China is winning Africa’s “white-gold” rush for lithium
Its grip on clean-energy minerals is a challenge for the West
A visit to the district of Goromonzi, in north-east Zimbabwe, is a lesson in economic history. Its fallow fields hint at the decay that followed the government’s seizure of white-owned farms more than two decades ago. In the surrounding hills ad hoc campsites reveal the sites of artisanal gold-miners, digging for the same yellow metal that led British colonists to cross the Limpopo river in the 19th century.
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This article appeared in the Middle East & Africa section of the print edition under the headline “Africa’s white-gold rush”
Middle East & Africa November 11th 2023
- Will America pull the plug on Israel’s invasion of Gaza?
- Gaza’s nights are darker now than at any point in the past decade
- All parties are blaming each other for the dire situation in Gaza
- The deadly missile race in the Middle East
- The Gaza war has deepened Joe Biden’s Iran nightmare
- The battle over South Africa’s spicy-chicken market
- China is winning Africa’s “white-gold” rush for lithium
From the November 11th 2023 edition
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Israel and Hizbullah strike a fragile deal to end their war
Joe Biden’s last roll of the dice on peace in the Middle East
The arrest warrant is a diplomatic disaster for Netanyahu
But may also undermine the International Criminal Court
Israel’s hardliners reckon Gaza’s chaos shows they must control it
Only 11 out of a recent convoy of 109 aid trucks managed to get in
Why GM crops aren’t feeding Africa
Despite decades of research, few countries grow them there
A genocidal militia’s quest for legitimacy
A warring party in Sudan claims it wants to talk peace
Get ready for “Maximum Pressure 2.0” on Iran
The Trump White House may bomb and penalise the regime into a deal
