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Maguire: The cement boom in Africa signals the next big shift in global energy usage.
Africa consumes less than 5% of the global energy supply. It is therefore vastly outweighed by other regions when it comes to assessing current trends in energy and pollution. The aggressive plans to build cement plants in the region may change this. Global Energy Monitor data shows that Africa dominates the global pipeline of cement production capacity being built. This construction share is compared to a 8% share of the currently operating cement capacity. This indicates a 'rapid growth in planned production on the continent. But cement investments are about a lot more than just construction materials. These bets are on urbanization, regional economic growth and industrialization. Concrete is used to build roads, houses, factories, ports and other infrastructure before countries use more steel, chemicals or manufactured goods. The cement pipeline is a good indicator of Africa's energy needs. These are expected to increase dramatically if the construction boom linked to the plans for cement capacity materializes. The trend of energy consumption and emissions in the rest of world is expected to be curbed by electrification, and the slowing of heavy industrial production. Leaning In GEM data indicates that Africa has a cement production capacity of 441 million metric tons per year in operation and 43.3 millions tons per annum under construction. African nations also announced plans to add 23 million tons to the current annual cement production capacity. This would increase the total capacity of the region by 15%, compared to its current level, bringing it to just under 507 million tonnes. The overall increase in capacity for cement in Africa is far greater than planned additions to cement capacity in other regions. This indicates that Africa’s development plan looks set to be?more raw materials-intensive' than other parts of the globe. Africa's heavy-duty cement plans indicate a similar steep rise in raw materials and energy requirements, since cement production is notoriously high energy-intensive and requires large quantities of coal, petroleum, coke, and natural gas to ensure ample output. These cement projects will increase the demand for electricity, as well as infrastructure to import, store, and distribute coal, gas, and other fuels. They also need to ship out concrete produced. The plans to expand Africa's cement manufacturing footprint are a response to the growing demand for industrial energy in Africa, which will initially be supplied by fossil fuels. FRONTRUNNERS EGYPT & NIGERIA Egypt, among African countries, has the largest cement production footprint of 88 million tonnes per year. Nigeria is second to India for the amount of cement currently being produced. Libya, Mali and Angola are also among the top 20 countries in the world for cement construction. This shows that growth is expected across the entire continent. Even if Africa adopts cleaner energy technology more rapidly than other industrializing regions, the scale of planned construction of cement suggests that it will still need large quantities of materials to urbanize. The fact that 16 African nations are building new cement kilns suggests that Africa is on the right track to follow some of the same blueprints as countries in Asia. CLEANER CONCRETE? The African cement plan is different from those of other regions because African developers can use the most modern and efficient components to build their?cement plants. Modern kilns have a higher efficiency than those that were installed ten or more years ago. They should therefore be able to produce more cement using fewer inputs. Locally produced renewable electricity -- such as rooftop solar installations -- may also be used to run milling and processing equipment, reducing energy costs for producers. Electric cement kilns, which are becoming more widespread, offer the potential to further reduce energy intensity in countries that want to limit their industrial carbon footprint. Cost considerations will likely remain paramount on many African markets. This may delay the adoption of expensive emissions-reduction techniques such as carbon sequestration. This means that cement production in Africa will be energy- and material-intensive, even though they use the latest kilns available and the most advanced components. Cement projects in Nigeria, Libya Mali, Mozambique, and other countries are not just industrial investments. These projects are early indicators of future growth in?energy demand. Africa's urbanization and industrialization could make it one of the world's largest sources of demand for electricity, fuels for transport and industrial energy. This would force policymakers to find a balance between rising living standards and rising emissions. These are the opinions of the columnist, an author for. You like this column? Check out Open Interest, your new essential source for global financial commentary. Follow ROI on LinkedIn, X and X. Listen to the Morning Bid podcast daily on Apple, Spotify or the app. Subscribe to the Morning Bid podcast and hear journalists discussing the latest news in finance and markets 7 days a weeks.
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Poland suspects Starlink fire as a sabotage
Krzysztof GAWKOWSKI, deputy prime minister, said that a fire broke out on Wednesday night at a Starlink satellite communication station located in central Poland. The system provides connectivity to the region, including Ukraine. Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine's neighbour in 2022, Poland has been on high alert for acts sabotage. Russia has repeatedly denied such an action. He said that the fire had engulfed both the power station and generator. It was clear that the act of sabotage had been deliberately planned to disable the station, effectively cutting off internet access... for various institutions including the Ukrainian Military. "While everything may be operational today, as Prime Minister Tusk recently noted, this is an element hybrid warfare." He said that although it was not confirmed that Russia was the cause of?the fire "many signs" suggest that this is in line with Russia's "new doctrine of attack".
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Wall Street Journal, September 24,
These are the most popular?stories from the Wall Street Journal. The Wall Street Journal has not'verified' these stories and?doesnt vouch for the accuracy of their content. Barry Diller announced on Wednesday that he has withdrawn his bid for MGM Resorts following a?months-long discussion with the company. Anthony Albanese, the Prime Minister of Australia, said that an 'OpenAI' agent had infiltrated this summer a website for government services in Australia. He made his remarks at a United Nations meeting in New York. Grail Inc. has received a positive vote from the Food and Drug Administration regarding its premarket approval of its Galleri?multi-cancer-early detection test. Starboard Value, an activist investor, has taken a large stake in the construction company Knife River. The plan is to pressure Knife River to either 'improve their margins' or explore a possible sale. Brightline, Florida's high speed railroad is planning to file for bankruptcy under Chapter 11 in New Jersey in order to restructure $5.5 billion of debt.
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Qantas workers start 24-hour strike in four Australian airports: union
The 'Australian's' Transport Worker's Union announced that Qantas airport employees began a 24-hour walkout on Thursday at Sydney, Brisbane and Adelaide airports. They demanded higher wages, more secure jobs, and improved safety standards. The union stated that the industrial action included workers from Qantas Ground Services, Australian air Express freight operations, and regional carrier QantasLink. The employees wanted pay increases that were in line with "industry standards", more full-time jobs, and integration of groups under a single Qantas organization. They argued the use of multiple "subsidiaries" by the company had fragmented its workforce and weakened safety standards. The TWU announced that in Sydney, 400 safety screeners will join the workers for a total of two sets of 'two-hour stops. Michael Kaine, TWU's National Secretary, said that "Strike action should always be a last option." The union criticised the 'Qantas labour structure, and claimed that after years of cost-cutting, it was time for a 'fundamental reset. Qantas has outsourced more than 1,800 jobs in Australia to ground workers who handled the airline's broader network in the COVID-19 pandemic. This action was later deemed illegal. A court ordered the airline to pay A$90 million ($64.03 millions) in fines last year. Qantas didn't immediately respond to an inquiry for comment.
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Hope fading for new Boeing deal during US-China summit, sources say
Two people who were briefed about the matter on Wednesday said that hopes for a new China-US commitment to purchase 'Boeing aircrafts are fading ahead of the Thursday summit between the US and Chinese Presidents. Negotiations remain in flux. The people, who spoke on condition of anonymity as the talks were private, said that the planemaker is instead trying to finalize an agreement for China to purchase 200 planes in May, and not earlier hopes to secure new commitments for several hundred more jets. Boeing is now competing for Chinese jetliner order after the provisional agreement struck at Donald Trump's final summit in Beijing with Xi Jinping. Airbus, the European competitor to Boeing's US-based planemaker, has continued to grow its market share on one of the largest aviation markets in the world. According to Airbus and Boeing's market forecasts, China will order more new jets than any other region by 2045. Both Trump-Xi Summits in this year were expected catalyze a second round of Boeing purchases. Before the spring summit, Boeing officials, Chinese and US officials discussed a deal that could include 500 jets. After the May summit, Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg said the smaller-than-expected 200-jet deal was an "initial tranche" of orders and that reopening the China market was the real win. Analysts and investors had anticipated that another "large order" would be placed at the Thursday summit. But Ortberg played down this prospect last week. Richard Aboulafia is the managing director of AeroDynamic Advisory, an aerospace consulting firm. Scott Kennedy, China specialist at Center for Strategic and International Studies said that brokering new jetliner agreements was not the top priority of this summit. He said that US and Chinese officials were more interested in extending the trade truce, discussing AI safeguards and weapons sales to Taiwan, as well as trade deals for soybeans and rare earth minerals. Kennedy stated that "These meetings are holding a lot of business relationships hostage." "New aircraft orders are a good thing, but I do not think they're a requirement for this summit." Boeing refused to comment on Ortberg's remarks from last week. The Chinese commerce ministry in Washington and the embassy of China there did not respond to comment requests. The US Trade Representative's Office has not responded to a comment request. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced on Wednesday that the US and China had agreed to extend a two-month trade truce, which was set to expire on 10 November. This will give them more time to negotiate a?potentially bigger trade agreement. Loss of Influence Shukor Yusof of Singapore's aviation consultancy Endau Analytics said that Airbus had made more progress in China in recent years than Boeing, in part due to the fact that?it has an assembly line in Tianjin, and China-European relations are "more benign" than China-US ones. He said that "Boeing's influence has diminished in our region due to its internal problems, and partly because of politics." Still, there is hope for progress between Boeing and China. US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said on Fox News that "there are approximately 140 (jetliner) orders that are in good condition," with 10 more orders being?finalized. A person briefed in the matter said that final details of a part of the deal signed in May could be announced at the summit, if contracts are finalized despite the challenges. China was concerned about whether it would be able to access spare parts after Trump's earlier threats. China's Commerce Ministry said in May that the US had guaranteed supply of aircraft engine parts and other components under the Boeing agreement.
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Hope fading for new Boeing deal during US-China summit, sources say
Two people who were briefed about the issue on Wednesday said that hopes for a new China agreement to purchase Boeing planes have sunk ahead of a summit on Thursday between the US president and the?Chinese leader. Negotiations are still in flux. People who spoke on condition of anonymity said that the planemaker is instead trying to finalize an agreement for China to purchase 200 planes in May, as opposed to earlier hopes for securing commitments for hundreds of more jets. Boeing is now competing for Chinese jetliner order after the provisional agreement struck at Donald Trump's final summit in Beijing with Xi Jinping, China's counterpart. Airbus, the European competitor to Boeing's US-based planemaker, has continued to grow its market share on?one of world's largest aviation markets. According to Airbus' and Boeing's market forecasts, China will order more new jets than any other region by 2045. Both 'Trump-Xi Summits' this year were expected catalyze a second round of Boeing purchases. Before the spring summit, Boeing officials, Chinese officials and US representatives were discussing a possible deal for 500?jets. After the May summit, Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg said the smaller-than-expected 200-jet deal was an "initial tranche" of orders and that reopening the China market was the real win. Analysts and investors had anticipated that another large order would follow at Thursday's Summit, but Ortberg played down this prospect last week. Richard Aboulafia is the managing director of AeroDynamic Advisory, a consulting firm in aerospace. Scott Kennedy, a China expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies said that brokering new jetliner agreements was not top priority during this summit. He said that US and Chinese officials were more interested in extending the trade truce, discussing AI safeguards and weapons sales to Taiwan, as well as trade deals for soybeans and rare earth minerals. Kennedy stated that "These meetings are holding a lot of business relationships hostage." "New aircraft orders are a good thing, but I do not think they're a requirement for this summit." Boeing refused to comment on Ortberg's remarks from last week. The Chinese commerce ministry in Washington and the embassy of China there did not reply to requests for comments. The US Trade Representative's Office has not responded to a comment request. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced on Wednesday that the US and China had agreed to extend a two-month trade truce, which was set to expire at the end of November. This will give them more time to negotiate a potential 'bigger' trade deal. Loss of Influence Airbus made more progress in China in recent years than Boeing, in part due to the fact that it has a final assembly in Tianjin, and because China-European relations were "more benign" compared to those between China and US, according Shukor Yusof of Singapore aviation consultancy Endau Analytics. He said that "Boeing's influence has been reduced in our region, partially due to politics but mainly because of internal problems." There is still hope for progress between Boeing and China, especially on the 200-jet contract announced in May. US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said on Fox News that "there are approximately 140 (jetliner) orders that are in good condition," with 10 more orders being?finalized. According to a person briefed about the issue, "final details" for a part of the deal signed in May could be revealed during the summit if the contracts are finalized despite the challenges. China was concerned about whether it would be able to access spare parts after Trump's earlier threats. China's Commerce Ministry said in May that the US had guaranteed supply of aircraft engine parts and other components under the Boeing agreement.
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OpenAI data breach is the latest in a long list of cyber-attacks on Australia
Australia announced on Thursday that an OpenAI agent had breached the government's health data portal in June and gained unauthorised access. This could be the first instance known of an AI agent hacking into a government website. This breach is just one of a?dozen? that have affected some of Australia's largest companies in the past few years. The frequency and size of the attacks have been cited by experts as evidence that Australia's cybersecurity industry is understaffed. The following is a list with the biggest data breaches of recent years: SEPTEMBER: OPTUS Optus Australia, the second largest mobile operator in Australia, is owned by Singapore Telecommunications. The breach affected 9.5 millions customers, or about 40% of Australia's population. Data exposed included home addresses, driver's licences, and passport numbers. OCTOBER: WOOLWORTHS Woolworths, Australia's largest grocer, said that its majority-owned MyDeal online retailer identified a "compromised credential" used to access their systems. This exposed email addresses, phone numbers, and delivery addresses for about 2.2 millions customers. NOVEMBER: MEDIBANK Medibank, Australia's biggest health insurer, which covers around one-sixth Australians, has revealed that the personal data and health claims of approximately 9.7 million current and former clients were compromised. LATITUDE: FINANCIAL SERVICE MARCH 2023 Latitude, a digital lending and payments firm in Australia, said that a hacker stole millions of records from customers including 7,9 million Australian and New Zealand driver's license numbers. MAY 2024: MEDISECURE MediSecure, a provider of electronic prescription services, disclosed a cyberattack. It later said that the attack exposed?personal information and health records of about 12,9 million people. This was one of the biggest cyberattacks ever recorded in Australian history. The size of the breach forced the company to go into administration. JULY 2025: QANTAS Qantas Australia's largest airline said that in July 2025, a breach on a third party platform exposed the personal data of 5.7 millions customers. AUGUST - 2026: ORIGIN ENERGY Origin Energy, the largest electricity and natural gas provider in the country, announced that a data breach occurred late July, exposing credit card information and bank account numbers of around 900,000.
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Bangladesh buys 11 additional Boeing jets to strengthen trade relations with the US
Bangladesh will buy 11 more aircraft from Boeing. Officials announced this on Wednesday. The order, which was originally planned for Biman?Bangladesh Airlines, has now been increased to 25 planes. Dhaka is seeking closer trade relations with the US due to concerns about tariffs on exports. The agreement is scheduled to be signed in New York, on Wednesday. It is part of Bangladesh's efforts to increase imports from United States and ease the pressure from a $6 billion trade deficit. Brent Christensen confirmed the Boeing order in a post on Facebook, calling it a "win-win situation" for US-Bangladesh relationships. Boeing announced that Biman had ordered 11 Dreamliner 787 and 737 MAX aircraft. Boeing announced in a statement that the order included five 787-10 jets and six 737-8 aircraft. Biman renews its fleet to "improve connectivity" and "expand capacity". The order comes after a $3.7billion deal in April that included?14 Boeing aircraft including 10 Dreamliners and 4 737 MAX 8 jets with delivery scheduled between 2031 and 2030. Airbus, the European rival, is still in contention. A government-appointed technical panel will be reviewing a proposal for 10 aircraft.
The little reactors who could? Maguire: How SMRs have become nuclear's best option.
Each energy transition has a favorite underdog.
Small modular reactors (SMRs), which are being used more and more in the U.S. to produce clean, reliable power, have a growing role.
There are still significant obstacles to overcome and the technology is not commercially proven.
A combination of increasing power demand, supportive policies, regulatory reform, and growing investor interests has transformed the SMR from a "speculative" concept to what could be nuclear power's greatest growth opportunity.
Power Pinch
The shift to?SMRs is a result of the increasing demand for electricity, mainly from artificial intelligence data centres, industrial reshoring and electrification, as well as new manufacturing investments.
The U.S. Department of Energy cited the growing demand for electricity as a major reason to accelerate nuclear deployment.
This creates new opportunities for technologies that can deliver?round-the-clock energy?without emitting carbon.
The wind and solar power generation continues to grow, but utilities, policymakers and industrial customers are looking for more reliable sources of energy that aren't dependent on the weather.
Why modular matters more than small
The term "small modular reactors" can be misleading.
It is not the size of the reactors that makes them so attractive. Smaller reactors do sacrifice some economies of scale, which have historically been favored by large nuclear plants.
The word "modular" holds the promise.
Nuclear plants are some of the most complex projects to build anywhere in the world. The plants are constructed largely on-site, require thousands to work and often face long delays which drive up the cost.
The industry's financial troubles are largely due to difficult construction. SMRs are designed to change this model.
Instead of building huge facilities from scratch, developers hope that they can manufacture major reactor components, ship them to the site, and assemble them with standardized designs.
This approach, if successful, could reduce construction risks, reduce timelines, and ultimately lower costs.
The vision is simple: transform nuclear power from construction into a manufacturing business.
A POWERFUL BACKING
Political climate has also become more favorable.
The ADVANCE Act is a bipartisan law that will be signed into law by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in 2024. It directs them to streamline licensing, reduce certain regulatory costs and create more efficient deployment pathways.
The program also supports regulatory approaches that are tailored to advanced nuclear technologies and encourages the development of former fossil fuel sites.
This may seem like regulatory housekeeping. Investors, however, often place equal importance on predictability and innovation.
Financing a reactor that is subject to years of uncertainty in its reviews can be difficult. A reactor that operates within a more defined regulatory framework is easier to finance.
Fuel is another bottleneck that the federal government is trying to resolve.
Many advanced reactor designs are based on HALEU, which is high-assay-low-enriched uranium. The United States did not have a domestic fuel supply chain until recently.
The Department of Energy has undertaken a number of initiatives to develop the fuel and enrichment infrastructure needed for commercial deployment.
In an effort to promote advances in the entire reactor spectrum, the Department of Energy also supports?the development of sodium-cooled and gas-cooled reactors as well as molten-salt and so-called "microreactors".
Washington no longer supports only reactor developers. It is building the ecosystem that they will need to be successful.
REACH REGULATORY
The advanced reactor industry has long complained about trying to fit 21st century technologies into 20th century regulatory frameworks.
Many reactors proposed use fuels, coolants, and operating concepts that are different from the conventional light water reactors which dominate the fleet. Licensing these reactors often involved navigating through a maze exemptions and reviews.
The NRC’s new Part-53 framework is intended to create a licensing path that is more risk-informed and technology inclusive. Regulators are trying to accommodate a wide range of reactor designs while maintaining safety standards, rather than forcing all designs through the same licensing process.
These changes, while they may seem technical, address a major problem in the industry.
Scalable regulation is required for a scalable industry.
MOVE INTO THE?BUILDING PHASE
The optimism has also increased because advanced reactors have finally moved beyond concept studies and investors presentations.
TerraPower's Natrium Project in Wyoming has reached major construction and permitting milestones. This is one of the most clear examples of a commercially deployable advanced reactor.
The project, which is near an aging coal power plant in the area, illustrates how advanced nuclear can potentially replace fossil fuel generation by reusing grid infrastructure and existing workforce expertise.
In an industry that often seems stuck in the future, progress is important.
Investors are more likely to trust construction sites rather than PowerPoint promises.
TOUGH TESTS Ahead
This does not guarantee success.
SMRs face formidable challenges. Supply chains need to be created. The manufacturing capacity must be expanded. Utilities should commit to unique projects. Developers must also prove that deployment costs are falling.
In fact, today's industry faces a new challenge. It is not primarily scientific. It's industrial.
Can reactor modules at large scale be produced? Can projects be duplicated rather than reinvented? Costs can be reduced by repetition, just as they have in industries from aerospace to automobile manufacturing?
Can a reactor be a product instead of a project, and what is the most important thing to consider?
History of technological progress teaches a simple lesson.
Innovations are rarely able to transform economies at the time they are created. They transform economies once someone figures out how they can be manufactured repeatedly, inexpensively, and in large quantities.
The SMR industry may now be approaching this point.
The future of advanced nuclear no longer depends primarily on the ability to prove that new reactor concepts are viable. It is more important to prove that the reactors can be constructed predictably, affordably financed, and repeatedly deployed.
SMRs are the best choice for nuclear power.
Their promise no longer relies on a major breakthrough in reactor design.
The foundation of the project is a more pragmatic, but potentially more consequential, breakthrough - teaching the nuclear industry to build reactors in the same way that successful industries build their products.
It is not necessary that the little reactors which could succeed in the end, because they have reinvented nuclear physics.
They reinvented the nuclear construction.
These are the opinions of the columnist, who is also an author. This column is great! Open Interest (ROI) is your new essential source of global financial commentary. Follow ROI on LinkedIn, X and X. Listen to the Morning Bid podcast daily on Apple, Spotify or the app. Subscribe to the Morning Bid podcast and hear journalists discussing the latest news in finance and markets 7 days a weeks.
(source: Reuters)