Africa Forms Unprecedented Alliance to Manage Strategic Minerals Worth Trillions and Rebalance the Playing Field Against the U.S. and China

Written by Débora Araújo

Published on 23/09/2025 at 10:46

África cria aliança inédita para gerir minerais estratégicos avaliados em trilhões e reequilibrar o jogo contra EUA e China

Uma pessoa reagiu a isso.

The African Union Launches Unprecedented Coalition to Control Strategic Minerals Like Cobalt and Lithium, Seeking Local Industrialization, Greater Global Bargaining Power and Reducing Dependency on China’s and the United States’ Dominance.

A silent yet decisive change is underway in how Africa perceives its immense mineral wealth. The African Union (AU) announced during a regional climate summit in Addis Ababa plans to form a coalition of producing countries for strategic minerals, aiming to strengthen the continent’s bargaining power in the global market.

The initiative has been dubbed the Africa Green Minerals Strategy and seeks to ensure that essential resources for the energy transition — such as cobalt, lithium, coltan, and rare earth elements — are not exported in raw form but are processed and industrialized locally.

Global Context: The Race for Green Minerals

The pressure for strategic minerals is increasing as the world accelerates its decarbonization efforts. A report by the International Energy Agency (IEA) projected that global demand for essential minerals could quadruple by 2040, driven by batteries, wind turbines, and electric vehicles.

ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW

The US and China at the Center of the Dispute

The AU’s initiative comes amid the competition between China and the United States for control of supply chains. Beijing controls much of the refining of strategic minerals, which worries Washington and Brussels.

The US government has already formed partnerships in the DRC to explore copper and cobalt reserves, in an attempt to reduce dependency on China. However, with the possible formation of a unified African front, both the US and the European Union will need to renegotiate their strategies.

Internal Obstacles: Funding and Divergences

Despite the ambitions, the coalition faces significant internal challenges. The main issue is the lack of infrastructure and funding to process minerals locally. The AU demands that developed countries fulfill climate funding promises, such as the commitment made at COP29 in 2023 in Azerbaijan to allocate US$ 300 billion per year to developing nations.

In practice, however, an Oxfam study showed that East African countries received only 4% of the necessary funding between 2013 and 2022, revealing a discrepancy between rhetoric and reality. Another obstacle is the diversity of national interests:

DRC and Zimbabwe already implement export restrictions to protect local supply chains;
Nigeria and Mozambique still prioritize oil and gas;
Internal conflicts, especially in eastern DRC, threaten supply chain stability.

Towards a “OPEC of Minerals”?

Analysts believe the new coalition could serve as an African version of OPEC (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries), establishing regional prices, export quotas, and joint refining structures.

“Even if the coalition does not achieve the level of coordination of OPEC immediately, it already signals that Africa will no longer accept being just the world’s quarry,” assesses researcher Jean-Benoît Mallet from the OECD.

Climate Justice and Sovereignty

The AU declaration also reinforced the principle of “climate justice,” demanding not only compensation but also sovereignty over green resources. For the president of the AU Commission, Mahamoud Ali Youssouf:

“People forget that minerals like cobalt and lithium are not just industrial inputs — they are Africa’s leverage in the 21st century.”

US Pressures Mercosur for Agreement to Ensure Access to Lithium, Niobium, and Rare Earths — While China Already Controls Global Supply Chains and Wants Priority in Contracts and Supply from Brazil

If successful, the coalition could reposition Africa on the global geopolitical map, elevating its voice in international negotiations and promoting sustainable industrialization.

Even as it faces financial, political, and structural barriers, the initiative represents a historic milestone: the attempt to turn mineral abundance into strategic influence, breaking decades of external exploitation.

0 Comentários

Mais recente

Mais antigos Mais votado

Feedbacks

Visualizar todos comentários

Africa Forms Unprecedented Alliance to Manage Strategic Minerals Worth Trillions and Rebalance the Playing Field Against the U.S. and China

The African Union Launches Unprecedented Coalition to Control Strategic Minerals Like Cobalt and Lithium, Seeking Local Industrialization, Greater Global Bargaining Power and Reducing Dependency on China’s and the United States’ Dominance.

Global Context: The Race for Green Minerals

The US and China at the Center of the Dispute

Internal Obstacles: Funding and Divergences

Towards a “OPEC of Minerals”?

Climate Justice and Sovereignty

Seen from space, an image taken by an astronaut shows an unlikely oasis in the Saudi Arabian desert, protected by a terrain that slows the advance of sand, surrounded by green circles, remnants of an extinct lake and nearly 10,000 years of preserved history.

While the U.S. still faces limitations in deep space, China is developing unprecedented technology with strategic satellites that maintain communication with the far side of the Moon and aims for dominance by 2030.

In Botswana, a salt flat of up to 16,000 km² that was once an African megalake spends months as an absolute white desert, but during the rainy season it transforms into a shallow sea that reappears from nowhere and can be seen from space in the middle of southern Africa.

The Blood Falls of Antarctica hide a living ecosystem trapped under the ice for over 2 million years, where microbes survive without light, without oxygen, and without ever having seen the Sun.

Bavarian archaeologists unearthed a medieval skeleton that had an articulated iron hand in place of its left arm, and the discovery reveals that doctors were already creating sophisticated prosthetics over 500 years ago.

For the first time, scientists have mapped the Etna magma system in almost real time and discovered where the volcano was storing large volumes of molten material before years of eruptions, revealing an underground reservoir that fills and reorganizes like a living organism beneath the mountain.

The CEO of Honor in Spain says that smartphones will change with AI, foldables, and even robot phones; the component crisis is making cheap models more expensive in 2026 and shifting the focus to premium.

Brazilian city becomes a global destination after attracting tourists who travel up to 10,000 km to visit a sanctuary with 11 giant saints up to 10 meters tall, open 24 hours and located along a highway in SP.

JBL Flip Essential 3 SE is launched with 30W of power (20W + 10W), Bluetooth 5.4, Auracast for multiple connections, IP67 water and dust resistance, up to 12 hours of battery life, and a price of approximately R$ 660 in China.

After ten days orbiting the Moon, science confirms that the astronauts of the Artemis II mission return with altered bodies.

Pernambuco paradise with 59% of preserved area advances with R$ 2 billion in e-methanol, aims for 900 tons/day, grows 38.6% and builds electrified terminal of 400 thousand TEUs.

Brazil may have railways back on the map, but it will need the government: a study reveals 7,412 km ready for reactivation, a cost of R$ 75 billion, 61 sections analyzed, and none viable without public funding.

Africa Forms Unprecedented Alliance to Manage Strategic Minerals Worth Trillions and Rebalance the Playing Field Against the U.S. and China

The African Union Launches Unprecedented Coalition to Control Strategic Minerals Like Cobalt and Lithium, Seeking Local Industrialization, Greater Global Bargaining Power and Reducing Dependency on China’s and the United States’ Dominance.

Global Context: The Race for Green Minerals

The US and China at the Center of the Dispute

Internal Obstacles: Funding and Divergences

Towards a “OPEC of Minerals”?

Climate Justice and Sovereignty

Seen from space, an image taken by an astronaut shows an unlikely oasis in the Saudi Arabian desert, protected by a terrain that slows the advance of sand, surrounded by green circles, remnants of an extinct lake and nearly 10,000 years of preserved history.

While the U.S. still faces limitations in deep space, China is developing unprecedented technology with strategic satellites that maintain communication with the far side of the Moon and aims for dominance by 2030.

In Botswana, a salt flat of up to 16,000 km² that was once an African megalake spends months as an absolute white desert, but during the rainy season it transforms into a shallow sea that reappears from nowhere and can be seen from space in the middle of southern Africa.

The Blood Falls of Antarctica hide a living ecosystem trapped under the ice for over 2 million years, where microbes survive without light, without oxygen, and without ever having seen the Sun.

Bavarian archaeologists unearthed a medieval skeleton that had an articulated iron hand in place of its left arm, and the discovery reveals that doctors were already creating sophisticated prosthetics over 500 years ago.

For the first time, scientists have mapped the Etna magma system in almost real time and discovered where the volcano was storing large volumes of molten material before years of eruptions, revealing an underground reservoir that fills and reorganizes like a living organism beneath the mountain.

The CEO of Honor in Spain says that smartphones will change with AI, foldables, and even robot phones; the component crisis is making cheap models more expensive in 2026 and shifting the focus to premium.

The World Bank issues urgent warning about jobs after the war in the Middle East and reveals an alarming scenario with rising unemployment, falling income, and the risk of a deep global economic crisis.

With millions of Brazilians in debt and interest rates soaring, the proposal to use FGTS to pay off debts reemerges and sparks immediate curiosity: does clearing one’s name this way really change life or just create a temporary sense of relief?

Brazil tightens the grip on billionaires with assets over US$ 100 million, targeting billionaires, business owners, and heirs who currently pay proportionally less tax than most of the population.

Petrobras puts R$ 5 billion on the table to bring to life a colossal factory that has been idle for almost 10 years to end dependence on international fertilizers.

The BYD case on the dirty list evolves rapidly, secretary is dismissed after contested inclusion, court suspends registration, and tension with tax auditors intensifies behind the scenes.

Brazilian city becomes a global destination after attracting tourists who travel up to 10,000 km to visit a sanctuary with 11 giant saints up to 10 meters tall, open 24 hours and located along a highway in SP.

JBL Flip Essential 3 SE is launched with 30W of power (20W + 10W), Bluetooth 5.4, Auracast for multiple connections, IP67 water and dust resistance, up to 12 hours of battery life, and a price of approximately R$ 660 in China.

After ten days orbiting the Moon, science confirms that the astronauts of the Artemis II mission return with altered bodies.

Pernambuco paradise with 59% of preserved area advances with R$ 2 billion in e-methanol, aims for 900 tons/day, grows 38.6% and builds electrified terminal of 400 thousand TEUs.

Brazil may have railways back on the map, but it will need the government: a study reveals 7,412 km ready for reactivation, a cost of R$ 75 billion, 61 sections analyzed, and none viable without public funding.