The United States’ and China’s brawl for African resources such as copper, cobalt and other critical minerals has led the United States to leverage offtake deals and state-backed funding in order to remain competitive.

Offtake is the process through which a nation or business obtains the right to a portion of a mine's production in return for funding or other assistance.

These mechanisms enable US corporations to assure long-term supplies while de-risking big mining projects, a strategy long used by Chinese state-linked enterprises across the continent.

Control of, or assured access to, these resources is increasingly considered in Washington as a national security requirement linked to supply chain resilience and energy transition, rather than a commercial objective.

To secure the critical resources mentioned above, the United States has its sights set on Zambia, Guinea and Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), with DRC alone, accounting for 70% of the world’s cobalt supply and producing 3.3 million metric tons of copper in 2024, as seen on Reuters.

A World Bank report in 2021, revealed that China controls almost 50% of DRC cobalt production, with 8 of the 14 largest cobalt miners in the DRC described as Chinese-owned (often via joint ventures).

The United States is moving toward offtake and other trading arrangements, like its agreement with Mercuria and its agreements with Congolese state miner Gécamines, in order to push output into value chains that are aligned with the United States and controlled by Chinese refiners, rather than putting American operators in high-risk nations.

At this week's Indaba mining gathering in Cape Town, both Beijing and Washington are anticipated to look for fresh promises, with the United States seeking input from its minerals bloc officials.

What is Indaba?

In the mining field, a "Indaba" is a large conference or gathering of mining industry players to debate investment, policy, innovation, and Africa's mineral future.

The most notable one is the Investing in African Mining Indaba.

Investing in African Mining Indaba is the largest and most prominent mining industry event in Africa.

It is held annually, most recently set for 9-12 February 2026 at the Cape Town International Convention Centre in South Africa.

What experts are saying about the United States' new mining strategy in Africa

"We're already seeing U.S. engagement reshape mineral flows out of Africa," said Thomas Scurfield, a senior analyst with nonprofit NRGI, ahead of the event in South Africa.

"The U.S. is putting money behind its rhetoric, but it remains to be seen whether it can compete with China's scale and speed," the analyst added.

"This is the U.S. deploying financial firepower rather than industrial presence," said Vincent Rouget, analyst at Control Risks.

"With offtake and trading channels, Washington can redirect Congolese copper to American buyers without taking on the political or operational risks of running mines in the DRC." (Business Insider Africa)