The US Role in Artificial Intelligence and African Mining

 The Atlantic Council published on 16 July 2026 a report titled "Artificial Intelligence and the Future of African Mining" by Anthony Carroll and Jef Karel Caers.

Colonial-era maps and infrastructure hinder access to the roughly 30 percent of global critical minerals in Africa.  AI-powered mining and mapping tools could help expedite discovery, reduce drilling time, and modernize operations.

The United States should develop "smart mining" partnerships with African countries that advance US security objectives while providing long-term dividends for African nations.  

As the West Pulls Out of War-torn Sudan, China Steps In

 The Diplomat published on 8 July 2026 an article titled "Three Decades in, China Is Cashing in on Sudan's Collapse" by Paul Mwirigi.

In the midst of a three-year-long civil war, most Western countries have abandoned Sudan.  China, on the other hand, is investing in projects such as copper mining.  

Namibian President Visits China: Focus on Critical Minerals and Manufacturing

 Pan African Television posted on 8 July 2026 an article titled "Namibia's President Visits China for Talks on Minerals, Green Hydrogen, and Manufacturing" by Victoria Wilson.

Namibian President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah is on a state visit to China.  Her priority is attracting investment in minerals processing and downstream manufacturing.  Namibia aims to process 57 percent of its exported minerals locally by 2030.

China, the US and Africa Green Minerals Strategy

 China-Africa Security Radar published on 5 July 2026 a commentary titled "China, the United States, and Africa's Green Minerals Vision" by Paa Kwesi Wolseley Prah.

In 2025, the African Union adopted a continental policy framework called Africa Green Minerals Strategy (AGMS), which aims to turn Africa's critical and green minerals endowment into sustainable, value-adding industrialization that supports a just energy transition and regional supply chain integration.  

China has the processing capacity, investment scale, implementation speed, and institutional flexibility to advance African industrialization--but its commercial incentives run directly against allowing Africa to independently climb the value chain.

The US offers somewhat more transparent financing structures, stronger governance standards, and procedural models that on paper seem to better protect African states from debt traps--but it lacks the industrial ecosystem and the genuine political will to support African manufacturing rather than African extraction for American consumption.   

US Gets Win Over China in Race for DRC Critical Minerals

 Fox News published on 23 June 2026 an article titled "Trump Gets Major Win against China in African Rare Earth Minerals Race" by Paul Tilsley.

The United States has supported an American company, Virtus Minerals, in developing two major mines producing cobalt and copper in the Democratic Republic of Congo.  This is the Trump administration's first critical minerals (not rare earths as the article asserts) win in the DRC.  

Kenya-US Critical Minerals Deal Counters China

 Reuters published on 17 June 2026 an article titled "Kenya, US Close in on Critical Minerals Deal, Ruto Says" by John Irish.

Kenya and the United States are about to close a deal on critical minerals that would allow Kenya to process the minerals domestically, a demand that African countries are increasingly making in their negotiations with buyers.  This is also an effort by the Trump administration to compete with China for African critical minerals.  

Zambia's Reasons for Cancelling Major Human Rights Summit

 Just Security published on 2 June 2026 a commentary titled "In Addition to Chinese Pressure, a Backsliding Democracy May Explain Zambia's Decision to Cancel a Major Human Rights Summit" by Jane Munga and Steve Feldstein.

Days before 2,600 human rights defenders, technologists, and policymakers were expected in Lusaka, Zambia, on April 30, the Zambian government called off RightsCon, the world's largest conference on digital rights.  

According to the summit organizers, the cancellation was due to foreign interference from China "because Taiwanese civil society participants were planning to join us in person."  But a closer look reveals a more complicated picture linked to Zambia's democratic decline and more repressive policies.  

Chinese Finance and Critical Mineral Access in Africa

 Boston University's Global Development Policy Center published in June 2026 a paper titled "Development Quid Pro Quo: Chinese Finance and Critical Mineral Access in Africa" by Congyi Dai.

The paper explores whether China's development finance agenda is motivated by its global quest for natural resources, facilitating mine acquisitions in Africa.  It uses four data sources to examine whether Chinese development finance is tied to the pursuit of critical minerals.

The paper concludes that minerals needed for clean energy technologies such as copper, cobalt, nickel, and platinum group metals are associated with Chinese loan commitments to recipient countries.  Specifically, uranium is the mineral most strongly linked to Chinese development projects, particularly those including a substantial grant component and highly concessional repayment terms.

China, US, EU Competition for Critical Minerals in Africa and Latin America

Modern Diplomacy published on 21 May 2026 an article titled "Geology Meets Geopolitics: The Global Race for Critical Minerals in the Climate Transition" by Marta Rehnman, Trinity College Dublin.

China dominates the processing of critical minerals in Africa and Latin America.  Beijing has mining partnerships with 44 African countries.  But the United States and European Union are stepping up competition for unexploited mineral reserves in both Africa and Latin America.  

Africa's Critical Minerals and Great Power Competition

 Rare Earth Exchanges published on 17 May 2026 an article titled "Africa Has Become the New Geopolitical Battleground for Critical Minerals."

The article summarizes a study that examines trade flows, foreign direct investment, military relationships, diplomatic agreements, mining policy, and strategic industrial initiatives shaping Africa's critical minerals economy.  It evaluates how China, Russia, the United States, and Europe are accessing and responding to Africa's critical mineral wealth.

The entire study "In the Crosshairs: Twenty-first-century Rivalry for Africa's Critical Minerals" by Ron Matthews and Vlado Vivoda was published online on 11 May 2026 by the European Journal of International Security.  

Great Power Competition for DRC Critical Minerals

 Bankable posted on 7 April 2026 a commentary titled "Zijin, CMOC Back Competing Alternative to Lobito Corridor" by Pierre Mukoko.

China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation and four Chinese companies are financing a $1.4 billion project to rehabilitate the Tanzania-Zambia railway that will transport critical minerals from the DRC to the Indian Ocean port of Dar es Salaam.

The Tanzania-Zambia railway will compete with the American and European Lobito Corridor project that will transport critical minerals from the DRC to an Atlantic Ocean port in Angola.  

US-China Competition for Minerals in DRC

 Mining Focus Africa published on 30 March 2026 an article titled "Democratic Republic of Congo and China Deepen Mining Ties Amid Global Minerals Race" by Michael Van Wyk.

The focus of the most recent China-DRC minerals collaboration includes geological data sharing, investment protection, and ensuring that more raw materials are processed in the DRC rather than exported in unrefined form.  The agreement coincides with a US strategic partnership with the DRC aimed at boosting Western investment and reducing reliance on Chinese-controlled supply chains.  

Different Chinese and American Strategies to Access DRC Minerals

 Discovery Alert posted on 18 March 2026 an article titled "US Push into DRC Copper and Cobalt Reshapes Global Mineral Security" by Muflih Hidayat.

US Project Vault is a $30 billion critical minerals investment framework.  Rather than purchasing minerals on the international market, the US strategy involves deep capital investment in extraction, processing, and transportation infrastructure.

This contrasts with China's approach.  In the Democratic Republic of Congo, for example, Chinese entities control 15 major copper/cobalt operations representing billions of dollars in infrastructure investment accumulated over two decades. This strategy has created supply chains that flow predominantly to China, limiting Western access to critical minerals. 

The comparison between Chinese billions already invested and American strategic financing reveals the challenge facing Western countries.  China's established infrastructure relationships and operational experience provide significant advantages that cannot be overcome through financial resources alone.  

Chinese Cobalt Mine in DRC Causes Health Problems

 The Environmental Investigation Agency and PremiCongo published in March 2026 a report titled "Toxic Transition: How the World's Largest Cobalt Producer Has Allegedly Poisoned Communities for Years."

A Chinese company, CMOC Group Ltd., controls two of the world's largest copper-cobalt mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo.  Thousands of people live within a few kilometers of the operations and its massive processing plant.  Local communities and civil society groups have sounded the alarm about severe health issues.  Since 2023, doctors and nurses near the mines have treated a growing list of patients.

Can American Billionaire Secure DRC Critical Minerals for US in Competition with China?

 Billionaires Africa posted on 4 March 2026 an article titled "Oskar Lewnowski: The Man Betting $9 Billion on Congo's Cobalt to Break China's Grip on America's Mineral Future" by Mfonobong Nsehe.

Orion Critical Minerals Consortium (CMC), founded by American financier Oskar Lewnowski, and Glencore announced in February 2026 that they had entered a non-binding memorandum of understanding for Orion CMC to acquire a 40 percent stake in Glencore's DRC assets, Mutanda Mining and Kamoto Copper Company, at a combined enterprise value of about $9 billion.  

Lewnowski is pursuing a financial deal that is a direct counter to Beijing's decade-long strategy of locking up critical mineral supply chains before Western governments understood what was at stake.  This potential investment would help ensure a reliable source of critical minerals for the United States and its partners.  The deal remains subject to due diligence and regulatory approvals.  

Africa's New Approach to Critical Minerals: Implications for China and the West

 Skillings Mining Review published on 3 March 2026 an article titled "The Indaba 2026 Legacy: Inside the New African Critical Minerals Framework" by Charles Pitts.

The most recent Cape Town conference on mining (Indaba 2026) demonstrated that three major African sources of critical minerals (DRC, Zambia, and South Africa) acted in a coordinated way to ensure that its raw mineral wealth is not just exported but more of it is refined in Africa for value added benefits.  For example, the DRC produces about 70 percent of the world's cobalt but now refines less than 10 percent of it.  The DRC intends to change that ratio.

The West's Lobito Corridor project for Angola, Zambia, and the DRC fits this new African narrative reasonably well, China's focus on importing raw material not so much.  

US Strategy for Access to Africa's Critical Minerals Different than China's

 Modern Diplomacy published on 9 February 2026 an article titled "U.S. Tests China's Grip on African Minerals Ahead of Cape Town Indaba" by Sana Khan.  

The US strategy for accessing African critical minerals relies on trading structures that steer African mineral output into US-aligned supply chains still dominated by Chinese refiners.  Washington is seeking to influence mineral flows without replicating China's capital intensive, asset-heavy model.  This approach reduces political and operational exposure but also limits control.

US-China Competition for Africa's Critical Minerals

 Business Insider Africa posted on 26 January 2026 an article titled "US-China Mineral Race Heats Up as Africa's Top Mining Nations Head to Washington" by Solomon Ekanem.

US officials are accelerating direct engagement in the mining sector of African governments and promoting investment-led partnerships with American companies.  

Revival of the Belt and Road Initiative in Africa

 Australia's Griffith University and the Green Finance & Development Center in Shanghai published on 18 January 2026 "China Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) Investment Report 2025" by Christoph Nedopil Wang.

Since the beginning of BRI in 2013, the report says Chinese construction projects (profit making opportunities by Chinese construction companies) totaled $837 billion globally while investment projects totaled $561 billion globally.  The figures are based on having an active memorandum of understanding with China at the time of the report.  Energy, mining, and transportation projects top the list.

In 2025, Africa accounted for a significant increase ($61.2 billion) in BRI engagement (construction projects and investment), but most of it was in construction projects (47 percent of global total) and not investment (22 percent of global total).  Nigeria alone accounted for $24.6 billion in construction projects and the Republic of the Congo for another $23.1 billion.  

China-US Competition in the DRC's Mineral Sector

 China Africa News published on 25 December 2025 an article titled "Congo's Tightrope: Navigating U.S.-China Rivalry for Mineral Wealth."

For decades, China has been the dominant force in Congolese mining benefiting from state-backed capital.  The United States has stepped up its engagement in the DRC mineral sector but faces significant Chinese structural advantages including entrenched refining capacity, long-term investment relationships, and an extensive operational presence.