How America plans to break China’s grip on African minerals
A new contest between the US and China is under way
Mining Indaba, Africa’s largest mining conference, is an anthropologist’s dream. There are the corporate chief executives: alpha males keen to cut big deals for big rocks. There are the engineers staffing stands in bright corporate attire, resembling darts teams on tour, and the colourful African delegations: Ghanaians draped in kente cloth or Congolese dandies with watches the size of clocks. They are offset by Chinese officials in dark suits and Saudis in white thawbs.
This article appeared in the Middle East & Africa section of the print edition under the headline “Situation critical”
Middle East & Africa March 4th 2023
From the March 4th 2023 edition
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