Syrian businessman Albert Karaziwan's Semlex to stand trial over corrupt Congo passport deal
Albert Karaziwan's Semlex and 13 others will stand trial in Brussels over alleged bribery and money laundering linked to Congo's $185 passports.
African Wealth Briefing — Thurs., Oct. 1, 2026
Wicknell Chivayo, Zimbabwe's most visible and most argued-over businessman, died on Wednesday evening with his wife when their helicopter crashed near Marondera.
The Inside Story: The Long Game — How Femi Otedola Rotated From Oil to Power to Banking and Took the Chair of Nigeria's Oldest Bank
Femi Otedola sold his oil business near its peak, built a power company worth more than ten times its listing value, then sold that too and put the money into Nigeria's oldest bank. Five years later he is its chairman and largest owner. The strategy behind his $815 million quarter.
Deep-Dive Report: The Nigerian Quarter — Oil, Banks and a Stronger Naira Lined Up at Once, and the Investors Who Kept Buying Made Billions
Otedola up $815 million, Dangote up $2.31 billion, Dossou-Aworet up $430 million, the refinery past full capacity. Oil, bank shares and a stronger naira lined up at once. What drove Nigeria's best quarter for wealth in years, who positioned for it, and what would unwind it.
Investor Memo: The Key Man — Wicknell Chivayo's Death Leaves State Contracts in Three Countries Resting on a Company Built Around One Person
Wicknell Chivayo died three weeks after Gwanda got its notice to proceed. Solar in Zimbabwe and Eswatini, a stake in Kenya's airport: a pipeline worth hundreds of millions, resting on one man. What happens to it, and the lesson for anyone backing a founder-led contractor.
Wicknell Chivayo, 1980-2026: The Man Who Showed You Everything
He went to prison at 24, built an energy company, won close to a billion dollars of state contracts, gave away Mercedes-Benzes on camera and stood beside half a dozen presidents and a king. Wicknell Chivayo died on Wednesday in a helicopter crash, aged 45. Zimbabwe cannot agree what it has lost.
Hedge fund billionaire Ken Griffin gives record $3 billion to Carnegie Mellon
Ken Griffin is giving Carnegie Mellon $3 billion, the largest individual gift in higher education history, with $2 billion for a new Miami campus.
African Wealth Briefing — Tues., Sept. 29, 2026
Dangote Group says revenue reached about $17 billion in the first half and is on track to double to $36 billion for the year, from $18 billion in 2025. On the same day, Nvidia authorised another $150 billion of buybacks.
The Inside Story: The Company That Built Its Own Power Station — How the Onafowokans Turned a 1975 Trading Firm Into West Africa's Largest Cable Maker
Coleman was incorporated in 1975 and did not manufacture a cable until 1996. It is now West Africa's largest cable maker, and it spent $20 million building its own power supply to get there. Fifty years, two generations, and the real cost of manufacturing in Nigeria.
Deep-Dive Report: The Quiet Conglomerate — How Cornelis Vink Built Chivita, Sold It to Coca-Cola, and Is Now Buying the Road His Own Goods Travel On
Cornelis Vink founded Chivita, sold it to Coca-Cola, and watched UAC buy it back. Now his TGI Group is buying UAC's 43% of DP World Logistics. The logic is the oldest one in African business: own the road your own goods travel on. Inside Nigeria's least-discussed large fortune.
Investor Memo: The Doubling — Dangote Group Is on Course to Take Revenue From $18 Billion to $36 Billion in a Single Year, and the Cement Arm Is Funding Its Own Expansion
Dangote Group says revenue hit about $17 billion in the first half and is on track to double to $36 billion for the year, from $18 billion in 2025. What the number is made of, why funding 25 million tonnes of cement from cash flow matters more, and what would tell you it holds.
Billionaire Ken Griffin wins a vote on the private helipad his neighbours are fighting
A Miami Beach committee advanced Ken Griffin's private helipad on Sept. 24, over objections from eight luxury towers housing about 2,000 residents.
Algerian billionaire Abderrahmane Benhamadi's Condor breaks into Mali with 37 containers
Condor is shipping 37 containers of electronics and appliances to six markets, entering Mali for the first time as a gateway to the Sahel.
African Wealth Briefing — Fri., Sept. 25, 2026
Nigeria earned $750 million from petrol exports in the first half of the year, a sixfold rise analysts credit to Dangote's refinery. And Mark Shuttleworth's foundation promised the people of Príncipe up to $3.20 a day to protect their forest.
The Inside Story: Twelve Years on Robben Island, Then a Gold Empire — How Mzi Khumalo Turned $15.5 Million Into Zimbabwe's Largest Gold Producer, and Then Lost It
In 2002 Mzi Khumalo paid $15.5 million for the Zimbabwean gold mines Lonmin no longer wanted. Within a decade they produced about 100,000 ounces a year and Metallon was the country's largest gold miner. By 2019 the group owed roughly $200 million. The full arc of a contested career.
Deep-Dive Report: The $1.2 Billion Handover — How Chappal Energies Bought Equinor Out of Nigeria, Ran Out of Money, and Ended Up Owned by the Shareholder Who Reported Its Founder
In December 2024 Chappal Energies paid up to $1.2 billion for Equinor's entire Nigerian business. Less than two years later its founder is in custody, a minority shareholder holds 86 per cent after a $100 million rescue, and the lesson for every Nigerian independent is about financing, not ambition.