Amid the ongoing historic “Fourth Industrial Revolution”, technology conflicts have been intensifying. Recently, US and EU officials have criticized China for overproducing electric vehicles. In mid-May, the US even decided to raise tariffs on Chinese EVs. From such statements and their subsequent rebuttals, it became evident that in just less than a decade of being blamed for polluting the planet as the “world’s factory”, China has made a great leap, from being overly dependent on fossil fuels to becoming the global leader in green technologies. For example, Chinese-made EVs have become globally competitive in all respects — from design to efficiency to pricing.
Without Africa’s critical minerals, the world’s rapid transition to solar energy will be slowed, if not derailed. The Kimberly Process, which the UN played a major role in, was South Africa’s contribution to making the global diamond trade more humane.
