| Welcome to Next Africa, a twice-weekly newsletter on where the continent stands now — and where it's headed. Sign up here to have it delivered to your email. A spectacular gold-market boom is spurring a push by African nations — where the ground is rich in the precious metal — to extract more revenue. Bullion has soared almost 50% this year and hit yet another all-time high on Tuesday at more than $3,800 an ounce. Global tensions stoked by US President Donald Trump's trade war, fears of an American government shutdown and central bank buying have all helped to bolster its appeal as a safe-haven asset.  A gold refinery in Germiston, South Africa. Photographer: Waldo Swiegers/Bloomberg Africa's gold producers are pondering options to boost output and thwart the smuggling that's siphoned off billion of dollars. The Democratic Republic of Congo is trying to add to its solitary commercial operation: the Kibali project owned by Barrick Mining and AngloGold Ashanti. A few deals might be announced "in the near future," Mines Minister Louis Watum said in an interview last week. He estimates that 60 tons of gold – worth more than $7 billion at current prices – is mined in the country each year without any benefit to the state. Ghana aims to secure more bullion from small-scale producers, whose output often exits the country via illicit routes, and has accelerated purchases since John Mahama won the presidency in December. His administration wants to rake in $12 billion from artisanal miners next year, if their output doubles as planned. Meanwhile, Mali has opted for a more aggressive approach by taking over management of the nation's biggest gold mine. The military junta accuses Barrick – the owner of the Loulo-Gounkoto complex – of refusing to pay back-taxes and sign up to new legislation, allegations the Canadian firm denies. Such initiatives will take time to bear fruit and the extent to which they help bolster state coffers will largely hinge on whether gold holds onto its gains. — William Clowes Key stories and opinion:
Congo Seeks to Tap More Gold With New Mines Amid Price Surge
Ghana Sees $12 Billion a Year From Small-Scale Gold Mining
Gold Hits Record On US Shutdown Fears, Gaza Plan Doubts
Why Investors Just Can't Seem to Get Enough of Gold
This Gold Rush Isn't About Inflation — or Even Gold: Aaron Brown The Bloomberg Africa Business Summit, an official sideline event of B20 South Africa 2025, convenes global leaders on Nov. 17 and 18 to address the critical issues shaping Africa's future. Register your interest to attend. Seychelles will hold a run-off election next month after none of the eight presidential candidates secured an outright majority in a first round of balloting last week. Patrick Herminie, leader of United Seychelles, who won 48.8% of votes cast in the 115-island Indian Ocean archipelago, will face off against incumbent Wavel Ramkalawan, who got 46.4%. While it's African richest nation on a per-capita basis, rising sea levels threaten to swamp Seychelles' palm-fringed beaches and devastate its key tourism industry.  A beach in the Seychelles. Photographer: Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP/Getty Images Nigeria and South Africa are poised to exit a global financial watchdog's dirty money list as soon as next month, sources say, marking a change in fortunes for two of the continent's biggest economies. The Financial Action Task Force subjected the countries to heightened scrutiny in February 2023 for shortcomings in tackling illicit financial flows. Assessors from the Paris-based FATF conducted on-site visits in recent weeks and noted significant progress. Guinea's military leader said the West African nation will hold elections on Dec. 28. General Mamadi Doumbouya made the announcement in a decree a week after voters approved a new constitution that allows him to participate in the race. The ballot will be the first since Doumbouya, 40, seized power in a 2021 coup. Guinea is the world's top exporter of bauxite, an ore used to make aluminum.  People line up to vote in Guinea's constitutional referendum in Conakry, the capital, on Sept. 21. Photographer: Patrick Meinhardt/AFP/Getty Images China signed a deal with Zambia and Tanzania to revitalize a railway connecting the central African copperbelt with an Indian Ocean port. The revamp of the line will cost about $1.4 billion, Zambia's transport ministry said. Built in the 1970s, the Tanzania Zambia Railway has fallen into disrepair. The line will compete with another that the US and European Union are backing that connects the same copper-rich region to an Atlantic port on Africa's west coast. South Africa's top development finance institution is working with advisers on a possible bid of about $491 million for control of ArcelorMittal's business in the country, sources say. If successful, the deal being considered by the Industrial Development Corp. would end almost two years of negotiations between the state firm, the government and the global steelmaker. It could also pave the way for the entry of other international firms as the IDC seeks investors to run the plants.  An ArcelorMittal South Africa plant in Vanderbijlpark, south of Johannesburg. Photographer: Leon Sadiki/Bloomberg The Trump administration supports a one-year extension of the African Growth and Opportunity Act, according to a White House official, offering a potential boost to the decades-old trade pact that's set to expire on Tuesday. The future of the program, which grants 32 countries preferential access to American markets, was called into question following imposition of tariffs ranging from 10% to 30% on imports from Africa and it remains unclear how an extension would work. Thank you for your responses to our weekly Next Africa Quiz and congratulations to Nipun Ramaiya, who correctly identified Libya as the African country whose dictator was allegedly approached for funding by former French President Nicolas Sarkozy's aides and political allies. Sarkozy was handed a five-year jail term for criminal conspiracy over the claims. Mozambique's central bank cut its benchmark interest rate to a record low to support an economy that's in a recession and signaled that it would continue to ease policy. The Banco de Moçambique lowered the rate, known by its Portuguese acronym Mimo, to 9.75%, Governor Rogério Zandamela said. The economy, which has shrunk for three consecutive quarters, is expected to get a boost from a long-anticipated restart of large natural gas export projects. Thanks for reading. We'll be back in your inbox with the next edition on Friday. Send any feedback to mcohen21@bloomberg.net | 
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