Europe Lines Up African Minerals Pacts to Ease Reliance on China
- Partnerships expected to be signed during EU investment summit
- Deals part of bloc’s efforts to diversify access to materials
A mine worker with a handful of cobalt metal nuggets in Zambia.
Photographer: Waldo Swiegers/Bloomberg
By
Jorge Valero
27 September 2023 at 8:34 pm AEST
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The European Union is finalizing partnerships with the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia to boost local industries as the bloc competes with China to secure critical materials for the green and digital sectors.
A planned memorandum of understanding will signal to both governments and the private sector the EU’s backing for developing local value chains given that a big part of the processing of critical materials, including lithium or cobalt, currently takes place in China, people familiar with the matter said.
The EU is aiming to diversify suppliers of key resources and to counter China’s massive infrastructure investments in regions including Africa. The bloc has signed similar deals with Canada, Kazakhstan, Namibia, Ukraine, Argentina and Chile, and is also exploring accords with Rwanda and Uganda.
The EU plans to sign the partnerships during a forum of the Global Gateway, the EU’s €300 billion ($317 billion) investment program, in Brussels on Oct. 25-26, said the people who asked not to be identified because the discussions are private. The meeting will bring together leaders from the EU, other countries and European business executives.