The United States has invested $62.8 million in four African rare-earth projects amid growing efforts to reduce its dependence on China for critical minerals and concerns over private investors\u2019 reluctance to enter the sector.<\/p>\n
The US development-finance agency committed $62.8 million to rare-earth projects in Malawi, Angola, Madagascar and South Africa, although none of the projects has reached production, according to two senior DFC officials who spoke to Reuters<\/em>.<\/p>\n The latest initiative highlights the growing importance of rare earths, critical minerals used to produce powerful magnets for electric vehicles, wind turbines, electronics and defence systems.<\/p>\n Their strategic importance has grown as countries seek to reduce their dependence on China, which dominates the global rare-earth supply chain and has tightened export controls in recent years.<\/p>\n The largest share of DFC funding, about US$50 million, was allocated to the Phalaborwa rare-earth project in South Africa, backed by Dublin-based mining investor TechMet.<\/p>\n However, the agency said private investors remained cautious about entering Africa\u2019s rare-earth market because of the risks involved.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re not seeing an influx of private capital,\u201d said one of the officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because the person was not authorised to discuss the matter publicly.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re trying to help projects reach a less risky stage and become attractive to private-sector investment.\u201d<\/p>\n The comments amount to a rare acknowledgement from a US government-backed institution that private financing remains limited despite growing global demand for critical minerals.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The US development-finance agency has committed $62.8 million to rare-earth projects in Malawi, Angola, Madagascar and South Africa, though none has reached production.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":525,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[113,14,82,114],"tags":[382,381,383],"class_list":["post-523","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-a-la-une","category-africa","category-business","category-news","tag-rare-earths","tag-us-rare-earth-projects-in-africa","tag-us-africa-investment"],"yoast_head":"\nDFC Steps In as Private Capital Holds Back<\/h2>\n