For decades, resource-rich African nations operated within a familiar economic model: foreign companies extracted minerals, loaded raw ore onto ships and exported it overseas, leaving producer countries with relatively limited gains from the higher-value stages of production. Across much of the continent, the pattern was straightforward — dig, transport and export. That model is now being challenged. Countries including Zimbabwe, Namibia, Mozambique, Ghana and Guinea are imposing restrictions on the export of unprocessed minerals and requiring greater levels of domestic processing. The policies are forcing international mining companies, including major Chinese firms, to invest billions of dollars in facilities located … Continue reading Africa Emerges as China’s New Industrial Frontier