The U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) committed $1.8 million in February for a feasibility study at Mozambique's Monte Muambe rare earths project, marking a direct state intervention to secure critical mineral resources for U.S. capital amidst escalating competition with China for control over Africa's vast mineral wealth.
This investment is part of a broader U.S. strategy to increase its mining involvement on the African continent, where China currently dominates the sector. Patience Mususa, a mining specialist at the Nordic Africa Institute in Sweden, observed that the U.S. was “trying to catch up in terms of investment in mining” in Africa.
Imperial Scramble for Africa
The Monte Muambe project focuses on rare earths, minerals essential for advanced technologies and military applications. The U.S. pursuit of these resources in Mozambique occurs despite an unspecified diplomatic clash, according to an AP report.
The Trump administration has consistently prioritized securing access to critical minerals, investing in domestic mining projects within the U.S. and pursuing deals abroad. This includes efforts to secure minerals in Ukraine and the stated desire to acquire Greenland, partly due to its rare earth deposits.
This administration also continued U.S. financial support for the Lobito Corridor, a Biden administration initiative. This project aims to construct an 800-mile (1,290-kilometer) railway designed to link mineral-rich regions of Congo and Zambia to Africa’s Atlantic coast, facilitating the extraction and export of resources.
The State as Capital's Enforcer
The Development Finance Corporation (DFC), created during the first Trump administration, plays a key role in these state-backed ventures. The DFC committed investment in the Phalaborwa project in 2023, during the third year before the current administration, under former U.S. President Joe Biden.
The Phalaborwa project is one of several mineral projects in Africa receiving DFC investment, demonstrating a bipartisan consensus on utilizing state apparatus to secure foreign resources for U.S. capital. The current Trump administration moved forward with the Phalaborwa project despite a major diplomatic rift with South Africa.
This rift began one year ago, last February, when Trump returned to office and issued an executive order to halt all financial assistance to South Africa. The simultaneous cessation of aid and advancement of mineral extraction projects underscores how state power is wielded to enforce economic interests and secure access to resources, regardless of the social or political costs to the host nation.