Trade Wins

December 11, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 7 minutes

Good Morning, Chop Family!

Happy Friday Eve!

It’s hard to keep up with all the drama afoot, but we will do our best in trying!

Have a great day and lock in.

📈 Trending Headlines

“President of Peace”

The Donald has tried to broker peace deals all over the world, and to be fair, at least he is trying.

But the recent deal between the DRC and Rwanda seems to be unraveling as M23 rebels have seized the strategic city of Uvira in eastern DRC, underscoring how fragile the recent Trump‑brokered Rwanda–Congo peace deal really is.

Seized at Sea

While proclaiming peace for some, Trump is also wreaking havoc on his hemispheric neighbor, Venezuela.

In a recent brazen move, the United States seized a Venezuelan oil tanker off the coast of the South American coast.

The tanker was allegedly involved in “illicit oil shipping networks.” This move made oil prices spike in recent hours.

MARKET MOVES

BUSINESS

Morocco Goes Mega-Port

Morocco is doubling down on its “Tanger Med playbook,” rolling out two new deepwater ports to lock in its position as North Africa’s logistics kingpin.

Nador West Med on the Mediterranean is due in 2026, with industrial zones that can scale from 800 to 5,000 hectares and host the country’s first LNG terminal to fuel a shift from coal to gas and renewables.

Further south, the $1 billion Dakhla Atlantic port in Western Sahara, opening in 2028 at a depth of 23 meters, is designed as a heavy-industry and agro hub that processes raw materials from Sahel countries and gives landlocked neighbors a direct shot at global trade lanes. (But who really controls Western Sahara 🤔?)

Morocco is quickly becoming the darling of North Africa; it has booming tourism, great attractions, stable infrastructure, and good food!

South African Retailer Seeks Growth in Europe.

South Africa’s Mr Price is taking another swing at offshore growth, this time by buying German value retailer NKD Group in a deal of up to about 570 million dollars, its first real entry into Europe.

The acquisition hands Mr Price more than 2,100 stores across seven Central and Eastern European markets, instantly lifting group revenue to around 53 billion rand and its store base to over 5,000 outlets serving value-conscious family shoppers.

It is a big move for a group that previously exited Nigeria, Australia, and Poland after painful lessons, but management is betting that a like‑for‑like value model, NKD’s strong small-town footprint, and data-driven operations will make this European bet stick.

FINANCE

Officials inspecting the shipment

🍞Grain Diplomacy

A 50,000-ton cargo of American wheat worth about 15 million dollars just docked at Apapa Lagos, and it’s basically a floating symbol of how tight the US–Nigeria agro relationship has become.

The shipment, bought by Flour Mills of Nigeria, reinforces Nigeria’s status as the world’s third‑largest market for US wheat and helps keep flour, ndomie, and bread factories running despite local production gaps.

With agricultural trade between both countries expected to more than double to over 700 million dollars in 2025, trade ties with the U.S. seem to be growing stronger.

But here’s the thing, Nigeria should focus more on producing more wheat at home. With such abundant farmland and fertile soil, Nigeria could be a net exporter of wheat and rice and other produce if they invested in this sector. Until then, they will depend on foreign food to feed its folk. 🙆🏾

TECH

💡 Tech & Fintech: Funding Surge as Investors Circle Back to Africa

2025 is shaping up as a comeback year for Africa’s tech ecosystem. Startup funding has surged past $3 billion, the strongest inflow since the 2023–24 slowdown.

Scared money doesn’t win, and it appears that venture capitalists are not afraid of the African tech ecosystem, and for good reason.

There is so much upside on the continent, and for those who can stomach challenges, unpredictable policies, and poor infrastructure, some will reap huge benefits and profits.

Leading the charge: fintech, climate-tech, healthtech, and proptech, showing capital is flowing not just into flashy apps but real-economy infrastructure and services, basically boring businesses.

What’s really interesting: In this liquidity-tight global climate, money is still following fundamentals —, good news for founders and investors that are focused on core, practical businesses.

SMALL CHOP

🏆 Has Africa actually arrived at the Grammys …?

Detty December provides some of the best concert experiences for African music, from the packed venues in Accra and Lagos, the feeling and vibes travel much further across the globe, and Grammy peeps can’t deny this.

So when they finally gave Africa its own spotlight with a Best African Music Performance category in 2024, it caused a stir, but the fine print is pure industry politics.

After years of piling African artists into “folk”, then “world”, then “global” music, the awards are now mostly rewarding big-label Afrobeats and pop‑leaning sounds that already move US streams, while more traditional and regional styles risk being sidelined.

So yes, it may be a badge of honour and a potential cash machine for African stars, but also a reminder that what gets stamped as “African excellence” is increasingly whatever fits neatly into US commercial and corporate tastes.

DISH OF THE DAY

Babbouche

We flew to Morocco to check out the site of their new deep-sea port, and we decided to stay a while.

We roamed the streets of Marrakech and stumbled across a delicacy called Babbouche.

Babbouche is a savory, flavorful broth seasoned with thyme, garlic, licorice, and other spices, but the main feature is snails.

We aren’t afraid of snails, so we swooped up a couple of bowls and sucked them down!

Very tasty!

Did You Know? That Rhapta was believed to sit somewhere along the coast of modern Tanzania, making it one of East Africa’s earliest international trade hubs?

Rhapta traded ivory, tortoiseshell, metal weapons, rice, and palm oil with merchants from Greece, Rome, Arabia, and India as early as the 1st century CE!

Till next time,

Chop Team