemi has an opportunity, given her heritage and position, to move this conversation forward: not by merely amplifying defensiveness, but by helping shape a modern response rooted in honesty and partnership,” he said. “It is in the interest of Britain to invest in Africa’s economic transformation efforts and even if in ways that support British economic interest.”

Otchere-Darko concluded by warning that such positions could make the Conservative Party less attractive to Britain’s growing Black middle class.

The UN resolution, championed by Ghana and supported by the African Union and CARICOM, calls for global acknowledgment of the slave trade’s scale and lasting impact, as well as concrete steps toward reparatory justice, including education, memorials, and dialogue on compensation and restitution.

Abidjan, Ivory Coast – More than a century after it was seized by French colonial forces, the sacred Djidji Ayôkwé (Panther Lion) talking drum — a monumental cultural artefact of the Ebrié people — has been formally repatriated to Ivory Coast, marking a significant step in France’s ongoing restitution efforts for colonial-era objects.

The drum, over three metres long, weighing approximately 430 kg and carved from iroko wood, arrived at Abidjan International Airport on a specially chartered flight on March 15, 2026. It was received with traditional music, dance and a ceremonial welcome from Ebrié community leaders, local chiefs, and government officials. The artefact remained in its large wooden crate marked “fragile” during the airport ceremony.

Ivory Coast’s Minister of Culture, Françoise Remarck, described the moment as “historic” and one of “justice and remembrance.” She told the BBC: “We are living through a moment that finally marks the return of the Djidji Ayôkwé to its land of origin.”

Francis Tagro, Director of the Museum of Civilizations in Abidjan, said the drum would be placed “in a place of honour in the heart of the national museum,” where it is expected to inspire pride and cultural education among younger generations.

The Djidji Ayôkwé, traditionally used by the Ebrié (based in and around Abidjan) to warn of danger, mobilise communities for war, and summon people to ceremonies, was looted in 1916, taken to France in 1929, and displayed first at the Trocadéro Museum and later at the Quai Branly Museum in Paris.

Its return was authorised by a special law passed by the French parliament on 20 February 2026. The drum is the first item on a list of 148 cultural objects Ivory Coast is seeking to repatriate from France and other countries.

France has accelerated restitution since President Emmanuel Macron’s 2017 pledge to return colonial-era artefacts. Previous returns include Abomey royal treasures to Benin and a historic sabre to Senegal.

On 29 January 2026, the French Senate adopted a framework law to streamline the removal of such objects from national collections; the bill is now before the National Assembly.

The handover is widely viewed as a milestone in addressing the legacy of colonial plunder and restoring cultural heritage to its rightful communities.