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Zimbabwe's Ministry of Mines and Mining Development gazetted a formal Mineral Classification and Declaration on 22 May 2026, signed by Minister Dr Polite Kambamura, classifying 14 minerals as "critical" (nickel, cobalt, graphite, copper, REE, chrome, PGMs, manganese, antimony, uranium, ruthenium, tungsten, niobium — plus metallurgical coal as "special critical") and 10 as "strategic" (limestone, potash, phosphorus, iron ore, pyrites, oil, gas, coal, gold, diamonds). The declaration mandates minimum state shareholding through designated Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs) in all critical-mineral exploitation operations and prohibits export of listed minerals in raw or unbeneficiated form without a ministerially-approved conditional transitional plan specifying a local beneficiation timeline.

The Government of Sierra Leone officially launched the National Strategy for Critical Minerals 2026-2031 on 20 May 2026 at Sierra Leone Mining Week (Freetown International Conference Centre), with Vice President Dr Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh delivering the keynote address alongside Minister of Mines Julius Daniel Mattai. The strategy commits to attracting USD 2.5 billion in exploration and mining investment, establishing 3-5 domestic mineral-processing plants, and achieving USD 1.5 billion in annual value-added mineral exports by 2031 -- up from a current raw-mineral export base of approximately USD 1.3 billion. Scope covers lithium, graphite, bauxite, cobalt, coltan, rutile, diamonds, iron ore, and rare-earth elements, and frames the national minerals agenda under the theme "Responsible Mining, Value Multiplication and Shared Prosperity."

On 6 February 2026 Presidents Trump and Modi announced a framework for an Interim Trade Agreement that resets the bilateral tariff posture installed in 2025. Two operative instruments: (i) an executive order signed 6 February eliminating, effective 7 February 2026, the additional 25% IEEPA "Russian-oil" duty on Indian imports imposed by EO 14329 (27 August 2025), conditional on India's commitment to cease buying Russian crude and to expand defence cooperation; and (ii) reduction of the EO 14257 reciprocal-tariff rate on India from 25% to 18% on listed product categories (textiles and apparel, leather and footwear, plastics and rubber, organic chemicals, home décor, artisanal products, certain machinery), to take effect on finalisation of the Interim Agreement. India commits to eliminate or reduce tariffs on all US industrial goods and a wide range of agricultural products (DDGs, red sorghum, tree nuts, fresh and processed fruit, soybean oil, wine, spirits) and to purchase >USD 500bn of US energy, ICT, coal, aircraft and aircraft parts, and precious-metals products over five years. The framework also commits the parties to negotiating "robust, ambitious, and mutually beneficial digital trade rules" and to addressing non-tariff barriers in medical devices, ICT import licensing, and food/agricultural standards. US tariff reductions on Indian generic pharmaceuticals, gems, diamonds, aircraft parts, and certain automotive components are flagged as contingent on completion of the full Interim Agreement.

The Minerals and Mining (Royalty) Regulations, 2025, a Legislative Instrument (MMRR 2025) laid before the Parliament of Ghana on 19 December 2025 by Minister for Lands and Natural Resources Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, replaces the flat statutory royalty structure under L.I. 2173 with a sliding-scale band framework indexed to international commodity reference prices across all mineral classes. Ghana's #1 gold-producing status (≈4 million oz/year in 2024) means that even marginal rate increases above the prior 5% flat baseline translate to hundreds of millions of USD in additional annual state revenue at current gold prices. The L.I. matured automatically into law on 9 March 2026 under Article 11(7) of the 1992 Constitution (21 sitting days without parliamentary annulment), over objections from the Minority and the Chamber of Mines, who warned of stability-clause breach and ~1 million job losses.

The Minister of Minerals published Government Notice No. 692 of 2025 on 19 December 2025, amending the Mining (Corporate Social Responsibility) Regulations 2023 (GN 409/2023) made under section 105 of the Mining Act, Cap. 123. Key operative changes include restructuring the CSR Expert Committee, imposing statutory 14-day timelines for plan revision and ministerial submission, enhancing licensee financial-reporting obligations, and granting explicit corrective-action authority against underperforming contractors. All Tanzanian mining licensees — including Barrick (North Mara, Bulyanhulu), AngloGold Ashanti (Geita), and Petra Diamonds (Williamson) — are subject to the tightened compliance framework.

President Peter Mutharika signed an executive order effective 21 October 2025 prohibiting the export of all raw, unprocessed minerals extracted in Malawi, covering uranium, rare earth elements, niobium, graphite, tantalum, bauxite, rutile, gold, copper, diamonds, heavy mineral sands, and all other minerals. Minerals that have been processed, refined, or value-added in Malawi are exempt. The order aligns with an announced National Mining Corporation to oversee mineral production and processing, and introduces fines and sanctions under Malawi law for violations.

Minister of Trade Regulation No. 20 of 2025, signed by Minister Budi Santoso on 30 June 2025 and effective 29 August 2025 (60 days after promulgation), reorganises Indonesia's import regime for chemicals, Hazardous Materials (B2), and a defined set of mining and energy inputs. The regulation revokes Permendag 8/2024 and requires holders of designated importer status (Importir Terdaftar / Importir Produsen) to secure an Import Approval (Persetujuan Impor) plus a post-arrival Surveyor Report (Laporan Surveyor) for an eleven-cluster commodity bundle including lubricant raw materials, cement clinker and cement, rough diamonds, non-pharmaceutical precursors, crude oil and natural gas, nitrocellulose, commercial-industrial explosives, ozone-depleting substances, hydrofluorocarbons, B2, and certain other chemicals (BKT). It is one of nine commodity-cluster Permendags issued the same day under the Prabowo administration's umbrella import-policy deregulation package.

On 20 June 2025, the US Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control designated four individuals, twelve entities, and two vessels in what Treasury called its single largest action to date against Iran-backed Ansarallah (the Houthis), pursuant to Executive Order 13224 as amended. The designated network — Sana'a- and Hudaydah-based oil-trading front companies (including Black Diamond Petroleum Derivatives, Star Plus Yemen, Tamco Establishment, Royal Plus Shipping, and Abbot Trading) and their Houthi operator-owners — facilitates black-market oil and oil-derivative sales that fund Houthi militant operations, while shipping firms Best Way Tanker Corp, Ocean Voyage LLC, and Atlantis M. Shipping Co were designated for discharging over 120,000 combined metric tons of gasoline and LPG at the Houthi-controlled Ras Isa port via the vessels Valente and Atlantis MZ after the April 2025 expiration of Counter Terrorism General License 25A. The action builds on OFAC's June 2024–April 2025 cadence of designations against Houthi leaders, weapons-procurement operatives, and suppliers.

At its 34th session in Harare on 5 June 2025, the SADC Committee of Ministers of Trade formally endorsed Angola's accession to the SADC Free Trade Area after Angola submitted its final tariff offer covering 90% of tariff lines — surpassing the SADC standard threshold of 85%. Angola becomes the 14th SADC member state to join the FTA, with implementation targeted for January 2026. The accession ends Angola's longstanding outlier status as the region's second-largest economy operating outside the bloc's duty-free zone, and opens tariff-free corridors between Angola and FTA members including South Africa, Zambia, DRC, Zimbabwe, and Mozambique.

Guinea's Mines Minister Bouna Sylla announced on 26 May 2025 the cancellation of 129 exploration permits for gold, bauxite, and diamonds that had expired between 2012 and 2024 and were held by non-compliant companies that had not fulfilled their statutory obligations. The measure is the fourth wave of post-coup mining cadastre cleanup under the CNRD/Doumbouya administration and follows two presidential decrees and a prior ministerial ordinance. Major affected operators include AngloGold Ashanti's Siguiri gold-mine exploration blocks, four gold permits held by Endeavour Mining, and Guinea Alumina Corporation's Nomba bauxite block; Axis International separately filed a USD 28.9 billion ICSID arbitration claim over bauxite-permit revocation in the same wave.

On 25 February 2025 the Government of the Republic of Botswana and De Beers Group (Anglo American) signed binding agreements in Gaborone formalising the September 2023 Heads of Terms. The package replaces the previous Debswana sales arrangement (which expired 30 June 2023 and had operated under rolling extensions) with a new 10-year sales agreement, optionally extendable by a further 5 years; extends the four Debswana mining licences (Jwaneng, Orapa, Letlhakane, Damtshaa) by 25 years from August 2029 to July 2054; and progressively shifts rough-diamond allocation toward the state-owned Okavango Diamond Company (ODC). Under the new sales split, ODC takes 30% of Debswana production with De Beers selling 70% in the first five years (2025-2030), rising to 40%/60% in years 6-10 (2030-2035), and 50%/50% in the optional 5-year extension period — a step-up from the legacy 25%/75% split. De Beers has also committed an upfront BWP 1 billion (~USD 75 million) contribution to a new Diamonds for Development Fund, with further annual contributions tied to Debswana dividends, to support diversification under Botswana's Vision 2036 and National Development Plan. The agreement bundles in-country beneficiation commitments: a new diamond jewellery manufacturing facility in Botswana, a De Beers Institute of Diamonds grading laboratory, and a diamond vocational training institute. The deal was signed by Minister of Minerals and Energy Bogolo Joy Kenewendo and De Beers CEO Al Cook, with President Duma Boko presiding. It is the first Botswana entry in the IPTM register and the cleanest worked example of the negotiated / equity-sharing model of resource nationalism — distinct from the outright export bans pursued by Indonesia, the DRC and Zimbabwe, but driven by the same producing-country imperative to capture rents and margin from a strategic mineral sector.

China's Ministry of Commerce announced on 3 December 2024 (MOFCOM Announcement No. 46 of 2024) a formal ban on dual-use exports to the United States of gallium, germanium, antimony and superhard materials including diamond and cubic boron nitride. The measure also imposed strict end-use review on graphite exports to the US, with extra scrutiny of military end-uses. It came one day after BIS issued a major export- control package on 2 December 2024 expanding controls on Chinese semiconductor equipment and adding 140 entities to the Entity List, and was framed by MOFCOM as a national- security countermeasure.

Décret n° 2024/05251/PM, signed on 19 November 2024 by the Cameroonian Prime Minister, establishes the legal framework governing the possession, marketing, export, import, and transit of mineral substances in Cameroon. The decree operationalises the trade-flow control architecture introduced by the headline Loi n°2023/014 portant Code Minier (December 2023), giving effect to SONAMINES's statutory monopoly over the purchase and commercialisation of strategic minerals including gold, diamonds, cobalt, nickel, and manganese. It is one of eight implementing decrees signed 18–19 November 2024 that together constitute the full operational legal framework under the 2023 Code Minier.

At the 21st Kimberley Process Plenary in Dubai on November 15, 2024, KP participants unanimously voted to lift the rough diamond export embargo on the Central African Republic, reinstating CAR as a full KP member under enhanced vigilance conditions. The embargo had been in place since 2013 following a violent coup and evidence of rebel financing through diamond mining; it was the last remaining KP export restriction in force globally. The decision restores CAR's access to legal international diamond trade channels after an 11-year interruption, directly affecting diamond importers in the UAE, India, Belgium, and Hong Kong who must now treat CAR-origin rough diamonds as compliant-origin under KP certification.

On 8 October 2024 Botswana's National Assembly assented to the Mines and Minerals (Amendment) Act No. 14 of 2024, the most significant rewrite of the country's mining statute (Cap. 66:01, 1999) in over two decades. The Act commenced on 1 October 2025 via Statutory Instrument 120 of 2025 and introduces five structurally significant provisions: a mandatory 24% citizen/local-investor equity participation in new mining concessions (if the state elects not to take the stake itself), a broadened "controlling interest" definition capturing indirect offshore transactions, enhanced ministerial licence-transfer approval requirements, strengthened environmental rehabilitation obligations, and an in-country beneficiation push. The measure closes the offshore-transaction loophole that previously allowed indirect change-of-control via Mauritius/BVI/Singapore SPVs to bypass ministerial approval, and operationalises Botswana's resource-nationalism turn alongside the companion February 2025 De Beers / Debswana commercial renegotiation.

China's Ministry of Commerce and General Administration of Customs jointly issued Announcement No. 33 of 2024 on 15 August 2024, imposing an export licensing regime on antimony ore, antimony metal, antimony oxides (purity ≥99.99%), organic antimony compounds, antimony hydride, indium antimonide, and gold-antimony smelting technology, effective 15 September 2024. The announcement also covers six-sided top-press equipment used in superhard-materials (diamond, cubic boron nitride) production. China accounts for approximately 47% of global antimony mine output and an estimated 75-80% of refined antimony supply; in the months following implementation, Chinese antimony export volumes fell by approximately 97% and global antimony trioxide spot prices roughly doubled.

Angola's National Assembly enacted Law No. 8/24 on 3 July 2024, establishing graduated criminal penalties for illegal mining activity involving strategic minerals as defined in the Mining Code. The law creates imprisonment terms of 3–8 years for promoting or facilitating illegal operations, 2–8 years for installing unlicensed equipment or initiating unauthorised mining, and 2–6 years for transporting illegally-mined minerals, alongside a forfeiture mechanism enabling the State to seize instruments, products, and proceeds of crime. The measure closes a gap in Angola's prior Mining Code (Law 31/11 of 2011), which lacked standalone criminal-enforcement provisions for strategic-minerals protection. A companion instrument, Presidential Order No. 39/24 of 26 January 2024, established the National Observatory to Combat Illegal Exploitation of Strategic Mineral Resources as the coordinating enforcement body.

The CTRI transitional government of Gabon signed Décret n° 0276/PR/MM on 2 July 2024, establishing a dedicated legal regime for six "sovereign substances" (gold, silver, uranium, diamonds, gemstones, and rare earths) and granting the state an automatic 35% equity participation — free of all charges and non-dilutable — in any large-scale mine exploiting those materials. The decree also reserves the state an option to acquire a further 25% paid interest at market value, gives it pre-emption rights on title transfers, mandates in-country processing of extracted substances, and reserves small-scale mining titles exclusively for Gabonese nationals. Existing operators had one year from publication (until approximately 15 July 2025) to restructure their capital in compliance; the state vehicle channelling the free-carry stake is Équatoriale des Mines.

On 29 June 2024 the Council of the European Union adopted Council Regulation (EU) 2024/1865 and Council Decision (CFSP) 2024/1864, amending Regulation (EC) No 765/2006 to extend Belarus's sanctions regime so that it mirrors the restrictive measures already in force against Russia, closing routes used to circumvent the Russia sanctions via Belarus. The package bans the import of gold, diamonds, helium, coal and other mineral products (including crude oil) originating in or exported from Belarus; bans the import of goods and technology on the EU Common Military List if of Belarusian origin; extends the export ban on dual-use goods, oil-refining and LNG-liquefaction equipment, maritime-navigation goods and luxury goods to Belarus; prohibits transit via Belarus of EU-exported firearms and ammunition; and broadens the road-transport ban. The measures entered into force on 1 July 2024, the day after publication in the Official Journal.

The Central African Republic enacted a comprehensive new Mining Code (Law No. 24-008) in May 2024, replacing the prior framework to govern all prospecting, exploration, exploitation, processing, and marketing of mineral deposits. The code creates two state enterprises: GEMINCA (Gemmes et Minéraux de Centrafrique), mandated as the state-designated purchaser of precious and semi-precious minerals — introducing a state monopsony channel for diamond and gold purchasing — and SONADERM (Société Nationale de Développement des Ressources Minérales), charged with geological survey and mineral-domain promotion. Mandatory EITI, Kimberley Process, and ICGLR compliance is imposed on all mining title holders, forecloses informal-sector operators, and tightens supply-chain due-diligence requirements for downstream importers. A companion formalisation framework licences artisanal and small-scale mining through cooperatives and purchasing-office structures, and a dedicated mining fund distinct from Treasury accounts is established to channel sector revenues.

On 5 April 2024 Japan's Cabinet adopted an amendment to the Export Trade Control Order, following a 1 March 2024 Cabinet understanding, extending the export prohibition on goods that strengthen Russia's industrial base. The additional goods span parts of HS chapters 27 (mineral fuels and oils), 28 (inorganic chemicals), 39, 73, 81 (tungsten powder, molybdenum, cobalt, zirconium, rhenium), 82, 84, 85 (including lithium-ion and nickel-metal-hydride batteries), 89 and 90, with the specific goods fixed by ministerial ordinance and notices issued on 10 April. The export ban applies from 17 April 2024. A separate METI notice bans imports of non-industrial diamonds of Russian origin from 10 May 2024, regardless of port of shipment.

On 31 January 2024 Switzerland's Federal Council decided to align with the EU's 12th sanctions package (adopted 18 December 2023) by amending the Ordinance on Measures Relating to the Situation in Ukraine (SR 946.231.176.72), entering into force the same day at 18:00. The update extends Switzerland's Russia-sanctions perimeter to match the EU's additions — including the Russian diamond, steel and other import-revenue restrictions — and adds a new financial-sector prohibition barring Russian nationals and Russia-resident individuals from controlling Swiss crypto-asset service providers, aimed at closing sanctions-circumvention and enforcement gaps.

President Paul Biya signed Loi n°2023/014 on 19 December 2023, replacing the 2016 mining code (Loi n°2016/017) and significantly enlarging state control over Cameroon's mineral sector. The law vests SONAMINES (Société Nationale des Mines) with an exclusive statutory monopoly over the purchase and commercialisation of gold and diamonds nationwide, mandates a 10% non-dilutable free-carry equity stake for the state in all mining enterprises, and introduces a production-sharing mechanism (1–5% of finished product for precious substances; 2–15% of raw ore for others) layered on top of revised ad valorem royalties (5% for precious metals, 3% for base metals, 10% for radioactive substances). The code provides the legal framework for SONAMINES-led reindustrialisation of large iron-ore and bauxite projects, including Mbalam-Nabeba and Minim-Martap.

The Council of the EU adopted Council Regulation (EU) 2023/2878 of 18 December 2023, the EU's 12th sanctions package against Russia, entering into force 19 December 2023. The package introduces a direct EU import ban on Russian non-industrial natural and synthetic diamonds and diamond jewellery effective 1 January 2024, followed by a phased indirect ban on Russian diamonds processed in third countries (from 1 March 2024, complete by 1 September 2024), developed as part of a G7-coordinated diamond restriction. The package also extends import bans on steel and other products generating significant revenue for Russia, and adds further trade and economic restrictions.

Sierra Leone's National Minerals Agency gazetted the Mines and Minerals Development Regulations 2023 (Statutory Instrument No. 9 of 2023) in May 2023 as the primary implementing instrument for the Mines and Minerals Development Act 2022 (Act 16). The Regulations repeal and replace the 2009 Regulations, establishing operational frameworks across five licence categories. Key provisions include a mandatory 10% non-dilutable free carried interest for the state in large-scale licences, an option for the state to acquire up to 35% additional equity on negotiated terms, mandatory community development agreements (minimum 1% of gross revenue), and environmental impact assessment and environmental bond requirements for all categories.

Sierra Leone's Parliament enacted Act No. 22 of 2023, establishing the Sierra Leone Mines and Minerals Development and Management Corporation (SLMMDMC) as a state body corporate mandated to carry out minerals and mining development, management, and related activities on behalf of the Republic. The Corporation operates through government-approved "project companies" (public-private vehicles) constituted under the parent Mines and Minerals Development Act 2022, with its Board responsible to the Minister for Mines. The Act enables Parliament-approved allocation of specific mineral assets to the Corporation for development, creating the institutional architecture for systematic state participation across Sierra Leone's strategic mineral sector — including rutile, ilmenite, bauxite, diamonds, iron ore, and critical minerals identified in subsequent national strategy instruments. The Act entered into force on 15 June 2023 and is the implementing parent for the Allocated Minerals Regulations (SI No. 11 of 2024).

Sierra Leone's Parliament enacted Act No. 16 of 2022, a landmark overhaul of the country's foundational mining legal framework replacing the Mines and Minerals Act 2009. The Act establishes a reformed licensing architecture (exploration → large-scale mining licence pipeline), enhanced royalty and compulsory state-participation provisions for large-scale licences, and strengthened local-content, artisanal-and-small-scale mining (ASM), and beneficial-ownership- disclosure obligations. The National Minerals Agency (NMA) is empowered as the primary regulatory body; the Act received presidential assent on 21 March 2023 and commenced 12 May 2023, forming the statutory parent for all subsequent Sierra Leone minerals legislation including the SLMMDMC Act (Act No. 22 of 2023) and the 2026-2031 Critical Minerals Strategy.

OFAC reissued the Central African Republic Sanctions Regulations (31 CFR Part 553) in their entirety on 29 September 2022, replacing the abbreviated framework first published on 7 July 2014 under Executive Order 13667. The reissuance adds interpretive guidance, definitions, and general licenses — including provisions for humanitarian assistance, personal communications, and non-commercial personal remittances — without expanding the underlying substantive sanctions perimeter. The action is primarily a regulatory codification that provides compliance clarity for financial institutions and other US persons transacting with or near CAR.

The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) amended the Commerce Control List (CCL) under the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) to implement four emerging and foundational technology decisions agreed at the December 2021 Wassenaar Arrangement Plenary meeting, pursuant to ECRA Section 1758. The rule adds new export controls on ultra-wide bandgap semiconductor substrates (gallium oxide Ga₂O₃ and diamond), ECAD software for Gate-All- Around Field-Effect Transistor (GAAFET) integrated circuit development, and Pressure Gain Combustion (PGC) technology for advanced gas turbine engines. Controls require a licence for items destined to countries listed in the NS:1 and AT:1 columns of the Commerce Country Chart; ECAD software controls (ECCN 3D006) have a delayed compliance date of October 14, 2022.

South Africa's Precious Metals Act 37 of 2005 establishes a standing, discretionary ministerial export-approval regime for platinum group metals. Section 12(2) provides that "no person may export any unwrought or semi-fabricated metals of the platinum group except with the written approval of the Minister which shall be granted subject to the promotion of equitable access to, and the orderly local beneficiation of such metals." The Act was assented to and published in the Government Gazette on 21 April 2006 (Act 37 of 2005) and commenced on 1 July 2007 per Presidential proclamation under s.25 (Government Gazette 30071 of 12 July 2007). South Africa supplies roughly 70-80% of global mined platinum, rhodium and iridium output, making this the register's first PGM-specific ZA export instrument (prior ZA filings — MPRDA 2002, the 2025 Mineral Resources Development Bill, IDS 2026 — are generic mining-law/industrial-policy instruments rather than PGM-specific export controls).

The Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act, Act 28 of 2002, assented to by President Thabo Mbeki on 3 October 2002 and commenced on 1 May 2004 (Proclamation R.25 of 2004), is the foundational post-apartheid statute governing all mineral and petroleum resources in South Africa. The Act vests custodianship of all SA mineral and petroleum resources in the State for the benefit of all South Africans, abolishes the old-order private-ownership system of mineral rights, and establishes the Mineral and Petroleum Titles Registration Office (MPTRO). It creates the licensing regime for prospecting, mining, exploration, and production rights as limited real rights tied to land under Chapters 3–6, and embeds the Mining Charter BEE-ownership transformation framework via Section 100(2) — subsequently litigated in Chamber of Mines v Minister of Mineral Resources [2018] (SCA). The MPRDA is the parent authority for all subsequent SA mining-sector regulation including the 2008 Royalty Act, the 2018 Mining Charter III, and the 2025 Mineral Resources Development Bill currently pending before Parliament.