| Welcome to Next Africa, a twice-weekly newsletter on where the continent stands now — and where it’s headed. Sign up here to have it delivered to your email. When is a disaster not a disaster? It depends on who you speak to. Six months after a copper mine’s waste dam burst in Zambia, unleashing toxic sludge, the potential extent of the catastrophe is emerging. The US ambassador to the southern African nation estimates it could rank among the worst such disasters yet, and ordered the immediate withdrawal of its staff from an area that includes Zambia’s second-biggest city, Kitwe.  Sino-Metals Leach’s tailings dam near Kitwe. Photographer: Richard Kille/AP Photo The risks for President Hakainde Hichilema’s government may extend beyond the backlash from the spill. It exposes the country’s tricky balancing act between top creditor China and the US, with which it has moved to boost relations. Zambia will be wary of making onerous demands on the Chinese state firm that owns the affected operation, especially when the two governments have yet to finalize a yearslong debt-restructuring process. A US senator was quick to comment, slamming what it described as the Asian nation’s “predatory” policies. Politics aside, the situation appears dire. The firm contracted by Sino-Metals Leach Zambia found in its assessment (seen and reported by Bloomberg) that the spill was much worse than previously reported — possibly 30 times initial estimates. Zambia’s environment minister on Friday, again, sought to calm public concerns.  WATCH: Ondiro Oganga reports on the reservoir’s failure on Bloomberg TV. Results received this week showed acidity readings were within safe levels in water tested in the region surrounding the mine, Mike Mposha told reporters. However, there were elevated readings for manganese and zinc in four of the 23 places that were checked. The Chinese firm apologized for the disaster and helped the government dump tons of lime in the impacted river systems to neutralize the acid. It dismissed the independent report’s findings on the extent of the damage, though, and fired the contractor. The dried sludge remains caked along streams and riverbanks. It’s still laced with toxic heavy metals. No full cleanup can take place until a fresh environmental assessment has been done. Zambia’s dry season ends around November, when rains will wash remaining sediment into the Kafue river that millions of citizens rely on for water. Time is running out to contain a new — this time more visible — disaster. — Matthew Hill Key stories and opinion:
Zambia Assures Public Water Is Safe After Mine-Pollution Spill
Disaster at China-Owned Zambia Mine May Be 30 Times Estimate
Zambia Plays Down Health Risks After US Warning on Mine Disaster
Zambia Seeks 12-Month Extension to IMF Deal Ahead of Elections
Zambia to Finalize Bilateral Debt-Revamp Deals by September The US appeals court allowed Donald Trump to cut billions of dollars in foreign assistance approved by Congress for this year. The ruling is a significant win for the president’s efforts to dissolve the US Agency for International Development and broadly withhold funding from programs that have fallen out of favor with his administration. The USAID rollback contributed to South Africa’s unemployment rate rising to a one-year high, data showed this week.  A food-distribution point near Buganda, Burundi, on May 6. Photographer: Luis Tato/AFP/getty Images Azule Energy, a joint venture between majors BP and Eni, is fast-tracking its Namibia oil operations as it competes with companies including TotalEnergies to be among the first to produce crude in one of the world’s newest hotspots. A final investment decision is challenging but possible by the end of next year, Azule’s CEO Adriano Mangini said. Separately, a South African court blocked Total from exploring for oil offshore the country’s west coast, near the Namibian border. Mali’s military government said it foiled a coup attempt and arrested several senior army officers and a French national suspected of plotting to destabilize the junta. Those taken into custody included General Abass Dembele. The leadership has detained opponents and mining executives, banned political parties and boosted links to Russia since it took power in 2021, while shunning traditional Western allies.  The Malian Armed Forces logo. Photographer: Gousno/AFP/Getty Images South Sudan denied reports that it’s in talks with Israel about relocating Palestinians from the Gaza Strip to the East African nation. The Associated Press reported that the two governments are discussing the resettlement as part of a wider effort by Israel to facilitate mass emigration from the war-torn strip. Also, South Africa’s government distanced itself from remarks by the country’s top general during a visit to Iran, where he criticized Israel and voiced solidarity with the Islamic Republic. South Africa’s government slammed a report published by the Trump administration that said the human-rights situation in the African nation “significantly worsened” last year. The review released by the State Department echoed some of Trump’s ongoing criticisms of the country, including false claims that Afrikaners are the victims of targeted killings and their land is being unlawfully seized.  Trump accused South African President Cyril Ramaphosa of state-sanctioned violence against White farmers during a briefing in the Oval Office on May 21. Photographer: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images The US sanctioned an armed group and two Hong Kong-based firms allegedly linked to violence and illegal mining in Democratic Republic of Congo, part of an effort to combat the trade of conflict minerals from the region. It imposed penalties on PARECO-FF, a successor movement to what it said was an armed group with a history of destabilizing activities in the DRC. The sanctions focus on Rubaya, a mining area in eastern Congo that contains one of the world’s largest sources of tantalum ore, used in electronics. Next Africa Quiz — One of the world’s biggest mining companies posted a $1 billion charge after its operations were seized by the government of which African country? Send your answers to gbell16@bloomberg.net.  In this week’s Next Africa podcast, Bloomberg’s Prinesha Naidoo joins Jennifer Zabasajja to explain what’s behind the boom in ultra-luxury tourism on the continent. Data Watch - Nigeria’s inflation slowed for a fourth consecutive month in July, strengthening the case for the central bank to begin cutting interest rates from a record high.
- Standard Bank, Africa’s biggest lender by assets, reported record first-half profit as fee growth and trading revenue helped offset a slowdown in interest income. It also announced that CEO Sim Tshabalala will retire in 2027.
- Zambia’s central bank held its key interest rate at 14.5% for a second consecutive time to further contain inflation.
- Nedbank agreed to sell its stake in Togo-based Ecobank Transnational to a company controlled by the former chairman of the pan-African lender for $100 million.
Coming Up - Aug. 17 Southern African Development Community summit in Madagascar
- Aug. 18 Absa and MTN results
- Aug. 20 South Africa and Lesotho inflation for July, Ghana producer-inflation data
- Aug. 21 Interest-rate decisions for Botswana and Rwanda
- Aug. 22 Gold Fields results
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