Rare earth strategy provides ‘opportunities for Africa’ as US attempts to counter China

AI Summary

The United States is increasing its investment in African mining and processing infrastructure to secure critical minerals as a strategy to counter China's dominance in this sector. This shift shows a recognition of the need for collaboration in developing local capabilities for mineral processing, which the US currently lacks compared to China.

The US is shifting strategy to fund local African processing and mining infrastructure after recognising it cannot yet process the critical minerals it is racing to secure from the continent to counter China. Tom Haslett, managing director of policy for critical minerals at the US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), said that unlike China, which had “significant industry backing for both processing and downstream manufacturing”, the US and Europe did not yet have that...