Guinea said exports of bauxite jumped by 25% last year to meet soaring demand from China, which has recently tightened its grip on the African nation’s resources.
Government data showed that 74% of Guinea’s bauxite — used to produce aluminum, key to the global energy transition — went to China; Guinea’s biggest bauxite producer is a Chinese-owned firm.
Beijing has intensified its push to control African resources in the face of competition from the US. On Monday Chinese mining giant Zijin Gold agreed to buy a Canadian firm with vast operations on the continent for $4 billion. Washington has made moves of its own: Envoys of some of Africa’s biggest mining nations are due to visit the US capital next month for a high-level summit.
