| 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. Cyril Ramaphosa is holding the line in his spat with Donald Trump, while renewing friendships with other key partners. The South African leader opened his country’s presidency of the Group of 20 summits on Thursday with a speech to foreign ministers that was a repudiation of criticism from the US president over plans to focus attention this year on “solidarity, equality and sustainability.” The European Union’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, offered South Africa the bloc’s “full support” for the agenda and urged closer ties with Pretoria.  Kallas during a Bloomberg interview in Cape Town on Wednesday. Photographer: Dwayne Senior/Bloomberg A dispute over the African nation’s land and foreign policies has put it firmly in Trump’s crosshairs, with the US halting almost all aid. Secretary of State Marco Rubio panned the G-20 focus on “DEI and climate change” when he announced he was boycotting this week’s meeting. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent will skip a similar gathering in Cape Town next week. In his speech, Ramaphosa bemoaned a lack of global cooperation and “rising intolerance,” stressed the need to tackle climate change and the unsustainable debt of poorer countries. He pledged that all voices would be heard — anathema to Trump’s administration. These challenges require inclusive responses “that should be well coordinated through various forums such as the G-20, yet there is a lack of consensus amongst major powers,” he said. While he later downplayed the rift, the comments were a bold move given that the US is South Africa’s second-biggest trading partner (lagging only China in two-way commerce) and when its membership of a preferential trade arrangement is at risk.  WATCH: Bloomberg’s Jennifer Zabasajja reports on Ramaphosa’s G-20 speech. China is backing Ramaphosa’s agenda, and Kallas expressed concern about attacks on multilateralism amid an American policy shift to targeted tariffs. “It is a time of building partnerships and strengthening the partnerships we have,” she said. “Finding old friends and making new friends.” Ramaphosa has little choice but to reach out to the EU and other partners such as China as it works to patch up the relationship with Washington. Ironically, an overture to invite Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskiy for a state visit comes just as Trump has turned on the US ally. — Antony Sguazzin Key stories and opinion:
EU Strengthens Ties to South Africa as Trump Escalates Criticism
South Africa Leader Urges G-20 Unity to Tackle Global Challenges
US Snub to South Africa’s G-20 May Be Gift to BRICS Nations
Bessent to Skip G-20 Finance Chiefs Gathering in South Africa
Why Trump Is Taking Aim at South Africa’s Land Laws: QuickTake  Senior reporter Antony Sguazzin joins Jennifer Zabasajja to outline what’s at stake for South Africa and the G-20, and what role other players like China and the EU have if the US steps back from Africa. The Trump administration sanctioned one of Rwanda’s most powerful officials for his role in supporting the M23 rebel movement in neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo. The group has advanced southward, reaching Burundi’s border and bringing the central African region to the brink of war, according to the United Nations. Rwanda has been impervious to widespread demands for a ceasefire, and the M23 offensive has raised concerns about the country’s ultimate goal.  Members of the M23 in Bukavu, eastern Congo, on Thursday. Photographer: Luis Tato/AFP/Getty Images The unprecedented delay in the presentation of South Africa’s budget shouldn’t be seen as a crisis and won’t derail the country’s 10-party ruling alliance, Ramaphosa said. His comments came a day after Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana’s budget speech was put on hold for three weeks due to a disagreement within the so-called government of national unity over plans to increase the value-added tax rate. Read an opinion piece on the postponement by columnist Justice Malala and our special edition of Next Africa on the impasse. Orano is considering reviving a project to mine uranium in Namibia to take advantage of rebounding prices for the radioactive metal. The French state-owned firm is benefiting from production issues affecting the industry, rising atomic output in countries such as China and a US plan to end reliance on Russian uranium enrichment. Separately, Namibia is taking a more cautious view on its long-term oil prospects after the latest exploration wells failed to add to a string of discoveries that started about three years ago.  A core sample containing oxidized uranium. Photographer: Heywood Yu/Bloomberg Mining billionaire Robert Friedland’s latest venture, iron-ore producer Ivanhoe Atlantic, is seeking to raise as much as $190 million from an initial public offering in Australia to fund the development of the Kon Kweni project in Guinea. He won the rights to the high-grade deposit in 2019, taking over from a consortium including BHP after it was left undeveloped for years. Rio Tinto’s giant Simandou mine, also in Guinea, is expected to begin production this year. Ivory Coast and France plan to maintain some security cooperation even as French soldiers stationed in the West African country start withdrawing. The countries will continue to engage on training and equipment, France’s Defence Minister Sebastien Lecornu said. The departure follows the exit of 5,000 French soldiers from Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso after ties with those countries frayed. Meanwhile, former Credit Suisse Chief Executive Officer Tidjane Thiam is facing calls to step down as his party’s leader because he wasn’t an Ivorian citizen when he secured the position.  Thiam in Yamoussoukro, Ivory Coast, in December 2023. Photographer: Sia Kambou/AFP/Getty Images A former manager at Gunvor Group was found guilty by a Swiss court of bribing public officials to secure oil contracts in Africa, a second win in less than a month for prosecutors cracking down on corruption in the commodity-trading industry. The trader, who can’t be named under Swiss reporting restrictions, was charged with making payments of $35.5 million to public officials in the Republic of Congo to obtain financing and delivery of crude oil from the African nation. Next Africa Quiz — Which nation’s junta decided to extend its rule until at least 2030? Send your answers to gbell16@bloomberg.net. Data Watch - Nigeria’s central bank paused its campaign of monetary tightening, after an overhaul of the data used to calculate inflation showed it had significantly slowed. The benchmark interest rate was kept at 27.5%.
- Mozambique’s economy contracted the most in at least seven years in the fourth quarter, after post-election protests shuttered businesses.
- Angola is courting investors from the Middle East to Europe and the US to test investor sentiment before a possible eurobond sale of as much as $2 billion this year.
- Anglo American took another writedown on its struggling De Beers diamond unit and posted a slide in profit as the miner moves ahead with a radical overhaul of its business.
Coming Up - Feb. 25 South Africa central bank’s leading economic indicator
- Feb. 26 South Africa inflation data for January, two-day G-20 finance ministers & central bank governors’ summit starts in Cape Town
- Feb. 27 Zambia inflation for February & trade data for January, South Africa producer inflation for January
- Feb. 28 Kenya and Uganda inflation for February, South Africa money supply, trade and monthly budget data for January, Morocco and Namibia money supply for January
| 
