3 min read
Kenya Signs $1.2bn JKIA Deal with CRBC
Kenya has signed a $1.2bn contract with China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) to expand and modernise Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, nearly tripling annual passenger capacity from 7.5 million to 22 million. The deal follows the collapse of Kenya’s previous airport concession with India’s Adani Group.
CRBC isn’t a new player in Kenya. The Chinese contractor built the Standard Gauge Railway and the Nairobi Expressway. This deal extends that footprint further into critical national infrastructure.
JKIA matters beyond passengers. It’s the primary route for Kenya’s flower, fresh produce and pharmaceutical exports. A facility running beyond its designed capacity is a constraint on every exporter using it. A High Court constitutional petition challenging the procurement process on transparency grounds was filed and remains active. Kenya needs the capacity, but how it buys that capacity still matters.
Transsion Takes Its Africa Story to Hong Kong
Transsion Holdings, the company behind Tecno, Infinix and itel, has renewed its application for a Hong Kong listing after reporting 25% revenue growth in the first quarter of 2026. It remains Africa’s dominant smartphone manufacturer, accounting for 61.5% of unit sales but just 22.5% of market revenue; a gap that reflects both its strength in affordable devices and the limits of that model.
Africa was Transsion’s only growing market in 2025 while all other regions declined. The company reported a 53% fall in profit during the year, largely due to non-operating items rather than its core smartphone business, before posting a 43% recovery in the first quarter of 2026. Its Shanghai-listed shares remain around a third lower than a year ago.
The Hong Kong listing is about more than raising capital. It’s a test of whether global investors are prepared to value an Africa-focused business built on market leadership and long-term growth, despite the volatility that has come with it.
Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire Move to Align Cocoa Pricing
Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire have agreed to harmonise cocoa producer pricing policies, align their cocoa season from 1 September 2026 and strengthen coordination between the two countries that together produce around 60% of the world’s cocoa. The agreement followed a high-level summit in Abidjan between Presidents John Mahama and Alassane Ouattara.
On paper, this is about farmer incomes and market stability. In practice, it’s also about smuggling. Price differences between the two countries have long encouraged cocoa to move unofficially across the border, undermining both countries’ official cocoa systems. Harmonising prices removes that arbitrage.
The timing matters. Ghana’s cocoa output fell to around 531,000 tonnes in 2023/24, down from 656,000 tonnes the previous season, with pressure from disease, illegal mining and financing constraints at COCOBOD. The phrase “cocoa OPEC” gets used too easily. But this is a serious attempt by the world’s two largest producers to stop competing against each other in ways that weaken their own bargaining power.
Guinea Pushes for Refined Gold Exports
Guinea has banned exports of unrefined gold with immediate effect, requiring production to be processed domestically before leaving the country. The policy is part of a broader effort to capture more value from mineral resources through local refining rather than exporting raw commodities.
Processing more gold at home could create jobs, develop industrial capacity and retain more of the value chain inside the country. The harder question is execution. Guinea’s gold sector remains heavily dependent on artisanal mining, where production is fragmented and difficult to regulate. Building refinery capacity is one challenge. Ensuring informal production actually passes through it may prove the larger one.
Resource nationalism is becoming more common across the continent. Whether governments can translate it into industrial development is a different test.
FREE · TWICE A WEEK
