Rebuilding UK defence and development requires ambitious critical mineral partnerships
Cobalt mining, Uganda (Erberto Zani / Alamy Stock Photo)
4 min read
On 4 April, as the trade war triggered by the United States raged, China again restricted exports of rare earth minerals, for which it controls 64 per cent of extraction and a staggering 87 per cent of processing capacity.
These minerals, like others designated ‘critical’, are essential for our fast-growing renewable energy industry – and for the advanced defence manufacturing that keeps us safe.
Over the coming years, risks of supply disruption will grow more acute as we seek to rearm, and will only escalate if the rules-based global trade system fractures further.
There is much we must do to meet this challenge, including growing alternative supplies in African nations and other longstanding trade partners. Doing so will enhance the resilience of our economy, infrastructure and defence sector, support growth through trade and investment, and boost development in countries most impacted by poverty.
Many African states have vast reserves of critical minerals – this is widely known. What goes unrecognised are Africa’s industrial strategies, which prioritise processing natural resources rather than exporting them in their cheapest, raw forms.
An approach which works with the grain of Africa’s ambitions can have far greater impacts on structural inequality than old-fashioned aid programming that merely treats the symptoms, or the traditionally extractive forms of capitalist co-operation.
Better developed African economies will be more stable, creating jobs for fast-growing populations and offering far more in partnership with the UK in future years. More strategic deployment of tools in the UK’s development toolkit – such as British International Investment – can accelerate this shift.
Two examples show how important this is for UK security, as well as African development. Cobalt, used in jet engines and many other manufacturing processes, is essential for all key economic sectors, according to the UK’s Task and Finish Group. The Democratic Republic of Congo is the source for 69 per cent of extracted cobalt worldwide, but 71 per cent of processing happens in China. Processed gallium, used in defence sensors, radars and communications systems, has even greater Chinese domination at 95 per cent.
Africa’s agenda to move up the minerals value chain is in line with UK strategic interests, because our vulnerability around processing is far greater than for extraction.
Many of our African partners already navigate harsh geopolitical realities with a savviness we can work with – and learn from – as we adapt to shifting US foreign policy. African states often unfairly depicted as aligned with China are, in reality, hungry for alternative sources of investment, trade and support. The UK can play a key role here, strengthening both our own and Africa’s negotiating hands.
Our national offer includes technical expertise from institutions like the Camborne School of Mines, legal and governance support, and finance through the City’s concentration of minerals-sector investors and the London Metal Exchange. Cutting down expensive reliance on diesel generators at African minerals sites also opens major opportunities for UK renewable energy projects.
Given our shifting geopolitical and economic context, the UK’s critical minerals strategy cannot stand apart from consistent partners in Europe and Africa. Sweeping, exclusive, China-style infrastructure-for-minerals deals are neither feasible nor desirable for the UK, given our deep interest in free and fair global trade. We cannot secure supply chains on our own in all areas – partnership is essential.
Thankfully, an alternative approach is available: one focused on the UK and Africa’s distinctive strengths and strategic interests. This emboldened partnership could be deeply attractive – to African countries lacking support for their industrial ambitions, and to a UK private sector seeking supply chain security and growth opportunities, in an increasingly hostile global environment.
We can start by implementing our critical mineral agreements with Zambia and South Africa, and seeking deeper partnerships with other African countries – our development and export finance institutions need a clear green light to build these ties.
Success on this agenda will pay dividends for UK defence, economic security and African development alike. There is much to do.
Calvin Bailey is Labour MP for Leyton and Wanstead, and Noah Law is Labour MP for St Austell and Newquay
