The agreement represents a strategic victory for Washington in its intense competition with China for vital minerals, in light of the severe shortage it faces to cover the needs of defense industries.
The agreement stipulates that all strategic minerals will be processed locally in Kenya, in a shift from the traditional model based on exporting raw materials.
Kenyan President William Ruto announced the agreement on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Switzerland, highlighting Kenya’s endeavor to reformulate the mechanism for investing its natural resources.
The agreement includes rare earth elements and other strategic minerals, after African leaders stipulated abandoning the models of exporting raw materials that have been in place for decades before concluding agreements in the field of rare metals with the United States and industrialized countries.
