The United States is intensifying its efforts to strengthen connections with African countries that boast abundant reserves of critical minerals, with the aim of securing a stable supply chain, as revealed by a high-ranking government official.
Recently, workshops were conducted in the capital of Zambia, Lusaka, and Kinshasa in the neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo.
These workshops involved the participation of US experts and had a significant objective in mind: the establishment of local battery manufacturing facilities.
Kimberly Harrington, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Bureau of Energy Resources, shared these insights during a conference held in Cape Town.
Harrington emphasized the immense importance of critical minerals in propelling the technologies that will drive the global transition toward clean energy.
She also discussed how her interactions with the private sector and government partners from various nations had made substantial progress in advancing these discussions.
In a noteworthy development, the US government recently granted $150 million in funding for a graphite mining project in Mozambique.
The US International Development Finance Corp. provided this financing to Twigg Exploration and Mining Lda, a company operating in northeastern Mozambique.
Their primary objective is to mine and process graphite, a crucial material used in electric vehicle batteries and nuclear reactors.
Twigg Exploration and Mining Lda is a subsidiary of Syrah Resources Ltd., an Australian firm based in Melbourne and the largest graphite producer outside of China.
The loan’s main purpose is to boost production and expand the global supply chain for graphite, according to a statement by the Minerals Security Partnership issued on October 10th.
The Minerals Security Partnership is an initiative of the State Department, dedicated to attracting foreign investments and Western expertise into the mining industries of developing nations that play a significant role in supplying essential raw materials like lithium, manganese, and cobalt.
Another key focus of the Minerals Security Partnership is to facilitate connections among companies that uphold high environmental, social, and governance (ESG) standards and share the same labor rights principles.
The overarching goal is to establish local processing and refining facilities. Harrington noted that US energy companies are committed to these values and are eager to collaborate with like-minded firms, even if they aren’t American in origin.
In December, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken inked a memorandum of understanding with the governments of Congo and Zambia.
This pact aims to explore ways to support their shared plan to develop an electric vehicle value chain together.
These two Central African nations are notable copper and cobalt producers, which are vital metals in the production of electric vehicles and batteries.
