THIS is a fascinating story from Fox News with the headline: Trump administration works to break China’s rare earth mineral stranglehold on Africa.
Here is a key extract from the article: “In Africa, China is on Washington’s threat radar”, with the spokesperson continuing, “China’s dominance in global mineral supply chains — specifically in processing and refining — is a threat to both United States and African interests.
Beijing’s state-directed strategies exploit Africa’s natural resources, consolidate control over upstream mining assets, perpetuate opaque governance structures, degrade local environments and create economic dependencies that undermine regional stability.”
The fascinating thing about the above is that the US is loosely admitting that it needs Africa, especially when it comes to rare earth minerals.
Rare earths are a group of 17 elements that are used in consumer electronics, electric vehicles, aircraft engines, medical equipment, oil refining, and military applications such as missiles and radar systems.
China controls over 69% of the production and processes 90% of the global supply. Considering how critical these rare earths are, it is obviously not a situation that the US likes.
Benchmark Mineral Intelligence indicates that 37% of Africa’s future rare earth supply is already committed to Chinese buyers, with the rest available for other markets. By 2029, eight new rare earth mines in Tanzania, Angola, Malawi, and South Africa are expected to start production, potentially contributing 9% to the global supply.
In short, Trump recognises that the US has fallen far behind in securing African rare earth partnerships and is now scrambling to catch up. This is likely positive for Africa. Competition for the continent’s resources creates leverage and better terms.
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Generally, it seems the mining sector under the Trump administration is poised to perform well.
Rare earth miners are likely to experience a boom, and this year, as mentioned earlier, has already seen record prices for many metals.
Strangely enough, thanks to many unintended consequences, Trump has so far been relatively good for Africa. Who would have thought?
For countries such as Zimbabwe that have faced sanctions (directly or indirectly), the Trump administration may present the best opportunity in years to have them lifted.
Trump’s predictable unpredictability means that, given the right incentive and motivation, he could break from long-held US policies if he thinks it’s a good idea or believes it will benefit him. Let’s see what happens next.
Mukogo is a finance and strategy professional with over 18 years of experience and the publisher of Money & Moves, where this article was taken.
