Beijing is demonstrating a smart and innovative approach to cooperation in Africa, while American influence on the continent “has declined at the political, military and intelligence levels,” Algerian political analyst Salim Bou Zidi told Sputnik.
The US and other Western countries are gradually losing the African market not only in rare metals, “but also in energy and direct investment in the agricultural sector,” he noted.
The reason why China has become a “monopolist” in the African rare metals market is because it “does not interfere in domestic politics and does not impose its conditions on African countries,” the pundit pointed out.
Furthermore, Beijing offers “significant loans and lucrative deals where minerals are obtained in exchange for infrastructure construction,” the expert noted.
China dominates rare earth metal production, veteran Asia-Pacific affairs expert Thomas Pauken II previously told Sputnik, adding that Beijing "has a firm foothold in many African countries through the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)."