Tom Kayo

48 posts
Macro photograph of rough grey and black uncut stone fragments laid on a flat neutral surface, unpolished and unstyled.
Analysis Angola Mining Capital Trade Policy

Angola's diamond paradox: record carats, falling value

Endiama hit its production targets and missed its revenue targets. The gap between carats and dollars is the real story of Angola's diversification bet.

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2 Min
By: Tom Kayo
Stacks of thick paper documents and folders piled on a white surface, high-contrast and minimal, no people.
Analysis United States Angola Kenya Nigeria Governance Policy Capital Geopolitics

The compact era: how the US rewired African health aid

Thirty-one bilateral MOUs replaced a grant architecture. The new model demands co- investment, and in some cases data.

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2 Min
By: Tom Kayo
A wooden-handled rubber stamp rests on white office paperwork bearing a small stamped mark, shot close up in flat, neutral light.
Explainer Angola Kenya Côte d'Ivoire DRC Capital Governance Policy

What FATF grey-listing does to an African bank

Grey-listing is not a sanction and does not require enhanced due diligence by itself. It still raises the cost of every dollar that crosses a border.

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3 Min
By: Tom Kayo
A printed paper receipt lying on a plain white surface in muted grey tones, no hands or storefront branding.
Data Note Diaspora Capital Policy Technology Trade

The 9% tax on going home: remittance costs to Africa

Remittances now outweigh FDI and aid combined. Sub-Saharan Africa still pays close to triple the global target to receive them.

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3 Min
By: Tom Kayo
Two identical wooden chairs sit side by side against a minimal neutral interior, empty and precisely aligned.
Explainer Angola Ghana Governance Power Policy Geopolitics

Who chairs the African Union, and what the chair can do

There are two chairs, not one. Confusing them is why AU decisions are so often misattributed.

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3 Min
By: Tom Kayo
A neat stack of thick white document folders filled with paper reports rests on a plain white surface, minimal and unbranded.
Explainer Angola Policy Debt Capital Governance

What an IMF Article IV consultation actually is

It is surveillance, not a loan. Understanding the difference explains why "the IMF said" headlines are so often wrong.

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3 Min
By: Tom Kayo
A freight rail yard filled with rows of cargo wagons stretching into the distance.
featured
Analysis Angola DRC Zambia Infrastructure Trade Geopolitics

The Lobito Corridor: A Rail Line, a Superpower Contest, and the New Geography of African Trade

Backed by Washington and pitched as the West’s answer to Chinese mining dominance, the Lobito Corridor is moving from blueprint to proving ground. Its real test isn’t geopolitics — it’s whether the trains run on time.

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5 Min
By: Tom Kayo
An industrial oil refinery with towers and pipework lit up against the night sky.
Analysis Nigeria Angola Energy Trade

Dangote's 96% Quarter: The Refinery That Rewired West Africa's Fuel Trade

Nigeria's petrol import bill has collapsed, its refinery is selling jet fuel into a Hormuz-shocked Europe, and Angola is racing to escape the same crude-out, fuel-in trap. The revolution is real — but it is currently defended by import bans, not won on price.

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8 Min
By: Tom Kayo
A large loaded container ship sailing across open ocean under a dusk sky.
Analysis South Africa Kenya Trade Security Geopolitics

The long way around: how the Red Sea shock redrew Africa's maritime map

— Two and a half years after security risks emptied the Suez corridor, the Cape of Good Hope is still the default route between Asia and Europe. Egypt counts the cost; East Africa banks a windfall; South Africa is left asking what might have been.

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9 Min
By: Tom Kayo
An offshore oil platform at sea being serviced by a supply vessel alongside.
featured
Analysis Namibia Energy Capital

Namibia's Orange Basin: The Newest Petrostate Reads Angola's Playbook

In April 2026 a country with no commercial oil history opened formal negotiations with TotalEnergies over the field that could rewrite its economy. Windhoek is determined not to repeat its neighbour's mistakes — but the clock, the geology and the gas argue among themselves.

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8 Min
By: Tom Kayo
A large concrete hydroelectric dam with water cascading through its open spillways.
featured
Analysis DRC Angola Zambia Energy Infrastructure

The Stranded Surplus: Grand Inga, Power Pools and Africa's Test of Electrifying Itself

Angola is months from switching on one of Africa's biggest dams and already holds power it cannot sell; Zambia, a few hundred kilometres away, recently endured blackouts of up to 21 hours. Africa's electrification problem is no longer resource scarcity — it is grids, governance and the price of…

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11 Min
By: Tom Kayo
Aerial view of a busy container port with gantry cranes loading stacked shipping containers.
Analysis Trade Capital Infrastructure Geopolitics

The Gulf’s African Decade: Ports, Capital and Food Security From Luanda to the Red Sea

The UAE has quietly become Africa’s largest source of new foreign investment. Behind the deals lies a coherent strategy — ports, renewables, food security and diplomatic reach — that is reshaping the continent’s logistics map, including in Angola.

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5 Min
By: Tom Kayo

Showing 12 of 48 total posts

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