East Africa becomes proving ground for the west's rare earths campaign

30 Jul 2026

President Ruto’s insistence on local processing is testing Washington’s ability to compete with China's 20-year head start

For Kenya’s President William Samoei Ruto, building the Mrima Hill rare earth mine is key to his ambition to turn Kenya into a ‘first world economy’ modelled on Singapore (AC Vol 67 No 9). On 7 July, he signed a Sovereign Wealth Fund bill into law and wants to channel revenue to it from the planned Dangote Industries oil refinery in Lamu, as well as Kenya’s nascent mining sector. Part of his plan is to finalise minerals-access deal with the United States that would give Washington access to billions of dollars in niobium and rare earths in exchange for establishing domestic processing facilities. That, some of his opponents claim, is why US companies, especially those linked to US President Donald Trump’s administration, are likely to be favoured in the US$62 billion Mrima Hill concession.

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East Africa becomes proving ground for the west's rare earths campaign

President Ruto’s insistence on local processing is testing Washington’s ability to compete with China's 20-year head start

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