ISSN 3121-8571
Abstract
This paper examines the growing global competition between China and the United States over Africa’s critical mineral resources and its implications for environmental justice, indigenous communities, cultural heritage, and sustainable development. While critical minerals such as cobalt, lithium, copper, manganese, graphite, and rare earth elements are essential for renewable energy technologies, electric vehicles, and advanced industries, their extraction has generated significant ecological and social consequences in many African communities. Using an eco-humanities perspective, the study explores how mineral extraction intersects with histories of colonial resource exploitation, contemporary geopolitical rivalry, Indigenous knowledge systems, and ethical debates surrounding environmental responsibility. Through qualitative analysis of secondary sources, including scholarly literature, policy reports, environmental justice studies, and community-based documentation, the paper argues that the China–United States mineral competition risks reproducing extractive relationships unless African communities are placed at the centre of resource governance. The study concludes by advocating for a justice-orientated approach that integrates ecological sustainability, cultural preservation, community participation, and equitable development.
Keywords: Critical Minerals; Environmental Justice; Eco-Humanities; China–United States Rivalry; African Communities; Indigenous Knowledge; Sustainable Development; Resource Extraction.