Consultants say the U.S. authorities should act to weaken China’s management over African minerals sectors to make sure America’s safety and fight corruption in Africa.
Beijing can be constructing an enormous inventory of gold, the value of which lately hit a file excessive of greater than $3,000 per ounce, to probably create a brand new forex aimed toward rivaling the US greenback, members of Congress have been advised.
Throughout a listening to titled “Metals, Minerals, and Mining: How the CCP Fuels Battle and Exploitation in Africa,” a number of skilled witnesses testified that the Chinese language Communist Get together (CCP) mannequin on the continent is predicated on exploiting Africa’s pure sources to the detriment of U.S. nationwide safety.
The technique is working, they stated, to the extent that the US is struggling to safe ample provides of minerals thought of important to its future progress.
The witnesses included foremost safety and minerals specialists, who warned President Donald Trump’s administration to not neglect Africa however to take vital steps to weaken China’s monopoly over extractive industries.
These may embody implementing sanctions in opposition to Chinese language corporations and businesspeople concerned in corruption and imposing stricter laws on Chinese language companies supplying minerals to American corporations.
The subcommittee heard that until the US establishes a higher presence in Africa, particularly in mining sectors, its economic system could be weakened and its residents endangered.
Joseph Nguramo, a safety skilled specializing within the minerals sector for the Atlantic Council, a suppose tank in Washington, advised the listening to that political and social chaos in Africa advantages China’s financial pursuits, together with its present maintain on world vital minerals provides, by discouraging Western investments and collaboration.
South African Police Service (SAPS) officers stroll close to a Metalliferous Cellular Rescue Winder throughout a rescue operation to retrieve unlawful miners from an deserted gold shaft in Stilfontein on Jan. 13, 2025. Christian Velcich/AFP by way of Getty Photographs
“Concurrently, it props up corrupt political methods held in place by predatory and kleptocratic elites who enrich themselves on the expense of their residents,” he stated. “These methods perpetuate poverty and result in regional conflicts and wars, as will be witnessed in Sudan and the DRC [Democratic Republic of Congo].”
Nguramo stated tens of 1000’s of kids throughout Africa are being compelled to dig for minerals for Chinese language patrons with out ample protecting tools and fee.
“A few of these kids are below 10 years outdated, leaving them uncovered to poisonous substances, inflicting critical well being and environmental issues,” he stated, citing investigations by Amnesty Worldwide.
Nguramo highlighted that Africa is the world’s most resource-rich area, having 40 % of the minerals wanted for world vitality safety sooner or later.
Africa’s minerals—together with cobalt, tantalum, and lithium—are additionally key parts in manufacturing microchips and semiconductors essential to constructing key infrastructure.
The vital metals are important components in superior weapon methods expertise, together with missile protection, submarines, and fighter jets.
The subcommittee heard that China has assumed virtually full management of Africa’s mining sector.
“Given this case, the U.S. and its allies’ nationwide safety will expertise rising dependence on China’s world provide chain,” Nguramo testified.
Sasha Lezhnev, senior coverage adviser at The Sentry, an investigative and coverage group looking for to disrupt networks that profit from battle, repression, and kleptocracy, advised the listening to that almost half of China’s largest mining investments globally have been in sub-Saharan Africa.
“Such funding has include vital corruption,” he stated. “It’s maybe no accident that the African nations that export essentially the most to China even have a few of the world’s worst corruption rankings.”
These nations embody South Sudan, the DRC, and Eritrea.
Lezhnev’s analysis has uncovered a litany of human rights and environmental abuses linked to Chinese language funding in inexperienced vitality mineral initiatives in Africa.
Nowhere have these issues been extra acute than within the DRC, the central African nation with a few of the world’s largest concentrations of vital minerals, and China is by far its largest mining investor and buying and selling associate, he stated.
The DRC is the world’s largest producer of cobalt, accounting for 75 % of world manufacturing, and tantalum, accounting for 40 % of world manufacturing, he added.
In 2024, it grew to become the world’s second-largest producer of copper.
Lezhnev pointed to China signing a $6.2 billion minerals-for-infrastructure deal within the DRC in 2008. Since then, he stated, corruption has elevated exponentially.
The Sentry investigated the deal and located that the shell firm—Congo Development Firm (CCC)—on the middle of the scheme acquired $55 million from “overseas sources,” apparently meant to bribe senior DRC authorities officers.
Lezhnev testified that the DRC authorities usually takes permits away from Western mining companies and provides them to corporations linked to the CCP.
He reported that gold is “on the coronary heart” of the current escalation of the battle in jap DRC, wherein 6.5 million individuals have been displaced and 1000’s have died.
Rwandan-backed M23 rebels are preventing DRC authorities troops over management of mineral-rich areas, particularly these with huge gold deposits.
The DRC produces greater than $1 billion in mined gold yearly. However, Lezhnev testified, virtually all of it’s smuggled in a foreign country, primarily to neighboring Rwanda and Uganda, earlier than flowing to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), China, and different nations.
“China is buying file quantities of gold, together with from Russia, doubtlessly with a purpose to set up a brand new BRICS forex that will whittle away on the U.S. greenback’s dominance or for different aggressive functions,” he stated.
China and Russia are main members of BRICS, a bloc that goals to counter what it considers to be Western management of world structure, together with the United Nations and World Financial institution.
China is the world’s largest shopper and producer of gold, and it has been lively within the battle gold commerce in jap DRC and elsewhere on the continent, Lezhnev stated, with some corporations linked to the CCP paying armed teams for entry to the dear metallic.
He advised the subcommittee there are about 450 illegally working mining corporations within the South Kivu area alone, primarily run by Chinese language nationals who’ve been smuggling as much as 8 tons of gold yearly.
Lezhnev stated Chinese language operators are illegally extracting gold throughout Africa—in nations such because the Central African Republic, Ghana, Mali, and Nigeria—and smuggling it to China.
In written testimony, Thierry Dongala, who conducts provide chain investigations for gold and treasured metals merchants for his firm, Accountable Africa, defined that “a few years of all stick and no carrot U.S. sanctions in Africa have pushed away compliance-friendly commerce financiers and allowed China to monopolize artisanal gold mining in Africa.”
The Impala Platinum mine shaft 11, close to Rustenburg, South Africa, on Nov. 28, 2023. Implats by way of AP Photograph
He stated U.S. sanctions had pushed away world banking companions “as a result of they aren’t keen to take the danger of deciphering between good and unhealthy actors within the mining sector.”
This, Dongala stated, “drives a lot of the good actors to hitch the unhealthy actors” in buying and selling with Chinese language corporations who eagerly circumvent mining laws.
“This successfully fingers over huge swaths of the artisanal gold commerce to Chinese language affect and even encourages governments to confiscate gold mines, which are sometimes owned by U.S traders, handy them over to Chinese language operators,” he stated.
To forestall this, he advised that the U.S. authorities start issuing particular licenses from its Workplace of Overseas Asset Management (OFAC) to mineral merchants “who’re compliant with the best requirements of accountability.”
This transfer, Dongala stated, would offer a substitute for Chinese language black market financing and buying and selling within the African gold mining sector.
“It’s going to present a possibility to differentiate good market contributors whereas gathering market knowledge that enables OFAC to higher goal unhealthy market contributors,” he testified.
Lezhnev stated the system of kleptocracy stays the foremost impediment to eliminating abuses in African minerals provide chains.
“The kleptocratic system will proceed until there are critical penalties for corrupt actions, and addressing corruption will profit U.S. corporations by leveling the taking part in subject,” he said.
Lezhnev urged the U.S. Treasury Division to sanction the networks that facilitate grand corruption, notably mining-related.
“These may embody gold refineries and merchants in Rwanda, Uganda, and the UAE that commerce battle gold … [and] key Chinese language middlemen and firms and worldwide businessmen; in addition to senior officers within the DRC actively facilitating corruption,” he stated.
Lezhnev added that the Trump administration and Congress have vital roles in combating the unlawful gold commerce from the DRC to the UAE, China, and past.
He advised Secretary of State Marco Rubio lead a public-private illicit gold initiative, partnering with gold trade our bodies such because the London Bullion Market Affiliation (LBMA), the World Gold Council (WGC), and allies, together with the UK and European Union.
“The brand new physique should deal with gold commerce knowledge transparency—a main drawback—by accumulating, consolidating, and sharing dependable knowledge,” Lezhnev stated.
“There may be presently no dependable real-time gold commerce knowledge accessible, leaving sanctions our bodies and others making an attempt to fight the illicit gold commerce considerably behind the curve of prison actors.”
He advised the listening to that Washington ought to associate with the UAE to establish gold smuggling patterns and firms after which assist indict and prosecute the illicit actors.
Along with the European Union and the UK, Lezhnev stated, Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent ought to set up a bootleg gold job pressure to “robustly examine and sanction trafficking networks” with the goal of eroding Chinese language profiteering.
Lezhnev additionally identified that China nonetheless wants U.S. markets.
“Whereas China could management a big portion of the vital minerals commerce, their corporations nonetheless need to promote to U.S. and Western markets, that are nonetheless the most important on the planet for electronics and vital for [electric vehicles],” he stated.
“Chinese language corporations provide to Tesla, Apple, Ford … U.S. automotive and electronics corporations thus nonetheless have vital leverage on this provide chain via their mixed shopping for energy, which they’ll exert via due diligence, tracing, and auditing,” he added.
Nguramo stated the US should counter China’s grip on Africa’s pure sources within the curiosity of America’s personal safety, democracy, and human rights in Africa.
“Definitely, within the absence of U.S. world management and engagement, the vacuum can be stuffed by autocratic, repressive, tyrannical and authoritarian regimes, as we’re seeing in Venezuela, Cuba, North Korea, Russia, Sudan, and the DRC—sadly backed and aligned with China,” he testified.