GOOD MORNING CHOP FAMILY!
Its Lenten season … what did you give up or what are you focusing on? Just make sure you stay plugged in to the DailyChop for the latest from the Continent. Happy Thursday
TRENDING TOPICS
Tensions in the Straits of Hormuz
Iran has reportedly "temporarily" closed the Strait of Hormuz for military exercises, which is basically like putting a roadblock on the world’s most important oil highway. Nuclear negotiations have stalled between Iran and the United States, and there has been a lot of posturing and saber-rattling. Let us hope that cooler heads prevail.
BUSINESS
More Juice Please
Nigeria’s long-stalled $2.3 billion power deal with German engineering giant Siemens is officially back from the dead. After sitting dormant for years due to the pandemic and "regulatory hurdles," the project is being fast-tracked by the Tinubu administration to finally fix the country’s notoriously shaky electricity grid.
The Goal: The "Presidential Power Initiative" aims to overhaul transmission and distribution to hit 25,000 megawatts by 2025, a massive leap from the current measly 4,000 MW average.
Early Wins: A pilot phase is already moving, with 10 mobile substations and several massive transformers recently delivered to boost capacity by nearly 1,000 MW.
Beyond the Grid: Germany is also pivoting to a "gas-plus-renewables" strategy, eyeing Nigeria’s massive gas reserves to help fuel Europe while helping Nigeria build out solar and wind.
The difference? For decades, Nigeria’s economy has been handcuffed by blackouts that cost billions in lost growth. If Siemens can actually modernize the "last mile" of the grid, it transforms Nigeria from a country that should be an industrial powerhouse into one that actually is one.
FINANCE
Cut Them Off
“My brotha, we are suffering here… no school fees, Aunty Theresa is sick, and no food for the family, please we need your help…”
The above is a common occurrence among Nigerian families. Nigerians who are in the diaspora religiously send money back home (remittances) to help support the extended family. In fact, Nigerians sent $20 billion in remittances in 2025, which has a huge impact on the Nigerian economy.
But now, in the United States, with the crackdown on immigrants, Nigerians have been forced to change tactics. The U.S. government monitors remittances, and if they believe that money is being sent for nefarious reasons, i.e., drugs, supporting terrorists, etc., they will flag the accounts and potentially deport the individuals.
Many Nigerians are being more strategic with sending money back now. They are doing it in smaller amounts, sending cash (physically) to those who are traveling back home, and or transferring money from local Nigerian banks to their relatives.
This will be a big adjustment for those back home who rely on these funds for survival. Many are pivoting to starting small-scale businesses, which gives them the ability to earn revenue from their local hustles.
Until the immigration crackdown and the magnifying glass lessen, we cannot anticipate how things will shift on the ground. But it is safe to say that less money will be sent in the short term, and that there will continue to be hunger crying out from back home.
TECH
The 2Africa subsea cable, the world’s longest, is officially landing, and it’s basically giving the continent a massive digital upgrade. Think of it as a giant fiber-optic highway circling Africa to finally bring faster, cheaper, and more reliable internet to over 3 billion people.
The Deets-
The Scale: 45,000 km of cable connecting 33 countries across Africa, Asia, and Europe.
The Speed: It’s designed to deliver more than the total combined capacity of all subsea cables serving Africa today.
The Catch: Having the "highway" isn't enough; countries still need to build the "local roads" (inland infrastructure) to actually get that high-speed data to people’s homes.
So what?
This isn't just about faster Netflix; it’s the backbone for a projected $26 billion to $36 billion boost to Africa’s GDP. If the "last mile" connectivity gets sorted, it could finally bridge the digital divide for good.
But will this development slow down Elon Musk’s Starlink, which is a simple, mobile, fast competitor? We think there is plenty of room for both, the bandwith the better!
QUICK BITES
Ethiopia is building a massive $12.5 billion "mega-airport" near Bishoftu, and it’s shaped like a giant cross to maximize efficiency. This project isn't just a facelift; it’s a move to make Addis Ababa the undisputed gateway to the entire continent.
Nigeria's Saglev and Kenya's Rideence are assembling electric taxis and minibuses locally using Chinese kits — and solving the affordability problem with $18/day leases instead of scary upfront costs. Only 30,000 EVs on a continent of 1.4 billion people right now, but the pieces are falling into place.
Dangote just wrote a $400 million check to double the Dangote refinery's capacity from 650,000 to 1.4 million barrels per day, making it the largest refinery on the planet.
DISH OF THE DAY
Yassa Fish
We were in the mood for some seafood, and luckily for us, we were vacationing in the Gambia (what a beautiful country). We were given Yassa fish, a wonderful seafood dish, ours was a red snapper marinated with onions and lemons, and grilled over an open flame. It was tangy and delicious. We watched the sunset on the beach and had a few cocktails too …
DID YOU KNOW?
As of 2023–2025, only 36%–38% of the African population uses the internet.
