By Alex Kimani - Feb 06, 2025
The Trump administration has dismantled much of the U.S. Agency for International Development, affecting a large number of African countries.
China has significantly boosted investment a number of African countries over the last decades.
The U.S. is likely to struggle to secure the continent’s vast mineral resources under the Trump administration.
Last year, a report by the United States Institute Of Peace (USIP) emphasized the importance of the United States government engaging in the African critical minerals sector if it is to diminish its dependence on China and fortify its national security and foreign policy interests. The report outlines practical steps that the United States can take to build mineral partnerships with African countries in a bid to diversify its supply chains and strengthen peace and security on the continent. Africa is home to an estimated 20% of global copper and aluminium reserves, 50% of manganese and cobalt, 90% of platinum group metals, 36% of chromium, as well as considerable lithium, uranium, gold and rare earths. However, the U.S. is likely to struggle to secure the continent’s vast mineral resources under the Trump administration. South Africa's Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe says Africa should withhold minerals from the United States if Trump cuts aid, "If they don't give us money, let's not give them minerals. We are not just beggars," Mantashe told the African Mining Conference in Cape Town. "We cannot continue to debate these minerals based on the dictates of some developed nations as if we have no aspirations to accelerate Africa's industrialisation and close the development deficit," Mantashe said.
The Trump administration, led by billionaire ally Elon Musk, has dismantled much of the U.S. Agency for International Development, shutting down a six-decade mission intended to shore up U.S. security by educating children, fighting epidemics and advancing other development abroad. Trump declared on Truth Social that he would be ‘cutting off all future funding to South Africa’ until an investigation into the Land Expropriation Act is done. He called the act ‘a massive human rights violation’ and accused the South African government of ‘confiscating land and treating certain classes of people very badly.’
China Locking In Africa
Given this backdrop, it’s likely that China will come out on top in the race to secure African minerals. Over the past couple of decades, China has been all over Africa, building railroads, airports, bridges, and power dams, doing what Africa’s colonial masters should have done eons ago. Trade between China and Africa has surged dramatically from US$1 billion in 1980 to US$282 billion in 2023 while cumulative loans to African governments hit US$182 billion between 2002 and 2023, making China Africa’s largest bilateral creditor. China’s lending to African countries has particularly skyrocketed under the massive Belt and Road Initiative.
The bulk of Chinese investments are concentrated in Angola and Nigeria where they are closely linked to their respective oil industries. China has, however, lately been changing tact, cozying up to mineral-rich countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo to the chagrin of oil-rich ones like Angola and Nigeria. Beijing has written off $28 million in loans by the DRC and provided it with US$17 million in other financial support. China Molybdenum, owner of the world’s second-largest cobalt mine in the DRC, purchased the undeveloped Kisanfu resource from Freeport McMoRan for US$550 million. China Nonferrous Metal Mining Corporation (CNMC) is actively operating in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), primarily focused on developing copper and cobalt mining projects, most notably through a joint venture with the state-owned mining company Gécamines at the Deziwa mine and the Lualaba copper smelter; making them a significant player in the DRC's copper sector. Meanwhile, the likes of Chengtun Mining, Huayou Cobalt and Wanbao are busy staking their claims in the Central African nation.
A cross-section of experts have, however, taken a dim view of China’s rapidly growing investments in Africa with some accusing China of burdening the continent with debt in projects designed to lock in Africa.
“Even though they are financed with Chinese loans and built with Chinese contractors and labor, most of these projects are designed to lock African countries into a long-term political and diplomatic relationship with China rather than to make money,” says Ted Bauman, senior research analyst and economist at Banyan Hill Publishing.
Bauman says China can use the diplomatic relationship, for instance, to gain Africa’s votes on sensitive matters, like the Taiwan and the South China Sea issues. He says that evidence suggests that China is using state-funded energy infrastructure projects for Chinese corporate domination of African energy companies, something that could prove to be disadvantageous for their African partners especially if Beijing starts leveraging lower prices for exports of African oil to China.
Meanwhile, former U.S. Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, criticized China's lending policy to Africa saying it "encouraged dependency, utilised corrupt deals and endangered its natural resources"
By Alex Kimani for Oilprice.com
A cross-section of experts have, however, taken a dim view of China’s rapidly growing investments in Africa with some accusing China of burdening the continent with debt in projects designed to lock in Africa.
“Even though they are financed with Chinese loans and built with Chinese contractors and labor, most of these projects are designed to lock African countries into a long-term political and diplomatic relationship with China rather than to make money,” says Ted Bauman, senior research analyst and economist at Banyan Hill Publishing.
Bauman says China can use the diplomatic relationship, for instance, to gain Africa’s votes on sensitive matters, like the Taiwan and the South China Sea issues. He says that evidence suggests that China is using state-funded energy infrastructure projects for Chinese corporate domination of African energy companies, something that could prove to be disadvantageous for their African partners especially if Beijing starts leveraging lower prices for exports of African oil to China.
Meanwhile, former U.S. Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, criticized China's lending policy to Africa saying it "encouraged dependency, utilised corrupt deals and endangered its natural resources"
By Alex Kimani for Oilprice.com
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