Why Critical Minerals Alone Won't Make Countries Rich

There's growing optimism across Africa, Latin America, and Asia that abundant reserves of critical minerals like lithium, cobalt, and nickel can fuel a new era of economic development. Determined to avoid the "resource curse" that enriched foreign companies while leaving local populations behind, governments are increasingly moving to ban exports of raw ores and instead promote domestic processing and refining.
It's an appealing strategy, but far more difficult to implement than many realize.
Wei Shen and Anabel Marín, senior research fellows at the Institute of Development Studies in London, argue that processing alone won't transform resource-rich economies. In a new paper, they explain why lasting prosperity depends on building the knowledge, institutions, and technological capabilities needed to move up the value chain. They join Eric to discuss what it will really take for developing countries to turn critical mineral wealth into sustainable development.
📌 Topics Covered in This Episode
Why critical minerals alone won't create prosperity
Can resource nationalism break the resource curse?
Why processing isn't enough to move up the value chain
The role of knowledge and state capacity in development
What China got right in building its mineral industry
How developing countries can capture more value from critical minerals

Show Notes:
WATCH: Critical minerals and development: Breaking the structural impasse with Wei Shen and Anabel Marín
Institute of Development Studies: China's role in critical mineral mining and its impacts by Wei Shen
Institute of Development Studies: Living in a material world: What critical minerals mean for development by Wei Shen and Anabel Marín

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