US Imperialism Leads the Investment in the Plunder of Africa
Featured image: Donald Trump meets with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Rwanda. Source: Getty Images.
US imperialism is making moves to focus its attention on Chinese social-imperialism, to regain lost positions and tightening the grip on the oppressed countries affected by this struggle, in this case, in Africa. In the framework of this struggle, US imperialism seeks to achieve a reliable access to rare earth minerals, of which China controls almost exclusively. US imperialism has put in new efforts, and has as a result, in 2023, for the first time since 2012, overtaken China as the first foreign investor in Africa.
China has, including hefty reserves within China itself, also focused heavily on looting the rare earth minerals of Africa, among other resources, through acquisitions of companies, and heavy investments in mining operations throughout the continent over the course of many years, in that way developing bureaucratic capitalism in the continent. Rare earth minerals are absolutely crucial to sustain US military and their industrial supply chains, and as such, US imperialism is looking for alternative supply chains in its struggle to counterattack the growing influence of Chinese social-imperialism.
The extent of the control Chinese social-imperialism has over rare earth minerals is so significant that the United States have seen it necessary to severely step up in the race for acquiring mining operations within Africa. In 2023 the US overtook China in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Africa for the first time in a decade, investing $5.8bn~ compared to China with $4bn~, according to Africa Research Initiative of Johns Hopkins University.
According to UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD), Africa has a significant share of the world’s critical energy transition minerals, holding 55% of cobalt reserves, 47.7% of manganese, 21.6% of natural graphite, 5.9% of copper, 5.6% of nickel, 1% of lithium and 0.6% of iron ore globally. American acquisitions in the region are led by a government agency created in 2019: U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), created during Trumps first term in office, and serves the purpose of “enhancing US global economic leadership, and countering China’s presence in strategic regions.” as is stated clearly on their own website.
One example of how the DFC facilitates the plunder of rare earth minerals is its acquisition of a company in Rwanda called Trinity Metals. In 2024 the Rwandan mining company Trinity Metals secured a $3.9m grant from the DFC, in order to bring the supply chain directly to the United States. Trinity Metals is Rwandas largest producer of Tin, and also produces tantalum and tungsten. It should be noted that Rwanda, as a semi-colonial and semi-feudal country led by Paul Kagame, a lackey of imperialism, is used by US imperialism in its struggle against Chinese social-imperialism, to loot the mineral resources from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), as we have previously explained regarding the war in Eastern Congo:
If you look at the biggest investments of the DFC, you will find that one of the biggest investments of $553,000,000 is allocated for the “upgrade, rehabilitation, operation, and maintenance of a 1,289-
kilometer brownfield railway line in Angola between the Lobito Port and Luau (“Lobito Corridor”) [From the border of Congo, to the Atlantic Ocean coast], as well as a brownfield mineral port in Angola to facilitate Atlantic Ocean coast exports of copper and cobalt from the Democratic Republic of Congo.” This Lobito corridor is counter-acting “Chinese social-imperialism by offering an “alternative” to the Belt and Road Initiative and strengthening the grip of US imperialism on the region, mainly on the DRC, Angola and Zambia.”
This is a clear attempt at diverting the plunder of rare earth minerals of the Democratic Republic of Congo, which has the biggest cobalt reserves in the world, including substantial amounts of copper, away from Chinese infrastructure, focused mainly on the east coast of Africa, in an attempt to establish a supply chain serving US imperialism.
US imperialism is not only acquiring the raw materials, they are also acquiring refineries, one example thereof being the US company, ReElement, who according to them, are “partnering with South African investment holding firm Novare, to build Africa’s first critical and rare earth element refining facilities in South Africa”. The plants will “produce high-purity lithium carbonate, rare earth oxides and other critical minerals” and the output is meant to satisfy the ever “growing demand in the defense and battery industry within both Africa and North America.” With these statements, the imperialists try to hide their plunder under the farce of being a “partner”, a facade used by the imperialist powers in the Third World Countries. However their acts show a deepening in the plundering of the mining resources, which leaves behind a path of poverty and war. Meanwhile, the lackey governments of the region sell the land piece by piece be it directly to the imperialist companies or through “national” companies who only serve the interests of imperialists.
In its latest statement on the war in Sudan, the Anti-imperialist League stated that clearly: “What happens in Sudan today follows a pattern that repeats across the world: economic dependency, military control, massacres, and international silence. The destruction in Sudan is not an isolated tragedy but a reflection of the global order of imperialism. The same system continues to operate in Congo, Palestine, Haiti, and every corner of the exploited world. Everywhere we see the same pattern: dependency, war, and silence. Breaking this chain is no longer a moral appeal but a necessity for the survival of humanity”.
