Africa is home to some of the largest reserves of critical and rare earth minerals in the world, yet 90% of critical mineral processing is controlled by the Chinese Communist Party.
These critical and rare earth minerals are found in iPhones, computer chips, data centers, medical devices, and so many other everyday items. The U.S. is 100% dependent on other countries for access to most of these minerals, including China, giving our adversaries dangerous control over elements we need to function. As a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee’s Subcommittee on Africa, limiting our critical and rare earth minerals supply chains from China must be a priority for Congress and the Trump administration.
The African continent contains significant reserves of rare earths such as cobalt, manganese, tungsten, copper, and lithium, among others. Cobalt is needed for electronics, such as your smartphone, parts of commercial and military planes, and supplements for farming animals and plant nutrition. Cobalt isotopes even help detect brain and lung cancers. Yet 80% of cobalt is produced in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in mines primarily owned by the Chinese Communist Party.
China’s foreign investment program, the Belt and Road Initiative, has been aggressively buying out Congo’s cobalt mining operations. CCP-owned companies now control 80% of Congolese cobalt, including 15 of the country’s 19 best cobalt repositories. The CCP gives loans for investments like these in Congo.
China collateralizes these “loans” for its infrastructure projects with natural resources, usually the same deposits of critical minerals that they are mining from, and when a country cannot pay its loans, China takes possession of the mineral reserve. China has been pushing this self-serving and malignant policy across the continent. As of January 2026, African nations pay more in debt repayment to China than they receive in new loans and infrastructure investment from China.
The extent of our reliance on foreign nations for our critical minerals cannot be understated, and in Indiana’s 4th District, it particularly impacts our agriculture industry. Cobalt and manganese are important micronutrients in crop nutrition, especially soybeans. Adding micronutrient fertilizers to crops produces better yields that feed more people. A cobalt deficiency in dairy cows leads to a reduced appetite and lower milk production. Cobalt and tungsten, the metals that cause cell phones to vibrate, are used to create tungsten-carbide, an industrial chemical compound that helps sharpen and reduce wear and tear on tractors, combines, harvesters, and practically every industrial tool in farming. Some tractors would break down faster without tungsten-carbide coating.
The good news is that it is entirely possible to decouple from Chinese mineral production. The answer lies in increasing American diplomacy and strategic business relationships in mineral-heavy regions like Africa to diminish the influence of the CCP and its malign agenda.
While China is the largest producer of tungsten, nations like Rwanda contain large deposits, and their tungsten exports are only growing. The U.S. received its first shipment of tungsten from Rwanda in October. Solidifying our trade agreements with Rwanda establishes a symbiotic relationship: Rwanda receives a reliable and honest trading partner, and the U.S. relies less on China for this critical mineral.
Cong is also open to working with the U.S. The U.S. and Congo established a Memorandum of Understanding that created pathways for American businesses to work in the country and a Strategic Partnership Agreement to ensure “mineral resources are managed responsibly for the long-term benefit of the Congolese people as well as the people of the United States of America.” In February, Deputy Secretary of State Chris Landau attended a signing of a U.S.-backed critical mineral consortium with the Congolese government. American investors are building positive relationships with countries in Africa, and diplomatic efforts can open even more doors in the region.
President Donald Trump is engaging in peace efforts in Congo to help stabilize the region for higher mineral production. It’s working, too. This February, a deal was reached by New York’s Orion Resource Partners and the U.S. Development Finance Corporation to buy a 40% stake in two Congolese copper-cobalt mines. Kenya, Mozambique, and Sierra Leone are also negotiating with the U.S. State Department and American businesses to sign similar agreements.
Critical minerals are an indispensable commodity in global trade and are vital for Americans’ health and quality of life. It is through leveraging these business, trade, and diplomatic relationships with African nations that we can begin to stop China’s malign influence in the region and secure our essential supply chains. The art of the deal may just be the answer to our national security and the future of critical minerals.