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When Mining Companies Leave, African Communities Pay

28 0
12.02.2026

JOHANNESBURG – This week, policymakers and industry executives gathered in Cape Town for the annual African Mining Indaba. They will follow a familiar script: governments will court investors, companies will promise jobs and growth, and champagne will flow as speakers tout Africa as indispensable to the global energy transition.

Kim Kyung-Hoon/Pool via Getty Images

Politics 0

Takaichi on Top

Taniguchi Tomohiko

Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae gambled big when she called an early election to strengthen her mandate. Now that her bet has paid off with an overwhelming victory and a huge majority in the Diet's lower house, what will she do next?

considers the implications of an overwhelming election victory for Japan’s prime minister.

Jorg Greuel/Getty Images

Longer Reads 2

The Financial Gulf Stream Is Nearing a Tipping Point

Giancarlo Corsetti explains why the conditions that once sustained US demand despite trade imbalances may no longer exist.

Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

Economics 0

What Are Kevin Warsh’s Priorities?

Barry Eichengreen asks if the next Federal Reserve chair’s focus on inflation and employment augurs weaker financial supervision.

As always, the emphasis will be on new projects, fresh capital, and untapped opportunities, with no mention of how these ventures tend to end. But in mining, endings matter more than beginnings, because they reveal where power truly lies.

As the clean-energy transition gathers pace, the question of how mining projects end has taken on new urgency. The global race for critical minerals is often framed as a technical challenge: How quickly can fossil fuels be........

© Project Syndicate