Xi Jinping proposes four-point plan for Africa’s mineral development

Chinese President Xi Jinping has introduced a four-point plan aimed at strengthening Africa’s control over its mineral resources and promoting local industrial value addition. During meetings in Beijing with Botswana President Duma Gideon Boko and Togo’s President of the Council of Ministers Faure Essozimna Gnassingbé, Xi emphasized that African mineral resources ‘belong to Africa.’

The framework seeks to address historical inequalities in the global division of labor that have often left African nations at the bottom of industrial value chains. The plan includes several key pillars: ensuring resources benefit African populations, encouraging the transfer of green technologies, shifting cooperation toward industrial processing rather than just extraction, and promoting sustainable financing models.

Xi also warned against the use of Africa’s minerals as instruments of ‘geopolitical rivalry,’ advocating for a fair and open environment for cooperation. Additionally, the Chinese leader outlined a separate framework for addressing regional security challenges, stressing that solutions to African conflicts should remain African-led.