Boubacar Bocoum discusses the geopolitics of critical mining

The Weiser Diplomacy Center hosted a moderated discussion Thursday afternoon featuring Boubacar Bocoum, lead mining specialist at the World Bank and University of Michigan alum. Along with WDC Director Susan Page, Bocoum discussed the geopolitics of critical minerals and their implications for sustainable technology development, vulnerabilities in mineral supply chains and local community engagement in the mineral sector.  

In a brief presentation, Bocoum provided an overview of the status of global critical mining operations. According to Bocoum, there has been an increase in the demand for critical minerals, resulting in a need to come up with new methods to sustain the already limited supply.

“For minerals like lithium cobalt and rare earths, there is actually a gap between demand and supply, which means that innovation is needed, both for the extraction of the minerals but also recycling is actually necessary to meet the demand of the indices of a low-carbon economy,” Bocoum said. 

Bocoum also spoke about the implications of rising global demand for critical minerals from low-income countries rich with sources of critical minerals. According to Bocoum, possession of these minerals could give developing countries greater bargaining power in the international trade community. 

“A lot of those developing countries are themselves getting urbanized, getting industrialized, which means that their own demand for minerals is increasing, driven both by infrastructure development but also by the development of the technological needs that are essential for economic growth,” Bocoum said. “In terms of geopolitics, that gives developing countries that are mineral rich a really important position to influence global mineral supply chains and become part of it.” 

The event proceeded with a moderated discussion. When asked how interactions between mining companies and local communities have evolved, Bocoum said companies have had to consider the culture, language and customs of the region. 

“It’s engaging with communities,” Bocoum said. “It’s understanding local history, the local culture, the local ways of doing things that could be quite different at times, from what a company is used to doing in its own country.” 

Bocoum also said different countries have engaged in cross collaboration initiatives to advance critical mineral operations and the trade of electric vehicles and batteries, such as the special economic zone established between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Zambia.

“DRC has done a really good job, together with Zambia,” Bocoum said. “This is really important because to succeed (and achieve) sustainable production of minerals and metals for the low carbon economy, essentially no single country has it all; it takes cooperation.” 

Bocoum also said conversations about the impact of critical mining operations on economic prosperity in a region should not only include short-term benefits such as the job creation, but also long-term opportunities that ensure the local economy is developed independently of the mining sector.   

“(What) is really important is the long term economic benefits,” Bocoum said. “So we’re not talking here about the mitigation of the environmental and social impact, we are really talking above and beyond that: what needs to be put in place so that communities benefit from the extraction of the minerals (and) have an economy and jobs that (are) non-mining jobs, and to make sure that really good seeds are put in place for sustainability of the impact.” 

In an interview with The Michigan Daily, Rackham student Sarah Backstrand said the talk helped her better understand the scope of artisanal and small-scale mining, which Bocoum addressed at the end of the talk. 

“ASM is very stigmatized, and there’s sort of like a one-size-fits-all solution that’s put forth to formalize that sector,” Backstrand said. “But I really appreciated at the end that (Bocoum) mentioned that there (is) mine ownership through ASM, and while there are a lot of issues associated with ASM, resource wealth tends to circulate more within the community of ASM. So while resource wealth from big mining companies tends to be concentrated in the hands of the elite, (for) ASM, more wealth is more circulated within communities.” 

In an interview with The Daily, Rackham graduate student Mariana Lopes said while the focus of sustainable transportation has primarily centered on the development of electric vehicles — a key product that contains critical minerals —  there needs to be greater consideration of who can access these resources and what that implies for innovating transportation differently. 

“Sometimes I think that this critical minerals agenda is very much driven by companies,” Lopes said. “Who are the people that are going to buy their electric vehicles? Are we talking about low income communities? I don’t think so. … So I would say we have to discuss this situation, this scenario, but not exclude the innovative part of transportation. Why are we focusing on a market solution and not focusing on a broader, new vision of transportation?”

Daily Staff Reporter Claudia Minetti can be reached at cminetti@umich.edu.

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