With U.S.-South Africa ties in the deep freeze, it was notable to see the sheer size of the U.S. delegation sent to this week’s Mining Indaba in Cape Town – one of the most prominent industry gatherings and one of the few where the Global South gets a prominent voice.
The Trump administration’s famous Afrophobia seems (momentarily at least) tempered by its greed for minerals. It is reportedly walking ...
Category: U.S.-CHINA-AFRICA
After Washington Talks, U.S. and EU Moves on Critical Minerals Put China and Global South at Center
The Washington critical minerals talks have already begun translating into policy. Within hours of the meeting, U.S. lawmakers and allies announced a coordinated set of proposals—from expanded export finance to strategic stockpiles—signaling a faster, more interventionist push to loosen China’s grip on global ...
How the U.S. Aims to Seize Control of Critical Congolese Minerals and Curb Chinese Expansion
By signing the strategic partnership agreement with the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the United States achieved two key objectives in its critical minerals strategy: first, securing preferential access to copper, cobalt, zinc, gold, and other minerals considered strategic; and second, establishing a regulatory framework ...
As U.S. Ties Fray, Vance Heads to Kenya Where China’s Presence Grows Larger
U.S. Vice President JD Vance will travel to Kenya at the end of next month, according to Africa Intelligence, marking the first high-level American visit to the East African nation since Donald Trump returned to office in January. The trip comes ...
U.S. Sanctions Hong Kong Firms Over Illegal Mining in the DR Congo
The U.S. Treasury Department on Tuesday imposed penalties on a pair of Hong Kong-based companies for "destabilizing activities in the DRC" that involved the purchase of illegally sourced minerals. The companies were allegedly operating in an area near the far eastern city ...
U.S. Senator Seeks Review of Kenya’s ‘Major Non-NATO Ally’ Status, Citing China Ties
One of Washington's most powerful lawmakers is calling for the State Department to review Kenya's status as a Major Non-NATO Ally in response to Nairobi's close ties with China. U.S. Republican Senator James Risch, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee,
Analysis from Cobus van Staden
China Prominent in AFRICOM Testimony
China came up repeatedly in testimony before the U.S. Senate Committee on Armed Services on Tuesday. Air Force Lt. Gen. Dagvin R.M. Anderson, who is being considered to lead the U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM), testified that “China is expanding its approach from ...
Outspoken China Hawk Poised to Become Donald Trump’s New Envoy to South Africa
With U.S.-South Africa ties on the verge of total collapse following President Donald Trump's suspension of aid and his offer to resettle white South Africans as refugees, attention is now shifting to who Washington will send to Pretoria as its next ambassador. ...
China Will Be on Everyone’s Mind When Biden Visits Angola This Week
Joe Biden boarded Air Force One late Sunday night, bound for West Africa in what will likely be the outgoing U.S. president's final overseas trip before he leaves office next month. The President will travel to Angola with a brief stopover ...
Trump, China, and the Rest of Us
As we absorbed the news of another Trump term, my immediate conversations with friends split into two categories. With American and U.S.-adjacent friends, the conversation defaulted to (mostly despairing) unpackings of what happened. But the ...
Kenya’s William Ruto Once Again Pressed by Western Journalists: Do You Like Us or the Chinese Better?
It's now routine for Kenyan President William Ruto to get the "us or them" question from Western journalists when he's in the U.S. or Europe. In May, CNN's Richard Quest bluntly asked the president point blank if he had to make ...
Why the United States Struggles to Compete With China in Building African Infrastructure: Report
When it comes to building infrastructure in Africa, the U.S. dreams of competing with China, but in reality, there is hardly any contest to speak of. This is the main thrust of a new report by the Chinese research body, the Institute for International and Area Studies, ...
Pentagon’s Top General for U.S. Forces in Africa Isn’t as Worried About Chinese Bases and Debt Traps as He Used to Be
The Pentagon's commander for U.S. forces in Africa, Marine Corps General Michael Langley, was once very worried about Chinese "debt traps" in Africa and the prospect that the PLA was looking to build a new base on Africa's Atlantic Coast. But ...