Africa is the site of a new battle for influence as Washington ramps up efforts to build an alternative critical minerals supply chain to avoid reliance on China.
Beijing dominates the processing of critical minerals such as cobalt, lithium and other resources from the continent that are needed for the transition to clean energy and electric vehicles.
For his part, fellow panelist Chiza Charles Newton Chiumya, the African Union's director for industry, minerals, entrepreneurship and tourism, told VOA he didn't want to use the term"competing" to describe the relative approaches of the West and China but agreed there is"lots of interest" in Africa's critical minerals.
"Supporting Africa's development is the common responsibility of the international community. We welcome stronger interest and investment in Africa from all quarters to help increase the continent's capability to achieve self-driven sustainable growth and move forward towards modernization and prosperity."
"When it comes to China in general, our secretary of state has been crystal clear, we have areas in which we cooperate with China, we have areas in which we compete with China, and that's not going to change," she said."This is a complex and consequential relationship and we see it as such.
Democratic Republic of the Congo President Felix Tshisekedi has been among the African leaders demanding better terms from China for several years. His country produces some 70% of the world's cobalt but remains one of the world's least developed nations. "We want to do our part to ramp up our efforts with like-minded partners in Africa to promote sustainable clean energy supply chains in mining," said Harrington. She said it is also important to help countries"do some domestic processing and refining, because it's really the value-added, that's how you create jobs, that's how you create local capacity."
South Africa Latest News, South Africa Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Africa: China, US Blamed for Slow Debt Relief to AfricaAnalysis - Debt relief plans are progressing slowly, much to the agony of developing countries. China has been widely blamed for the delayed global response. Beijing disagrees and puts the onus on the US and lenders backed by it.
Read more »
Africa: China's BRI Brings Roads, Rails and Debt to AfricaSome 150 countries, many of them in Africa, have signed on to China's 10-year-old Belt and Road Initiative, also known as the BRI. And while the multibillion-dollar project has helped bring roads, rails and infrastructure to many poor countries, it has also left some of those countries saddled with debt.
Read more »
Ghana President Nana Akufo-Addo seeks coalition to fight West Africa 'terrorism''The menace caused by terrorism is such that we must share the burden of the fight,' said Afuko-Addo, in a Washington speech in which he contrasted Western aid for Ukraine with that given to West African democracies.
Read more »
Digital nomad visas are on the rise in Africa - but South Africa is far behind - TechCentralNamibia has become the latest of four African countries to offer digital nomad visas to remote workers.
Read more »
Africa: Ugandan Doctors Win Africa Young Innovators for Health AwardThe International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations (IFPMA) and Speak Up Africa have announced the winners of the second edition of the Africa Young Innovators for Health Award. Teniola Adedeji (Nigeria) and Dr. Moses Ochora (Uganda) have been announced as first prize winners and Nura Izath (Uganda) and Muhammad Abdullahi (Nigeria) as second prize winners.
Read more »
Government wants oil and gas exploration acceleratedAfrica Oil Week panelists discuss opposition to oil and gas at Africa Oil Week.
Read more »