https://www.scmp.com/rss/523732/feed The latest news and top stories on the US International Development Finance Corporation. A Washington DC-based US government agency, the DFC is America’s development bank dedicated to mobilising private capital for economic development in less-developed countries. Its main areas of focus include providing financing, insurance and technical assistance across sectors such as energy, healthcare and critical infrastructure. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Jevans Nyabiage Jevans Nyabiage The United States is shifting strategy to fund local African processing and mining infrastructure, after recognising it cannot yet process the critical minerals it is racing to secure from the continent to counter China. Tom Haslett, managing director of policy for critical minerals at the US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), said that unlike China, which had “significant industry backing for both processing and downstream manufacturing”, the US and Europe did not yet have... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3352730/rare-earth-strategy-provides-opportunities-africa-us-attempts-counter-china?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3352730/rare-earth-strategy-provides-opportunities-africa-us-attempts-counter-china?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 09 May 2026 05:00:07 +0000 Igor Patrick Igor Patrick China made Brazil its top global investment destination last year, pouring US$6.1 billion into the country across a record 52 projects. The figures come from the China-Brazil Business Council (CBBC), which released its annual report on Thursday. The 45 per cent jump in value from the previous year far outpaced the 4.8 per cent rise in total foreign investment into Brazil. It also dwarfed China’s worldwide outbound flows, which grew just 1.3 per cent. Brazil absorbed 10.9 per cent of all Chinese... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3352676/china-pours-us61b-brazil-making-it-beijings-top-investment-worldwide-report?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3352676/china-pours-us61b-brazil-making-it-beijings-top-investment-worldwide-report?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 07 May 2026 14:30:05 +0000 Jevans Nyabiage Jevans Nyabiage For Washington, the Lobito Corridor rail project is meant to circumvent Chinese influence in Africa’s mineral supply chains. Once up and running, the corridor will stretch 1,600km (1,000 miles) westward through mineral-rich Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo to create a logistics corridor to the Atlantic port of Lobito in neighbouring Angola. The United States sees it as a direct rival to the China-backed 1,860km Tanzania-Zambia Railway Authority (Tazara), which stretches eastward from... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3352324/why-african-leaders-value-seamless-transcontinental-links-over-us-china-rivalry?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3352324/why-african-leaders-value-seamless-transcontinental-links-over-us-china-rivalry?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 04 May 2026 06:00:11 +0000 Laura Zhou Laura Zhou The Trump administration’s strategic interest in rare earths is pushing the US towards more pragmatic diplomacy as it seeks to rebuild critical mineral supply chains without China, according to observers. As a result, there had been cooperation with other countries on resource projects even when broader political ties were strained, they said, adding that Beijing’s dominance in the resources appeared too strong to break soon. One example is the Phalaborwa Rare Earths Project in South Africa,... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3352009/minerals-over-ideology-us-embraces-pragmatic-diplomacy-break-chinas-rare-earth-grip?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3352009/minerals-over-ideology-us-embraces-pragmatic-diplomacy-break-chinas-rare-earth-grip?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 30 Apr 2026 10:00:22 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Two enormous sandlike dunes at an old chemical processing plant in South Africa are at the centre of an exploratory US-backed project to extract highly sought-after rare earth elements from industrial mining waste. The Phalaborwa Rare Earths Project has US support through a US$50 million equity investment by the government’s International Development Finance Corporation and is part of accelerated US efforts to reduce its reliance on China for the minerals crucial for making electronic devices,... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3350632/trump-backs-us50-million-investment-south-africa-rare-earths?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3350632/trump-backs-us50-million-investment-south-africa-rare-earths?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 19 Apr 2026 11:48:59 +0000 Biman Mukherji Biman Mukherji In East Timor’s presidential palace in the capital Dili, President Jose Ramos-Horta leans back in his chair, radiating a calm demeanour ahead of a momentous occasion in his country’s young history. “We are in the last few hours before joining Asean,” he told This Week in Asia. “Looking back, it has been a 23-year journey since independence was proclaimed … and when I look at where we were then compared to now, it is like heaven and hell.” On Sunday in Kuala Lumpur, East Timor is set to formally... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3330133/hell-asean-east-timors-president-talks-growth-china-and-future?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3330133/hell-asean-east-timors-president-talks-growth-china-and-future?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 24 Oct 2025 08:19:16 +0000 Mia Nurmamat Mia Nurmamat As China consolidates its near-monopoly status in critical minerals and rare earth elements – essential raw materials for the production of numerous high-value items in the technology and defence sectors – Washington’s proposed US$5 billion fund to secure its access to these supply chains may come too late to close the gap, analysts said. Bloomberg reported last week that the United States is planning to allocate billions in pursuit of a larger share of these minerals’ global supply, following a... https://www.scmp.com/economy/article/3326696/rumoured-us-rare-earth-fund-coming-too-late-catch-china?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/economy/article/3326696/rumoured-us-rare-earth-fund-coming-too-late-catch-china?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 24 Sep 2025 13:30:09 +0000 Jevans Nyabiage Jevans Nyabiage The United States is stepping up efforts to loosen China’s grip on critical mineral supply chains by investing in a new copper and cobalt project in Zambia. The US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) will provide a US$1.4 million grant to Metalex Africa, a subsidiary of US-based Metalex Commodities, to fund a feasibility study, in a deal signed on Thursday. The study aims to expand a Zambian copper and cobalt facility, securing a direct source of the metals for American industries. Chinese... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3326103/us-invests-zambia-project-bid-loosen-chinas-grip-critical-minerals?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3326103/us-invests-zambia-project-bid-loosen-chinas-grip-critical-minerals?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 19 Sep 2025 10:00:24 +0000 Jevans Nyabiage Jevans Nyabiage Despite Washington’s framing of a key railway network in Angola as a strategic counter to China, the CEO of the Lobito Atlantic Railway (LAR) says the company is “a purely commercial entity” with “zero geopolitical considerations”. Nicholas Fournier, the newly appointed chief executive, said in an interview with the South China Morning Post that the company was just one part of the broader Lobito Corridor, which aims to increase economic activity along the route. LAR has strong commercial ties... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3322922/no-geopolitics-involved-angola-rail-project-not-aimed-countering-china-ceo-says?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3322922/no-geopolitics-involved-angola-rail-project-not-aimed-countering-china-ceo-says?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 23 Aug 2025 12:00:08 +0000