Story perspectives

U.S. Funds African Mineral Processing as China Leads

5/9/2026

Summary

U.S. Funds Africa

The United States is shifting strategy to fund African processing-mining infrastructure after recognizing it cannot yet process critical minerals it seeks.
Tom Haslett, managing director at the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), said the U.S. and Europe lack processing capacity that China has.
The U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) is providing funding for feasibility studies, after which the DFC will offer financing and insurance for de-risked projects.

Summary

Bozell Leads Minerals

U.S. Ambassador Leo Brent Bozell III led a 25-person delegation to Johannesburg for a minerals meeting.
South African deputy ministers attended with U.S. Treasury, Commerce, Energy, Defence, Export-Import Bank and Development Finance Corporation (DFC) officials.
The participants are drafting a priority-project list that names the Phalaborwa rare-earths mine as the lead candidate.
U.S. officials seek financing for South Africa’s transport upgrades to ease port bottlenecks and curb China’s rare-earth market share.

History

Historical Context

The October 1973 OAPEC oil embargo against the United States, lifted in March 1974, exposed America’s reliance on foreign oil and spurred Nixon’s price controls and Carter’s deregulation of domestic oil prices. Those crises gave rise to energy diplomacy, a field that now guides U.S. International Development Finance Corporation and Trade and Development Agency as they fund African mineral-processing projects to lessen China’s rare-earth dominance.

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U.S. Funds Africa

The United States is shifting strategy to fund African processing-mining infrastructure after recognizing it cannot yet process critical minerals it seeks.
Tom Haslett, managing director at the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), said the U.S. and Europe lack processing capacity that China has.
The U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) is providing funding for feasibility studies, after which the DFC will offer financing and insurance for de-risked projects.

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