The 17 rare earth elements (REE) are metals that are “critical to both human and national security,” the Brookings Institution wrote in 2022, adding: “They are used in electronics (computers, televisions, and smartphones), in renewable energy technology (wind turbines, solar panels, and electric vehicle batteries), and in national defense (jet engines, missile guidance and defense systems, satellites, GPS equipment and more).
According to Brookings, China is responsible for 60% of global rare earth mineral extraction and 85% of processing capacity.
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Workers prepare the Rainbow Rare Earths Project site in Phalaborwa, South Africa, for production. (Rainbow Rare Earth Elements)
But while Beijing has signed contracts in African countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to ship minerals, including cobalt, east to China, the continent has vast untapped resources. And the African Union’s Minerals Development Center recently stated that new, massive specialized rare earth mines will come online in Tanzania, Angola, Malawi and South Africa by 2029, potentially providing almost 10% of the world’s supply.
In Africa, China is on Washington’s threat radar, with the spokesperson continuing: “China’s dominance in global mineral supply chains – particularly in processing and refining – threatens both US and African interests. Beijing’s state-led strategies are exploiting Africa’s natural resources, consolidating control over upstream mining assets, perpetuate opaque governance structures, degrade the local environment and create economic dependencies that undermine. regional stability.”
Chinese President Xi Jinping speaks as South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, left, and Equatorial Guinea President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, right, listen, during the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation. September 4, 2018. (Lintao Zhang/AFP via Getty Images)
Several sources say the US currently imports about 70% of all the rare earth elements it needs from China.
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The administration is seeking to push further into Africa, with the State Department spokesperson adding: “The United States is committed to making targeted investments in infrastructure to facilitate the export of minerals from Africa to global markets. A prime example is the Lobito Corridor, which provides an alternative to China-controlled mineral transport routes from Africa’s Copperbelt to the Atlantic Ocean.”
Miners work in a cobalt mine in the DRC on October 12, 2022. (Junior Kannah/AFP via Getty Images)
The government recently said it would continue to commit a $550 million loan to develop the Lobito Corridor, a 1,300-kilometer rail and infrastructure link connecting the mineral-rich regions of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia, Angola’s Atlantic coast and easy shipping access to the US.
The State Department spokesperson further said that one of the key benefits of the peace agreement to end a thirty-year war signed in the Oval Office between the DRC and Rwanda in June is increased access to minerals, adding: “The bilateral agreement between the US and the DRC is intended to open the door for new US and US investments in strategic mining projects in the entire DRC.”
The Tanzania-Zambia Railway Authority (TAZARA) Memorial Park in Lusaka, Zambia, on September 21, 2023. For more than a decade, China has poured more than $120 billion in government-backed loans through its Belt and Road Initiative to build hydroelectric dams, roads and railways across the continent and exert unparalleled influence. (Zinyange Auntony/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
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“The [African] The continent’s share of global exploration expenditure has fallen steadily – from 16% in 2004 to just 10.4% in 2024,” Baskaran added. “This decline is particularly striking given that Sub-Saharan Africa is the world’s most cost-efficient region for mineral exploration, with a ratio of mineral value to exploration expenditure of 0.8 – well ahead of Australia (0.5), Canada (0.6) and Latin America. (0.3).”
“Despite enormous geological promise and a landmass three times the size of Australia and Canada combined, these two countries will account for 15.9% and 19.8% of global exploration expenditure respectively by 2024 – far more than Africa’s total share.”
A sample of a raw rare earth mineral is examined at the Rainbow Rare Earths Project in Phalaborwa, South Africa, before being tested to determine its mineral composition. (Rainbow Rare Earth Elements)
Baskaran says the US could also exploit another area in Africa: “China rarely engages in mapping or exploration. The Chinese model generally acquires projects as they are in development and/or near production. This presents a real opportunity for the United States and its allies. Even countries with a long history of mining – Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo – have barely scratched the surface, while less than half of their land has been mapped. With targeted investments in geological mapping and early-stage development projects, the United States and its allies could establish a much stronger presence across the continent.
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