Main commodities and what moves them
| Commodity | Key African producers | Main price drivers |
|---|---|---|
| Gold | Ghana, South Africa, Mali | US interest rates, the dollar, fear and safe-haven demand, central bank buying |
| Platinum | South Africa | Car industry demand (catalytic converters), mine supply |
| Oil (Brent) | Nigeria, Angola, Libya | OPEC+ decisions, global growth, conflicts |
| Copper and cobalt | DRC, Zambia | Global industry, electric vehicles, China |
| Cocoa | Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana | Weather, crop disease, harvest reports |
| Coffee | Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya | Weather in Brazil and Vietnam, harvests |
Follow all of these live on our Markets page.
Loading the rest of the lesson…
Questions people ask
Can I trade cocoa and coffee with a forex broker?
Some brokers offer them as CFDs. Spreads and trading hours differ from forex, so check the contract specification.
Read next
- Forex explained
Forex trading explained simply: currency pairs, base and quote currency, majors, minors and African pairs like…
- Why Africa
Why Africa matters for traders and investors: young population, mobile money, commodities, growing stock excha…
- Investing in real assets
What real assets are, how property, land, physical gold, farmland and REITs protect against inflation, their r…
Educational content only, not financial, investment or tax advice. Trading forex and CFDs carries a high risk of losing money. Look up any term in the trading glossary.