Zimbabwe Asks South Africa to Back G-20 Debt Overhaul
'South Africa has been approached by Zimbabwe to consider assisting the country in mobilizing international support for Zimbabwe's planned application for debt treatment under the Common Framework,' South Africa's National Treasury said in an emailed response to Bloomberg questions.
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Orano's uranium joint venture in Niger on brink of bankruptcy
French uranium mining company Orano has announced that its joint venture with Niger, SOMAIR, is facing bankruptcy due to export restrictions imposed by the country's military government, according to a Reuters report. The development follows the seizure of control of the mine in December 2024 by the government, which also revealed plans to nationalise the mine. The mining sector in West Africa is undergoing significant changes as governments seek to assert greater control over their natural resources. Orano, which holds a majority stake in SOMAIR, has been in a year-long dispute with Niger, leading to the suspension of uranium production. The company has communicated SOMAIR's deteriorating financial situation to the authorities since October 2024. Niger accounted for 15% of Orano's uranium supply when the local unit was fully operational. The company states that the insistence of the Nigerien authorities on maintaining production costs has brought SOMAIR to the brink of financial collapse. Despite current challenges, the main mineworker's union in Niger has stated that production at the mine will continue. The union has accused Orano of sabotage - a charge it denies. Orano has pointed out that its state-owned partner, SOPAMIN, has avoided sharing production costs during periods of low uranium prices. This forced Orano to bear an unfair share of the financial burden by having to purchase additional uranium above its shareholding to maintain the financial stability of the mine. Amidst rising uranium spot prices, which have seen a 7% increase in the first sixth months of 2025 and reached a seven-month high of $79 per pound in late June, Orano emphasised its right to legal action without further specifying its next steps. It has expressed a desire for the remaining financial resources of the venture to be allocated towards paying employee salaries and maintaining industrial facilities. The situation in Niger reflects a broader trend in the region, with Mali placing Barrick's Loulo-Gounkoto gold complex under state control, and Burkina Faso and Guinea seeking more significant mining shares from Western companies while showing interest in Russian partnerships. "Orano's uranium joint venture in Niger on brink of bankruptcy" was originally created and published by Mining Technology, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site. Error while retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data
New York Post
9 hours ago
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Elon Musk teases plans for ‘America Party' after fury over Big, Beautiful Bill Act
Billionaire tech mogul Elon Musk spent July 4 publicly plotting a strategy for his proposed 'America Party' to gain control of the balance of power in Washington following next year's midterm elections. Peeved by Republicans' passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, Musk declared on X that 'Independence Day is the perfect time to ask if you want independence from the two-party (some would say uniparty) system! 'Should we create the America Party?' the 54-year-old South Africa-born billionaire polled his followers, more than 62% of whom had answered 'yes' as of 2:30 p.m. 'One way to execute on this,' Musk continued, 'would be to laser-focus on just 2 or 3 Senate seats and 8 to 10 House districts.' 4 Tech baron Elon Musk has been publicly flirting with the idea of forming some sort of third party. REUTERS 4 House Speaker Mike Johnson has been forced to navigate an ultra-slim majority in the lower chamber. AP 'Given the razor-thin legislative margins, that would be enough to serve as the deciding vote on contentious laws, ensuring that they serve the true will of the people.' Last month, Musk dramatically turned against President Trump and his second-term agenda legislation, calling it 'pork-filled' and a 'disgusting abomination.' Publicly, the Tesla and SpaceX has cited concerns about the bill's impact on the deficit, to which the legislation is projected to add about $3.9 trillion over the next decade. Musk served as the driving force behind the Trump administration's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) cost-cutting initiative, causing fierce personal and professional backlash. 4 Senate Republicans have a 53 to 47-seat majority. Getty Images 'What good is Doge saving $160B when this bill increases the debt ceiling by $5T? It makes [a] mockery of the work,' Musk groused on X Tuesday. Trump and GOP leaders have alleged that Musk's animus is really motivated by rollbacks to Biden-era green energy tax credits, which are expected to harm Tesla. 'Utterly insane and destructive. It gives handouts to industries of the past while severely damaging industries of the future,' Musk had complained last week ahead of the Senate's passage of the megabill. Over recent days, Musk has amplified social media posts by Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), who voted against the measure due to deficit concerns. 4 President Trump has traded barbs with Elon Musk, but largely held back against his former billionaire buddy. AP Trump and his allies have set their sights on ousting Massie in a Republican primary, but Musk has indicated he intends to support the legislator's expected re-election effort in 2026. As the world's richest man, Musk's pockets run deep, with an estimated net worth of $405 billion. During the 2024 election cycle, Musk doled out a whopping $290 million to support Trump, according to financial disclosures. Republicans currently hold a 53-47 majority in the Senate and a 220-212 majority in the House of Representatives.
Yahoo
10 hours ago
- Yahoo
BRICS Aspires to Occupy Ground Vacated by US Under Trump
(Bloomberg) -- Ever since BRICS was founded more than a decade ago, the group of emerging-market nations has struggled to identify a common purpose. President Donald Trump's tariffs may have solved that problem. Foreign Buyers Swoop on Cape Town Homes, Pricing Out Locals Massachusetts to Follow NYC in Making Landlords Pay Broker Fees NYC Commutes Resume After Midtown Bus Terminal Crash Chaos Struggling Downtowns Are Looking to Lure New Crowds What Gothenburg Got Out of Congestion Pricing BRICS leaders meeting in Rio de Janeiro this weekend for a summit hosted by Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva are expected to sign up to a joint statement decrying 'the rise of unjustified unilateral protectionist measures' and the 'indiscriminate raising' of tariffs. That's what foreign ministers from the bloc named for oldest members Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa agreed to in April, and several officials said the text would remain in the communique. The concluding language is unlikely to directly cite the US. But the group is sending an unmistakable signal to the Trump administration on the eve of the July 9 deadline for his levies to take effect. BRICS members all agree that 'these tariffs are not productive,' Ambassador Xolisa Mabhongo, South Africa's lead negotiator, or sherpa, said in an interview. 'They are not good for the world economy. They are not good for development.' As Trump alienates traditional allies and pursues his America First agenda, BRICS is seeking to occupy the ground the US leader has ceded. The upshot is that the group long presumed to be forging an alternative to the US-led world order is now projecting itself as defender of those same core values, including free trade and multilateralism. 'Multilateralism is going through its worst moment since the World War II,' Lula said Friday during a meeting of the New Development Bank, the financing arm of the BRICS. China will work with member states to 'strengthen the BRICS strategic partnership and safeguard multilateralism,' Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said in a briefing in Beijing on Wednesday. Even with Trump providing some elements of a unity of purpose, the BRICS grouping is still likely to fall far short of wielding the global influence its members have long sought. Chinese President Xi Jinping, who held a state visit to Brasilia in November and is expected to attend the COP30 climate summit in Brazil later this year, is skipping the BRICS meeting. Vladimir Putin of Russia will stay away to avoid putting Brazil's government in the uncomfortable position of having to arrest a president wanted for war crimes in Ukraine. Founded in 2009, the original BRICS group has long suffered from a lack of shared values among members who have little in common beyond their status as large, emerging economies that wanted a voice in global affairs dominated by Washington and the West. Its rapid expansion to include Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Indonesia and the United Arab Emirates bolstered its representation — the new BRICS accounts for about 40% of global GDP and roughly half the planet's population — but threatens to make it even less coherent. What Bloomberg Economics Says The group is held together primarily by a shared sense that emerging markets should have a louder voice in the global order and a desire to build a multipolar world. In the absence of a clearer shared agenda, though, the group's geopolitical gravitas will probably continue to increase only gradually, in line with its economic heft or, potentially, its further expansion. —Jimena Zuniga, Latin America geoeconomics analyst Read the full report here. Notably, the bloc is divided on references to war, with Russia and China against any significant mention, according to several delegations. Egypt is pushing for a mention of peace and security in the Middle East, by which it mainly means resolving the war on its border in Gaza, according to a person familiar with the matter. Trump's aggression offers the bloc something of a dilemma. While his tariffs push gives it a degree of shared resolve, some members are keen to maintain balanced relations with both the US and China. Paradoxically, Trump's threat to slap 100% levies on the bloc if it ditches the dollar in bilateral trade has spurred interest in developing local payment systems and other instruments that can facilitate commerce and investment between the nations. The idea of abandoning the dollar isn't under discussion, according to Brazilian officials. Trade among the five original BRICS nations grew 40% between 2021 and 2024 to $740 billion a year, according to International Monetary Fund data. Lula's government is optimistic that leaders will make progress on collective alternatives, in part because Trump's trade threats have given countries incentives to forge consensus and new partnerships, according to two Brazilian officials familiar with the discussions. The BRICS group is also discussing mechanisms to boost climate finance among members for the first time, the officials said, an issue that has taken on greater importance after Trump pulled the US out of the Paris agreement. China continues to engage with other BRICS nations on climate, also as a way to show it is a friendlier and more reliable ally than the US. Along with Indonesia, Beijing has held discussions with Brazil about the agenda for the UN's annual climate summit. For its part, India sees no major hurdles to a joint declaration from the summit, according to a government official familiar with the preparations, who asked not to be named discussing ongoing diplomacy. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is undertaking a state visit in Brazil after the Rio gathering ends. Lula will also welcome Indonesia's President Prabowo Subianto and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa in back to back pageantry. Yet divisions among BRICS members — and especially between its old guard and new arrivals — could still surface. Egypt and Ethiopia had balked at supporting South Africa for a permanent seat on the UN Security Council, something that had been one of the bloc's few unifying themes. There are also simmering tensions between the group's two largest economies. China and India both vie to lead the BRICS and the Global South as a whole. Modi will stake his claim as leader when he takes over the BRICS presidency for 2026, just three years after Xi skipped India's G-20 summit. At a time when BRICS is trying to prove it's more than just a catchy acronym, another snub from Xi wouldn't be a good look. --With assistance from Mirette Magdy, Sudhi Ranjan Sen and Jing Li. (Updates with comment from Lula in sixth paragraph.) SNAP Cuts in Big Tax Bill Will Hit a Lot of Trump Voters Too America's Top Consumer-Sentiment Economist Is Worried For Brazil's Criminals, Coffee Beans Are the Target How to Steal a House Sperm Freezing Is a New Hot Market for Startups ©2025 Bloomberg L.P.
