GOOD MORNING CHOP FAMILY!
The World Cup kicks off in three days.
Tyla performs at the opening ceremony in Mexico City on Thursday, 90 minutes before South Africa takes the field against the hosts.
Burna Boy is on the official World Cup song. Rema headlines the LA ceremony.
Big week. Let's go.
Proverb of the Day
Until the lion learns to write, every story will glorify the hunter.
Iranian missiles were intercepted over Israel yesterday and it seems the fighting in the Middle East is not slowing down, despite a so called cease-fire in place. Oil prices shot up a bit, and the world is waiting for this rubbish war to end so things can get back to “normal” whatever that means.
Many pundits are telling folks to dig in and get ready for a long, drawn out scenario. So we better get used to oil prices hovering around the $100 per barrel mark. Ugh.
MARKET MOVES
Ghana Flew to London, Signed £215M in Deals, and Told Investors: Africa Is Not a Risk to Be Managed.
President John Dramani Mahama and Finance Minister Cassiel Ato Forson spent June 1-2 at the Ghana-UK Investment Summit in London, themed "Restoring Investor Confidence to Unlock Opportunities.”
They left with £215 million ($289 million) in private sector deals signed, including a £101 million ship repair and dry-docking facility at Takoradi backed by the UK's Private Infrastructure Development Group. That’s a pretty big haul… The Ghana News Agency had the full summit readout.
The bigger argument Mahama made was structural, and it is one “Africa” has been making quietly for years. He told CNBC Africa and the room of London investors that African debt is systematically mispriced: African countries pay 100-260 basis points more in bond spreads than similarly rated peers in other emerging markets, costing the continent billions annually in extra debt servicing that it does not owe.
Basically, African nations need to restructure better debt deals that are more favorable to them.
"Africa is not a risk to be managed. Africa is an opportunity to be seized," he said. Finance Minister Forson added that Ghana is targeting investment-grade credit status within three years, despite currently sitting in sub-investment territory.
Ghana exited its $3 billion IMF bailout programmed last month after three years of structural reform. The cedi has stabilized. Inflation has moderated sharply from its 2022-2023 peak. Semafor's full London dispatch
Nigeria's State Oil Company Just Argued in Court That Dangote's Fuel Is Too Expensive. Weeks Before His IPO.
It always seems like there is always drama around Dangote and his fuel in Nigeria… In April, the Dangote Petroleum Refinery filed a lawsuit at the Federal High Court in Lagos, asking it to void import licenses that the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority had issued to six fuel marketers: NIPCO, AA Rano, Matrix Energy, Shafa, Pinnacle Oil, and Bono Energy.
The refinery says it can supply Nigeria's domestic fuel needs so stop the competing imports.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company's counter-affidavit, filed in May, is where this story gets remarkable.
As Billionaires.Africa first reported, NNPC told the court that Dangote's petroleum products are "sold at significantly high and fluctuating market prices" and that fuel imports must continue to protect Nigerians from price exploitation and monopoly control.
The state oil company is essentially siding with the fuel importers Dangote wants shut out. CNBC Africa has the full court filing analysis.
The timing matters big time. Dangote has a September IPO targeted, with pre-IPO investor interest near $2 billion and valuations between $40 billion and higher.
Foreign investors evaluating the offering now have to weigh a state-owned counterparty arguing in open court that the refinery's pricing is a consumer threat.
No court hearing date has been set. The case is still live. For anyone watching the September IPO window, this is the most important story in Nigerian business right now and the drama is real … stay tuned in.
Quick Bites
→ SpaceX prices the world's largest IPO this Thursday. $135/share, $1.77 trillion valuation, $75 billion raise, Nasdaq ticker SPCX. Pricing June 11. Trading June 12. Musk becomes the world's first trillionaire. The Africa connection: Starlink operates across more than 30 African countries. For diaspora investors who missed the private rounds, this is the first accessible entry. As always, do your own research before Thursday morning.
→ Standard Bank is now Africa's most valuable bank. Moneyweb confirmed Standard Bank reached a market cap of R517 billion (~$31 billion) at Friday's close on the JSE, overtaking Capitec (R511B) and FirstRand (R503B). For the first time, all three South African banks have simultaneously crossed the R500 billion threshold. Combined value of the top three: $91 billion. African banking is not a niche story. It is a $91 billion sector and climbing.
→ Nigeria launches its 2026 oil licensing round in Q3. The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission confirmed ministerial approval for the new licensing round, targeting fresh investment in the upstream sector as the Dangote refinery reshapes downstream economics. The timing, coming as the NNPC-Dangote court battle plays out, makes Nigeria's oil sector the most watched in Africa right now.
Global Corner
South Africa vs Mexico. Tyla on Stage. Burna Boy on the Soundtrack. T-3 Days.
In three days, the 2026 FIFA World Cup begins at the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City. Before the whistle blows, Tyla — the Johannesburg-born, Grammy Award-winning singer — performs at the opening ceremony. The following day she performs again in Los Angeles. Two ceremonies, two opening acts, one South African. Africa.com confirmed the double booking: no other artist is performing at more than one of the three host-nation ceremonies.
The official World Cup song is called "Game Time." It was produced by Cirkut and features Future and Tyla. FIFA announced Burna Boy and Shakira will perform it live at the LA ceremony on June 12.
Rema also performs in LA. Nigerian, South African, and Afrobeats artists are not a diversity footnote at this World Cup. They are the soundtrack. This is what a decade of Afrobeats, Amapiano, and Afropop going global actually looks like when the infrastructure has been built.
Dish of the Day 🥘
Bunny Chow
South Africa plays Mexico in three days. The correct preparation is Bunny Chow.
Durban's most iconic street food is a hollowed-out quarter loaf of white bread filled with curry — mutton, chicken, or bean, depending on who you ask and whether the argument you want to have is worth having.
The bread is the bowl. The bread is also the spoon. At the end, you eat the bread. It was invented by the Indian community in Durban in the 1940s, allegedly as a way to serve takeaway curry to workers who were not permitted to sit inside restaurants during apartheid
However you slice it, it is DELIISH!
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