Why China is investing heavily in African push to bring mineral processing home

Chinese investors have backed mineral processing and manufacturing projects worth more than US$16 billion across Africa, a new report has concluded, amid an increasing push by countries to secure a greater share of the earnings from their natural resources.The continent is a major international supplier of key minerals such as copper, cobalt and iron ore, and countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, Guinea and Zimbabwe have previously introduced mineral export bans or restrictions to encourage domestic processing, according to the report by Beijing-based consultancy Development Reimagined.The study looked at China’s commitments under an action plan agreed following the China-Africa Cooperation summit in 2024 and found a total of US$41.2 billion had been invested in 32 mining, exploration and development projects in 15 countries up to June this year.