Natural resource endowments more a curse than blessing for developing nations
The advance of the Rwanda-backed M23 rebels is fuelling bloodshed in eastern Congo, and creating an opportunity for outside powers to gain access to critical minerals. File Picture: Brian Inganga/AP
The world’s superpowers have developed a seemingly insatiable appetite for the critical minerals that are essential to the ongoing energy and digital transitions, including rare earth metals (for semiconductors), cobalt (for batteries), and uranium (for nuclear reactors).
The International Energy Agency forecasts that demand for these minerals will more than quadruple by 2040 for use in clean-energy technologies alone.
