In recent months, the phrase “This is Africa” has become a viral meme shared among retail investors as an increasing number of ASX-listed mining companies fall victim to African sovereign risk.The meme, a picture of Leonardo Di Caprio from the film Blood Diamond and captioned with the phrase “This is Africa”, has come to describe all the risks and uncertainties of doing business in the untamed plains and jungles of the African continent.
For investors caught in AVZ Minerals, a Congo lithium miner, watching Leo Lithium must feel like they’re watching a movie they’ve seen before. Infamously, shares in AVZ Minerals fell 20 per cent in May 2022 after the Democratic Republic of Congo government effectively sold from under them their mining rights to one of the world’s largest lithium deposits to a Chinese company.Shares were suspended from trading, with the company anticipating reinstatement later that month. Now, 15 months later, the shares remain suspended from trading, and with them many trapped investors.
This is africa
