GOOD MORNING CHOP FAMILY!
Time the grind. I know its hard to get out from under your comfy covers, but the puff puff will not fry itself! Win your morning. And apart of that is reading this newsletter.
Enjoy todays chop!
Knowledge is like garden: if it is not cultivated, it can’t be harvested.
The U.S. Iran conflict is like a slow motion trainwreck. We can all see clearly the nonsensical nightmare that is unfolding. More strikes, higher casualties, oil spikes.
What a disgusting recipe.
And as the the ancient African Proverb states - “when two elephants fight, the grass suffers..” and in this context - we the common folks are the grass.
The U.S. is continuing strikes and blockades and Iran vows to shoot on ships and any nation that harbors U.S. troops. This has resulted in higher prices for oil, fertilizer and may other essential commodities.
African nations have no agency in this conflict and very little influence, so they will just have to eat whatever is shoved down their throats. Not a good position to be in.
MARKET MOVES
BUSINESS
The Ivory Coast, or Cote d’Ivoire, is a slept on country in Africa. It has the largest economy in French speaking West Africa, modernizing at a rapid pace, decent infrastructure, great culture, people and food, thus, making this an ideal atmosphere for business.
Word of out Abidjan is that they are opening up a 209 billion dollar private investment portal. This platform is designed to make investing in Cote d’Ivoire a “one stop shop” for private investment and make the process streamlined and with less friction (bureaucracy).
This is being supported by the African Development Bank Group which is financing the plan with a little over 14 million dollars in funding. The big goal of this fund is to help spur economic investment in local businesses that need private investment dollars.
When funded and managed properly, African businesses can and do reel in big profits for investors.
Speaking of local businesses, Unilever Nigeria posted a slapping ₦29.2 billion profit for H1 2026 on revenue of ₦119.9 billion, with a ₦2.00 interim dividend.
That is evidence that African companies can deliver.
TECH
Starlink Docks in Cote d’Ivoire
Gif by ABCNT on Giphy
Starlink the satellite internet company owned by the world’s richest man - Elon Musk, has been greenlit by the administration in Cote d’Ivoire for regulatory approval. This means that Starlink can begin to roll out across the French speaking West African country.
Starlink is becoming a favorite for many Africans (those that can afford it) for internet access. It is a reliable and simple approach to obtaining world speed internet with limited hardware.
Starlink currently operates across 27 countries in Africa and utilizes about 7,000 low earth orbit (LEO) satellites. This network of devices can bring internet to the most remote areas on the continent, from the desolate deserts, to the think jungles, bringing internet access to rural hospitals, schools and factories.
Love him or hate him, Elon is doing his thing, and we all are the beneficiaries.
The timing is good too, because there is also a massive data center project being slated from the country backed by U.S. delegations. This will position Cote d’Ivoire as a regional digital and tech hub.
Quick Bites [AI Summary]
The Lithium Processing Plant: Zamfara State in Nigeria officially unveiled a new $200 million lithium processing facility designed to refine raw battery minerals locally and create over 2,000 direct jobs.
The Precision Ag Boost: Tunisian agritech startup RoboCare secured new seed capital to deploy AI-powered drone imagery and satellite crop monitoring for farmers across North Africa and the Middle East.
The Global Africa Initiative: The Global Africa Business Initiative opened nominations for its community campaign leading up to Unstoppable Africa 2026 in New York, spotlighting business leaders driving economic transformation.
What Else is Cooking?
Have you ever wondered why malaria kills more people in Africa than any other continent in the world? I mean, its hot and tropical in South America and Asia, so why does Africa account for 95% of all cases of malaria and 95% of all malaria related deaths? Are mosquitos racist?
Well there are a few reasons for this. Apparently the African mosquitos responsible for this mayhem are the anopheles female variety. And this species is very efficient and effective in biting Africans.
The other big reason is poverty and population. Poor people do not have the means to protect themselves with preventative measures; netting, meds, clean sanitation etc.
Essentially, if we cured poverty in Africa, malaria would soon be eradicated.
But until then, there has been a breakthrough for a malaria vaccine. A small company from South Africa has been approved to produce an mRNA vaccine (similar tech to the Covid vaccine). Afrigen will begin running clinical trials and testing to see how effective the shot will be.
If this works, it will save millions of lives.
Dish of the Day 🥘
Today we chop in the Ivory Coast. They have a great selection of eats, but we were told we must try - Kedjenou.
This is a simple, spicy, slow cooked chicken dish that is marinated in amazing spices like onions, ginger, peppers, and it is allowed to simmer in a "canary” pot or some other earthen jar over firewood coals.
The result is a tender aromatic masterpiece. It can be paired with rice, or in our case we chose garri. Slap city!
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