Global Rush for Minerals, the Green Dilemma Beneath Africa’s Soil

Every morning in Kolwezi, Democratic Republic of The Congo, long lines of diesel trucks kick up clouds of red dust along the roads of Lualaba province, carrying tonnes of raw cobalt and copper toward Atlantic ports. Thousands of miles away in Western and Asian capitals, those same minerals are celebrated as the bedrock of a zero-emission future, destined for electric vehicle batteries and wind turbines. But on the ground, where the global transition hits African soil, the rush for critical minerals feels less like a clean energy revolution and more like a familiar historical scramble.

Driven by a global push toward net-zero targets and supply chain diversification, industrialized powers, principally the United States, China and European nations, are locked in an intense race for Africa’s critical raw materials. Demand for lithium alone tripled between 2017 and 2022, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA), with graphite, nickel, and cobalt following a similar trajectory. Yet inside the mining communities powering this boom, local residents are grappling with the immediate environmental and social costs of an extraction rate operating at breakneck speed.

The geostrategic frontline: The continent holds nearly 30 percent of the world’s critical mineral reserves. That geological footprint has placed African nations at the center of a geopolitical chess match. Major economies are securing concessions, building transport networks like the Western-backed Lobito Corridor, and expanding long-term off-take agreements to safeguard their domestic green industries.