The United States is seeking to deploy advanced technology in Kenya’s critical minerals sector following recent talks with Kenya, as Washington pushes to support local mineral extraction, refining, and value addition.

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U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Frank Garcia said the approach would involve deploying American technologies developed for mineral extraction and refining, rather than having the United States directly take over mining operations.

Garcia made the remarks during a fireside chat hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) on Friday, September 18, where he discussed the future of U.S.-Africa commercial diplomacy and the role of critical minerals in the relationship.

He said he had discussed Kenya’s mining sector with President William Ruto during his visit to the country the previous week, describing the development of the sector as an important area of cooperation between the two countries.

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“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 stages of the critical minerals value chain.

According to Garcia, Washington now wants to deploy some of those technologies in African countries as it seeks to strengthen commercial partnerships around minerals that are important to U.S. supply chains.

He said the approach would also support African countries such as Kenya in capturing more value from their mineral resources instead of relying on the traditional model of extracting ores and exporting them for processing elsewhere.

“That’s what our African partners want. They want the value addition,” Garcia said, adding that U.S. technology could help move minerals further up the value chain.

Garcia also described technology capable of recovering more than one mineral from the same extraction process, saying this could allow countries to get more value from mineral deposits containing several commercially useful resources.

📰 Source: Kenyans.co.ke