The Mineral Banquet

Behind the screens of the smartphones we scroll through every day, the laptops, the batteries in electric cars and all the electronic gadgets on which everyone is so keen, a relentless trade war is being waged between China and the United States. Patiently, methodically, China has taken control of the global supply chain for rare earths, which are critical resources for the automotive, aerospace and defence industries. Dominance of the rare earths market is a key strategic edge in its ongoing standoff with the United States. Since returning to the White House, President Donald Trump has sought to reduce the United States’ dependence on critical minerals from China. The peace agreement he brokered between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda paves the way for American companies to set up operations in a region where Chinese firms have controlled the mining of cobalt, coltan, copper and lithium, not to mention gold and diamonds, for over two decades. Between the race for critical minerals, geopolitical rivalries and armed conflicts, sub-Saharan Africa is emerging as the new battleground in a global economic war, with the energy transition revealing its human and political costs.