The United States is looking to deploy advanced technology in Kenya’s critical minerals sector as Washington seeks to support mineral extraction, refining and value addition in the country.
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Frank Garcia said the plan would focus on providing American technology for mining and refining rather than having the United States directly take over mining operations.
Garcia made the remarks on Friday, September 18, during a fireside chat hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), where he discussed U.S.-Africa commercial relations and the growing role of critical minerals.
He said he had discussed Kenya’s mining sector with President William Ruto during his visit to Kenya the previous week.
Garcia described the development of the sector as an important area of cooperation between Kenya and the United States.
“The United States made a decision early on that we weren’t necessarily going to be the miners, but we were going to be the technology leaders in going after the minerals,” Garcia said.
He explained that the U.S. had spent the past 10 to 15 years investing in technologies that can be used in the extraction and refining of critical minerals.
Washington now wants to introduce some of those technologies in African countries as it works to strengthen commercial partnerships around minerals considered important to U.S. supply chains.
Garcia said the technology could also help African countries such as Kenya retain more value from their mineral resources instead of relying on the traditional practice of extracting ores and sending them elsewhere for processing.
“That’s what our African partners want. They want the value addition,” Garcia said.
He added that U.S. technology could help countries move further up the mineral value chain.
Garcia also pointed to technology that can recover more than one mineral during the same extraction process.
According to him, such technology could enable countries to gain more value from mineral deposits that contain several commercially useful resources.
He cited an ongoing tender in an unnamed African country in which a U.S. company was seeking to deploy such technology. However, he did not identify the country and did not indicate that the tender was specifically connected to Kenya.
The remarks come as Kenya and the United States continue discussions on a proposed critical minerals partnership, with previous talks focusing on increasing local processing and attracting investment into the sector.
