China in Africa: March 2025
China-DRC Mining Disengagement: Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has substantial untapped high-grade cobalt, coltan, copper, gold, and lithium reserves—critical minerals essential for the global energy transition. China has exploited those minerals, especially cobalt, since 2008, when it made an agreement with the Congolese government termed the Sino Congolaise des Mines (Sicomines) deal. The deal gave Chinese partners mining rights to cobalt and copper in exchange for infrastructure development, including urban roads, highways, and hospitals. The two economies are now highly interconnected. DRC produces 80 percent of the world’s cobalt, and Chinese state-owned enterprises and policy banks control 80 percent of the total output. Of the ten largest cobalt mines in the world, nine are in DRC’s southern Katanga region, and of the ten, half are owned by Chinese companies. Chinese cobalt refineries, which account for 60 to 90 percent of the global supply, rely heavily on DRC, the origin of 67.5 percent of its refined cobalt.
But China could be losing ground in a country on which it heavily relies for the critical minerals that drive electric vehicle production and renewable-energy storage. Reuters reports that China will import even more off-exchange copper in 2025, as output from DRC “booms” and users “look to alleviate shortages and head off a potential disruption to supplies of U.S. scrap,” illustrating China’s growing reliance. Congolese civil-society groups are reportedly calling for a “fresh review” of the country’s agreement with Chinese companies, citing substantial financial losses and continued imbalances despite a 2024 renegotiation of the 2008 infrastructure-for-minerals deal. According to the “Congo Is Not for Sale” coalition (CNPAV), the deal cost DRC $132 million in 2024 due to the tax exemptions granted to Chinese companies. DRC also remains vulnerable to market volatility, as annual Chinese infrastructure payments are dependent on fluctuating copper prices. CNPAV warns that if copper prices fall below $8,000 per ton, DRC “will receive less, or even nothing at all.”
Those concerns are manifesting in the approach of the Congolese government and private sector to partnership-building—perhaps providing the United States an opportunity to capitalize on existing Congolese grievances against China. DRC reportedly plans to increase its stake in a cobalt and copper joint venture with Chinese firms Sinohydro and China Railway Group, Ltd., aiming to raise its share from 32 percent to 70 percent. Recently, Trafigura Group–backed cobalt and copper producer Chemaf Resources, Ltd. abandoned a deal to sell itself to China’s Norin Mining, Ltd. after they failed to receive the necessary approvals from DRC. Back in 2024, DRC-owned mining company Gecamines said it would oppose the sale.
Meanwhile, the United States appears to be making inroads. The Australian reported that the United States is prepared to intervene in the ongoing dispute over DRC’s Manono lithium project and support Australian company AVZ Minerals in its legal battle to reclaim the asset. On March 14, AVZ Minerals won its case against the Congolese government and China’s Zijin Mining over Manono. The International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce ordered DRC’s state-owned Cominière to pay a €39.1 million ($42.46 million) penalty for failing to comply with previous rulings. While U.S. officials reportedly plan to allow Zijin to retain control of the northern section of Manono to avoid a direct conflict with China, they aim to ensure that the southern section is returned to AVZ Minerals, which will, in turn, sell the asset to a U.S. entity. Equally as significant are the preliminary talks between the United States and DRC pertaining to a potential minerals-for-security agreement, which would give the United States access to DRC’s cobalt, copper, and lithium reserves in exchange for military support to combat armed groups, notably M23, in eastern DRC. That directly aligns with Congolese President Félix Tshisekedi’s efforts to diversify DRC’s partnerships—and to counter Chinese dominance of its mining sector.
Mining, Continued: China-Africa mining relations were a hot topic in March, with acid spills, pushback against prospecting, and increasingly clear social and environmental degradation resulting from active mining operations. In Zambia, an acid spill from a Chinese-owned copper mine released fifty million liters of toxic material into a stream feeding the Kafue River, Zambia’s most important waterway, threatening further damage to the environment and the lives of millions of people. An Associated Press reporter stated that dead fish were visible in the Kafue River sixty miles downstream from a collapsed tailings dam, which was attached to the mine run by the Sino-Metals Leach Zambia facility—which is majority owned by China Nonferrous Mining Corporation, Ltd.
Similar concerns are being echoed in Cameroon, where Sinosteel Cam S.A., a subsidiary of China’s Sinosteel Corporation, Ltd., is leading a large-scale mining initiative known as the Lobé-Kribi Iron Ore Project. The project, encompassing a mine, processing facilities, transport networks, and a mineral terminal, aims to extract ten million tons of ore per year. According to local nongovernmental organization Youth for Promotion of Development, however, the project also comes with a host of social and environmental risks, threatening the health, livelihoods, and cultural heritage of communities in the Lobé-Kribi region. To members of the local community, the project is a fait accompli. In another vein, the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority continues to oppose coal mining in Hwange National Park, after China’s Sunny Yi Feng (Pvt), Ltd. applied for a permit to prospect.
Partners in Sustainability: Throughout March, China continued to fulfill its role as a viable partner to African countries in the global clean-energy transition. In Morocco, two Chinese companies, the United Energy Group and China Three Gorges Corporation, were vetted to join a group of international investors in building green hydrogen projects worth an estimated $32.7 billion. They intend to focus primarily on producing ammonia, with other investors focusing on steel and industrial fuel. The Nuclear Power and Energy Agency, formerly Kenya Nuclear Electricity Board, signed a memorandum of understanding with China National Nuclear Corporation to collaborate on exchanging technical expertise on research, innovation, and technology transfer in nuclear energy implementation. Hong Kong–listed Xinyi Glass reportedly plans to invest $700 million to establish a solar panel glass manufacturing facility, which aims to produce 1.5 million tons of solar panel glass and 1.1 million tons of high-purity silica sand annually. In Ghana, although no formal contract has been signed, the United States and China were selected as vendors for its first nuclear power plants. In partnership with Japanese firms, U.S.-based NuScale Power and Regnum Technology Group will construct small modular reactors. China National Nuclear Corporation will build a large reactor.
Inclusive Infrastructure Investment: At the mid-March Zambia International Mining and Energy Conference, Tanzania-Zambia Railway Authority (TAZARA) Managing Director and CEO Eng Bruno Ching’andu announced that TAZARA will receive an investment of more than $1.4 billion from the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation. The funding will be used to rehabilitate and procure new rolling stock under a thirty-year concession arrangement. China Railway Engineering Group and China Railway Engineering Design and Consulting Group will handle project development, while the African Development Bank will contribute additional funding. Burkina Faso’s interim military president Captain Ibrahim Traoré has secured funding from Chinese investors for a new cement plant expected to produce two thousand tons per day and provide employment for hundreds of Burkinabé youth. Chinese office stationery manufacturer Deli Group plans to secure even more job opportunities—2,200, to be precise—in 10th of Ramadan, Egypt, where it aims to establish a $200 million industrial complex to manufacture over twelve thousand products.
Development-Centered Diplomacy: China and several African countries signed deals and initiated discussions focused on economic collaboration in March. At the end of the month, in the Liberian capital city of Monrovia, Chinese Ambassador to Liberia Yin Chengwu and Liberian Foreign Minister Sara Beysolow Nyanti signed the Agreement on Economic and Technical Cooperation, drawing on the outcomes of the September 2024 Forum on China-Africa Cooperation summit in Beijing. Earlier, an agreement by the same name and mandate was signed by Chinese Ambassador to Botswana Fan Yong and Vice President and Minister of Finance of Botswana Ndaba Gaolathe.
Meanwhile, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade of Zimbabwe Amon Murwira revealed at a meeting at a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Moscow that Zimbabwe is in the process of fulfilling the requirements to join the BRICS economic bloc, which includes Brazil, Russia, India, and China—the weightiest member of which is China. At the “China in Springtime: Sharing Opportunities With the World” global dialogue held in Dakar, Senegal, Chinese and Senegalese officials discussed the ways Chinese economic development and poverty alleviation efforts could inform and bolster modernization and high-quality development in Senegal and across the African continent.
Outlier Significance: Though underreported, several isolated events involving China and African countries were worthy of attention.
China-South Africa Quantum Satellite Project: Interestingly, scientists from China and South Africa jointly created the world’s longest intercontinental quantum satellite communication link, spanning 12,900 kilometers (about 8,016 miles) through the borders of both countries. The achievement is due in part to China’s Jinan-1 quantum microsatellite in low Earth orbit. The scientists were able to connect Jinan-1 from Stellenbosch University in South Africa to a facility in Beijing maintained by researchers from the University of Science and Technology of China. One of the scientists remarked on the foundational nature of the feat in building a practical quantum constellation. That brings to the fore South Africa’s growing tendency to trust China in lieu of the West—quantum communication is indeed used to transmit information in a manner theoretically immune to eavesdropping.
Relocation of Taiwan’s Unofficial Embassy in Pretoria, South Africa: In order to appease China, or so many experts believe, the Department of International Relations and Cooperation of South Africa renamed Taiwan’s unofficial embassy in Pretoria from “Taipei Liaison Office” to the “Taipei Commercial Office” on its official website. South Africa has remained staunch in its demand that Taiwan relocate its representative office from Pretoria to Johannesburg by March 31, 2025. Despite that demand, the office remains operational. If the South African government succeeds in coercing Taiwan to relocate its office, the Taiwanese government has reportedly indicated it will enforce a host of reciprocal countermeasures—stricter visa rules for South African travelers to Taiwan, the suspension of all bilateral exchanges, and retaliatory economic and trade measures.
Nigerien Junta Expels Chinese Nationals: Tensions arose between China and Niger when the junta ordered three Chinese officials working in the oil sector, including the directors of the China National Petroleum Corporation, the West African Oil Pipeline Company, and the joint venture oil refinery SORAZ, to leave the country.
China Aids Ethiopian Space Venture: According to Business Insider, Ethiopia has announced plans to launch its third Earth-observation satellite by 2026 in order to strengthen national capacity to track environmental shifts, buttress agricultural planning, and aid in disaster relief. In its remarks to local media, the Ethiopian Space Science and Geospatial Institute noted that the satellite would be launched with China’s assistance.
