Juliet Onyino and Weilu Jiang
As 2026 begins, competition over critical minerals has become a defining feature of global geopolitics. Last month, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) sent Washington a shortlist of state-owned mining assets available for American investment – a clear signal that African countries are increasingly using their mineral endowments as strategic bargaining tools in great power competition.
Africa holds approximately 30 percent of global mineral reserves, including dominant shares of cobalt, manganese, platinum group metals, and graphite. Despite this, the continent captures only about 10 percent of the value generated from its mineral exports, largely due to continued reliance on raw material exports and limited domestic processing capacity. This is a result of structures that positioned Africa as a raw material supplier. Limited infrastructure, inadequate investment in processing, and unfavorable trade policies have reinforced this pattern.
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