Congo-Kinshasa: DR Congo Is Sending in the Military to Guard Mines and Critical Minerals. Will It Be Enough?

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is taking an unusual step to secure its critical minerals. It plans to create a new paramilitary unit to protect mining sites and transport… Read more »

Africa: The Race to Mine Critical Minerals for AI and Clean Energy Is Creating 'Sacrifice Zones' That Harm Water and Health of World's Poor

There is a troubling contradiction at the heart of the global transition to a cleaner, greener, tech-driven future: Modern technologies - everything from AI to wind turbines, as… Read more »

Ghana: Ghana's Mining Law Aims to Stop Speculation but Leaves Communities in Limbo - Insights From a Lithium Case Study

Ghana's parliament ratified the country's first lithium mining agreement in March 2026. This came three years after lithium mining was confirmed as commercially viable in September… Read more »

Africa: Mining Companies and Land Rights in South Africa - How Environmentalists Have Used the Law to Defend Communities

Environmental activists in South Africa have been waging legal battles against the state and mining companies for years. This is often on the grounds that communities haven't been… Read more »

Ghana: Critical Mineral Mining Faces Risks If Local Communities Aren't Consulted Enough - the Case of Lithium in Ghana

Clean technologies depend on critical minerals such as lithium and cobalt. Over 65% of the world's cobalt is mined in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Nearly 40% of the world's… Read more »

Kenya: Sand Mining and Kenya's Building Boom - Better Rules Are Needed, but Not From the Top Down

The sun is rising in Kenya's Kajiado county, just outside Nairobi, and a truck is rumbling over dusty ground towards a riverbank. Young men guide the driver to a parking spot and… Read more »

Africa: Africa's Critical Minerals Are a Huge Economic Opportunity - G20 Framework Sets Out Ways to Seize It

As the world shifts to clean energy, minerals such as lithium, cobalt and manganese have become as important as oil once was. Africa holds large reserves of these critical… Read more »

Zambia: Zambia's Factories Burn Too Much Coal - How Reusing Hot Water Can Cut Energy Use

Zambia wants to cut its national greenhouse gas emissions almost in half by 2030. But its 8th National Development Plan aims to transform the country into a "prosperous… Read more »

Africa: Why Africa's Mineral-Rich Countries Are Not Reaping the Rewards of Their Wealth

Gold mining operations recently restarted at the Loulo-Gounkoto complex in western Mali after being shut down for several months. In January, the Malian government started blocking… Read more »

South Africa: South Africa's Coal Mines Are Leaking Methane - and No One Knows How Much

Methane is a potent greenhouse gas. It is released from natural sources (like wetlands) and human activities (coal mining, and oil and gas production). It is also emitted by… Read more »

Africa: How 'Conflict-Free' Minerals Are Used in the Waging of Modern Wars

Minerals such as cobalt, copper, lithium, tantalum, tin and tungsten, which are all abundant in central Africa, are essential to the comforts of everyday life. Our phones, laptops… Read more »

Africa: China and the U.S. Are in a Race for Critical Minerals. African Countries Need to Make the Rules

Critical minerals such as lithium, cobalt, nickel, copper, rare earth elements, and platinum group metals are essential for modern technologies. They are key to industries ranging… Read more »

Ghana: Ghana's War On Illegal Mining Has Failed - We Set Out to Find Out Why

Early in his eight-year tenure, in 2017, then Ghanaian president Nana Akufo-Addo declared a moratorium on all small-scale gold mining. He established an inter-ministerial committee… Read more »

Africa: Are African Countries Aware of Their Own Mineral Wealth? Ghana and Rwanda Offer Two Very Different Answers

Imagine running a business for over a century without knowing what's in your warehouse. That's essentially what many African countries are doing with their mineral wealth.… Read more »

Africa: Africa's Minerals Are Being Bartered for Security - Why It's a Bad Idea

A US-brokered peace deal between the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Rwanda binds the two African nations to a worrying arrangement: one where a country signs away its… Read more »

Zimbabwe: Zimbabwe's Lithium Is in Demand for Making Batteries - How to Make Sure Benefits Flow to the Local Economy

Zimbabwe has the largest lithium reserves on the African continent. Lithium has been mined since the colonial period in the 1950s. It's a critical part of rechargeable lithium-ion… Read more »

Africa: We Don't Need Deep-Sea Mining, or Its Environmental Harms. Here's Why

Deep-sea mining promises critical minerals for the energy transition without the problems of mining on land. It also promises to bring wealth to developing nations. But the… Read more »