{"id":2004473,"date":"2023-08-18T03:19:02","date_gmt":"2023-08-18T07:19:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/chinas-bid-for-lithium-dominance-could-engulf-africa\/"},"modified":"2023-08-18T03:23:08","modified_gmt":"2023-08-18T07:23:08","slug":"chinas-bid-for-lithium-dominance-could-engulf-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/chinas-bid-for-lithium-dominance-could-engulf-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"China&#8217;s quest for lithium dominance may engulf Africa."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">16<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fchinas-bid-for-lithium-dominance-could-engulf-africa%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2004473&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><h2>An Agreement to Invest $300 Million in a\u2062 Lithium Processing Plant in Zimbabwe is Paying Dividends for China\u2062 Across Africa<\/h2>\n<blockquote>\n<p>\u201cThe narrative about this lithium mine is being reported here in very, very positive terms,\u201d the National Defense University\u2019s Paul Nantulya told the Washington Examiner while traveling in Tanzania. \u201cAnd this is absolutely critical because China does have some major investments in Tanzania. &#8230; From a rhetorical standpoint, \u200cyes, China is achieving objectives.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<h3>Jobless Claims Numbers are Sending a Surprising Message About the Economy<\/h3>\n<p>That is not the message U.S. officials hoped would reverberate across the continent months after Vice President Kamala Harris and Secretary of State Antony Blinken combined to visit\u2064 five African states in two separate trips. Yet the investments in Zimbabwe\u2019s lithium industry point to a shift in China&#8217;s economic tactics as it continues\u2064 to compete with the United States.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe purpose of that\u200c really is to isolate Western narratives, American narratives, which at the \u2063moment\u200c have really criticized China for exporting raw material and for essentially exploiting the continent,&#8221; Nantulya, a research associate at NDU\u2019s Africa\u2064 Center for Strategic Studies, said. \u2063&#8221;What China is\u2062 doing\u200b with lithium, and cobalt, and other strategic minerals, is basically trying to pierce that narrative, which is a key political and diplomatic goal.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In-country mineral processing helps Beijing \u2064counter U.S. warnings China\u2019s\u200d Belt and Road Initiative amounts to a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/chinas-bid-for-lithium-dominance-could-engulf-africa\/\" title=\"China's quest for lithium dominance may engulf Africa.\">predatory lending scheme targeting impoverished countries<\/a> in strategic locations.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;This is Africa&#8217;s moment to bolster its\u200d position in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/cdc-face-masks-dont-prevent-covid-19-study-finds-masks-have-negligible-impact-on-coronavirus-numbers\/\" title=\"CDC: Face masks don\u2019t prevent COVID-19, study finds masks have negligible impact on coronavirus numbers\">global supply chains<\/a> as diversification efforts continue,\u201d United Nations\u2064 Conference on Trade and Development Secretary-General Rebeca Grynspan said while traveling in Kenya.<\/p>\n<p>Grynspan visited Nairobi for the launch of an annual report on economic development.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhile\u2064 the need for Africa to integrate global supply chains is not new, we urge African countries to avoid being locked into the provision of &#8216;just&#8217; raw materials, which results in very low-value integration into\u2062 global supply chains,\u201d the UNCTAD report advised.<\/p>\n<p>That recommendation could reinforce\u200d requirements that mining companies include the host country \u2063in a subsequent link of the supply chain. Such mandates could play into China&#8217;s hands despite \u200dthe extra\u200b cost because the communist regime can make\u2064 investments based on political \u2062priorities.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAfrican leaders, broadly, are under a remit to avoid the resource curse,&#8221; said William Tobin, assistant director of\u2064 the Atlantic Council Global Energy Center. \u201cIf anybody is \u200cgoing to aid them in doing this &#8230; It&#8217;s probably going to be the Chinese at this point because the fundamentals for making the investment in \u2062those processing plants are just not terribly strong \u2062right now,\u2063 but that might not matter to a lot of Chinese firms.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Zimbabwe is the world\u2019s sixth-largest producer of \u2062lithium. China\u2019s Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt bought the Arcadia lithium mine \u200bfrom an Australian company for $422 million, just one of several deals that reportedly have brought \u201cabout $1 billion\u201d of investment from Chinese companies in Zimbabwe\u2019s battery-powering lithium reserves. Those investments have helped to raise expectations that China will control one-third \u200dof lithium, also known as \u201cthe new gasoline,\u201d by 2025.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2064 gives \u2062them more leverage \u2064over pricing,&#8221; Tobin said. &#8220;They have more buying power. It makes the global economy global supply chains basically subject to Chinese domestic economic policies.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Western companies can&#8217;t \u200deasily compete with such \u2063investments, especially in Zimbabwe. In December, \u2064for instance, the U.S. \u2063put Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa&#8217;s son on \u2064a sanctions list as part of a crackdown\u2062 on \u201chuman \u2064rights abusers and those who undermine\u200b democratic processes or facilitate corruption.\u201d Yet a\u200d corrupt and disreputable environment is no obstacle for \u2064China.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt&#8217;s \u200cnot an economic decision. It&#8217;s a political decision. Those are decisions that are taken at the heart of the Communist Party of China, right, which would\u200b involve Xi Jinping himself. And if a directive comes from the high echelons\u200c of the Chinese Communist Party, &#8230; finance\u200d will be\u2063 extended regardless of the economic rationale.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Similar restrictions \u2064are proliferating across the continent, from the Democratic \u2063Republic \u200dof the Congo to Ghana.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe \u200cintend to end the practice of not adding value to our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/environmentalists-are-blocking-the-us-from-controlling-its-renewable-energy-future\/\" title=\"Environmentalists Are Blocking The US From Controlling Its Renewable Energy Future\">mineral resources<\/a>,\u201d Ghanaian natural resources minister Samuel Abu Jinapor said in June. &#8220;We are beginning by establishing the appropriate policy and legal framework for \u2062Ghana \u200bto significantly benefit from the new paradigm of green energy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo has aligned with the U.S. in some important ways. But a mineral processing\u2062 law, paired with China\u2019s willingness to expedite investments in \u2063key locales,\u2062 could present Beijing with a valuable opportunity on Africa\u2019s Atlantic coast.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cChina is ready and willing to help \u2062these African countries to \u2062provide the technology that will be necessary for them to export finished goods, but those finished goods are ending \u2064up in \u2063China,\u201d Nantulya said. \u201cAnd [Ghana is] a very important country to China, as far as \u2064the westward expansion of China\u2019s influence is concerned.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>is using this project as a showcase to demonstrate its commitment to Africa&#8217;s economic development. By investing in Zimbabwe&#8217;s lithium processing plant, China is not only securing a valuable resource but also gaining influence and strengthening its presence across the continent.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2004474,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2004473","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2004473","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2004473"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2004473\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2004474"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2004473"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2004473"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2004473"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}