China’s major oil suppliers in Africa and the Middle East are bracing for a downturn in prices after Beijing ordered the country’s largest refiner, Sinopec, to scale back operations. Sinopec will reportedly reduce refining of road and aviation fuels by up to 10% in response to the slowdown in the Chinese economy brought on by the resurgence of COVID-19. Saudi Arabia is China’s top supplier overall and Angola is the largest in Africa. (BLOOMBERG)

205 Congolese environmental NGOs have united to petition the government in Kinshasa to ban a Chinese-owned mining company from operating in the Okapi Wildlife Reserve. The coalition claims that Kimia Mining, a gold mining company, is guilty of deforestation and killing wildlife in one of the DRC’s four protected national parks. The NGOs want the government to withdraw the company’s permit to mine within the 670,000ha rain forest reserve. There’s been no comment from Kimia Mining about the petition. (AFRIK21)