TOKYO – Japan’s Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Yasutoshi Nishimura has spent a week visiting five countries in southern Africa with Ichiro Takahara, chairman and CEO of the state’s Japan Organization for Metals and Energy Security (JOGMEC).
Prior to his departure, Nishimura told Japan’s Sankei Shimbun newspaper that he aimed to secure access to important minerals including rare earths, cobalt, lithium and nickel during the trip.
“Namibia has great potential for rare earths. The Democratic Republic of the Congo is the world’s largest producer of cobalt and Namibia also has potential, he said according to the Sankei Shimbun.
“I would like to visit each country, sign more than 10 agreements, issue joint statements, realize cooperation agreements and build a supply chain. Budget support of approximately $1.5 billion (215.8 billion yen) for Japanese companies participating in the development of mines and related activities is also available.”
He went on to note that Japan is currently highly dependent on China for supplies of all of the minerals he mentioned. In view of China’s new restrictions on exports of gallium and germanium, both used in the semiconductor industry, he said, “There is an urgent need to tenaciously build an alternative supply network to reduce excessive dependence on China.”
Like China, Japan carries no colonial baggage in Africa. Unlike China, it does not have a strong presence. And unlike Europe and the US, Japan does not publicly lecture developing countries on the quality of their governments.
Japan is known as a reliable investment partner with a high level of technological expertise. It can offer Africa a wider choice of investment partners and, therefore, more bargaining power.
As for Africa, in the future, its population will increase the most in the world and its economy will grow, he said. “In particular, there are abundant reserves of important minerals.” He expressed hope that Africa will “join us as a reliable partner.”
Japan, he said, “will take the lead in creating and promoting concrete measures to boldly advance exploration and mine development, strengthen the smelting business, develop alternative technologies and [establish] emergency stockpiles.”
In terms of building a supply network, he said, “there is the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF), but I would like to expand the idea of FOIP (Free and Open Indo-Pacific), which was advocated by former prime minister Shinzo Abe, to Africa and Central and South America.”
From August 6-13, Nishimura visited Namibia, Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire), Zambia and Madagascar. Measured against his statements before his departure, the trip was a success.
In Namibia, Nishimura and Takahara met with Minister of Mines and Energy Thomas Alweendo (who had visited Japan in April) and Minister of Industrialization and Trade Lucia Iipumbu to discuss JOGMEC’s research on Namibia’s rare earths supply chain and cooperation in the fields of mining, hydrogen and ammonia energy, as well as trade and investment in general. They then signed a scope of work agreement to explore deposits of rare earth minerals.
JOGMEC has been participating in the Lofdal Heavy Rare Earth Project of Namibia Critical Metals Inc. (headquartered in Canada) since January 2020. JOGMEC also provides training on metal mineral resource exploration technology. It has signed a memorandum of understanding with Namibia for cooperation in analysis and field surveys.
According to Namibia Critical Metals, Lofdal is the most advanced project in the Company portfolio. In January, the company signed an agreement with JOGMEC to “jointly explore, develop, exploit, refine and/or distribute mineral products from Lofdal.
The agreement provides JOGMEC with the right to earn a 50% interest in the project by funding $20,000,000 in exploration and development expenditures.” Lofdal is in northwestern Namibia.
JOGMEC will now “investigate the possibility of developing a hub for the regional rare earth industry by establishing a base for separating and refining the ores” in Namibia. The results will contribute to a “Namibia Rare Earth Industry Master Plan” proposed by Nishimura and drawn up by both countries.
In Angola, JOGMEC reports that an Agreement between Japan and the Republic of Angola for the Liberalization, Promotion and Protection of Investment (Japan-Angola Investment Agreement) was signed in Luanda on August 9 by Japanese Ambassador to Angola Toru Suzuki and Angolan Minister of External Relations Tete Antonio. Nishimura and Angolan President Joao Manuel Goncalves Lourenco attended the event.
The agreement stipulates “national treatment and most favored nation (MFN) treatment at pre-establishment and at post-establishment phases of investments; fair and equitable treatment; prohibition of performance requirements; conditions for expropriation and compensation; freedom of transfers; procedures for dispute settlements.”
JOGMEC notes that “Angola is one of the largest economies in Sub-Saharan Africa, while being one of the largest oil producers in Africa and has a high potential for economic growth with abundant mineral resources. Japanese companies are strongly attracted to Angola and their investment in the country is expected to continue to grow.” The agreement will enter into force following the approval of the Japanese parliament and Angolan authorities.
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo a scope of work agreement was signed in the presence of Nishimura and Deputy Minister of Mines Godard Motemona. Based on an MOU concluded with the Ministry of Mines in February 2012, it adds environmental monitoring to a scope of work agreement signed in 2018 regarding cooperation in satellite image analysis and joint implementation of field surveys.
JOGMEC notes that “Through this meeting and signing, the content of cooperation with the country, which is abundantly endowed with cobalt, lithium, copper, etc, which are expected to see rapid growth in demand in the future as key materials for electric vehicles, has been materialized.” Mineral exploration by JOGMEC and visits by Japanese corporate delegations are expected to follow.
In Zambia, Nishimura paid a courtesy call on President Hakainde Hichilema and signed a joint statement on cooperation in the mining sector with Minister of Mines and Minerals Development Paul Kabuswe. Nishimura also attended the signing of an MOU between the Ministry of Mines and Minerals Development and JOGMEC.
An updated version of one signed by the two parties in 2018 on cooperation in the fields of exploration and human resource development, it adds seminars on sustainable development, evaluation of unused resources and, in conjunction with Zambia’s plan to increase copper production, satellite image analysis and the expansion of their joint geological survey.
A business roundtable was also held for the purpose of creating investment opportunities for Japanese companies in Zambia’s mining sector. Representatives of 11 companies from Japan and one local Japanese company attended.
Zambian officials made presentations on investment opportunities in the country’s mining sector, mining policy, the tax system, investment incentives, debt restructuring, and the mechanism of cobalt mineralization in the copper belt. The discussions were followed by a tour of copper and nickel mines.
In Madagascar, the primary subject of discussion reportedly was the Ambatovy nickel and cobalt mining and refining enterprise, which is majority owned by Japan’s Sumitomo Corporation in partnership with the Korea Mine Rehabilitation and Mineral Resources Corporation (KOMIR), a South Korean government entity. Launched by Sumitomo in 2005, Ambatovy is Madagascar’s largest foreign investment. It is estimated to be the world’s 10th largest source of nickel.
As the first joint resource development project between Japan and South Korea, Ambatovy is an example of what might be accomplished by the two countries following the normalization of relations engineered by South Korean President Yoon and Japanese Prime Minister Kishida.
Like the US, Japan would like to counter China’s Belt and Road Initiative around the world. But Nishimura’s visit to Africa was about obtaining resources for Japan and building long-term government-to-government and corporate relationships – concrete economic benefits, with grand strategy in the background.
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