Cameroon’s revised Mining Code (Law No. 2023/014) and World Bank-funded PRECASEM geochemical mapping using the Flexicadastre system are opening underexplored iron ore, bauxite, gold, rutile, nickel and cobalt targets, particularly along the Cameroon Volcanic Line and associated shear zones. The code allows three-year exploration permits renewable up to nine years, JORC-based prefeasibility studies for commercial permits, 20-year operating terms, transferability of mining rights and 100% foreign ownership via locally incorporated entities. Investor concerns centre on SONAMINES’ mandatory board seat on licensees, presidential sign-off on operating permits and how transparency and conflicts of interest are managed.

A 25-year US–Venezuela oil pact granting access to 65 billion barrels of recoverable crude across 17 fields, mainly in the Orinoco Belt and around Lake Maracaibo, targets more than 1.5 million barrels per day and a projected US 55% operating stake. Negotiated in secret without competitive bidding and with the US empowered to choose operators, the deal faces legal uncertainty under Venezuela’s Hydrocarbons Law and criticism over “incredibly low” projected taxes and weak institutional safeguards. Deliverability is also in doubt, with extra-heavy crude, ageing Lake Maracaibo infrastructure and an assumed 20% recovery factor yet to be achieved.

Governments are moving from pure lenders to direct “deal participants” in critical minerals, with the US “Project Vault” creating a $12 billion strategic stockpile and helping drive roughly 160 minerals-related deals worth about $40 billion since January 2025. Washington is now combining EXIM, DFC and DOE funding with direct equity, price floors and long-term offtake and stockpiling agreements, while tightening defence sourcing rules to penalise use of restricted suppliers. For project developers, early binding offtake is becoming central to bankability, but Seidl Inglesby warns processing and manufacturing capacity still take years to build.