Sunday, October 26, 2025 - Mrima Hill, a sacred forest near Kenya’s Indian Ocean coast, has become the focal point of a geopolitical tug-of-war between global superpowers China and the United States.
The 390-acre site is believed to hold vast deposits of rare
earth minerals critical to high-tech and green industries valued at over $62
billion.
Among the minerals deposited there include niobium and other
rare earths essential to high-tech and low-carbon industries.
The scramble has triggered land speculation and investor
interest, with foreign firms already bidding for mining rights.
However, for locals, especially the indigenous Digo
community, the rush threatens displacement and the desecration of sacred
shrines.
So far, locals from at least five villages near the area are
starring at eviction as foreign firms move in.
Farming communities fear losing their land and livelihoods
amid rising foreign pressure.
In 2013, Kenya revoked a mining license over environmental
concerns, prompting a lawsuit alleging corruption.
A 2019 moratorium on new licenses followed, but recent
reforms, including tax breaks and improved transparency, aim to boost mining’s
GDP share from 0.8% to 10% by 2030.
China, the world’s top rare earth producer, has cultivated
ties with Kenya, while the Trump administration has made securing critical
minerals a cornerstone of its Africa strategy, including a peace deal in the
Democratic Republic of Congo.
The Kenyan DAILY POST
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