In the Zambian capital of Lusaka, Nishimura inked a deal on
August 11 aimed at greater cooperation in mining for minerals used in electric
vehicles and other technologies.
Under the agreement, Japanese companies will receive
government support to expand operations into Zambia to reinforce the strategic
supply chain.
Japan has committed to deploying satellites to conduct
surveys for areas that are likely to have deposits of copper, cobalt and
nickel, key components in batteries for electric vehicles.
Demand for such minerals is expected to grow sharply in the
coming years. There are, however, supply constraints, as only a limited number
of countries produce them, and Japan is facing tough competition to acquire
these resources.
Reaction to Chinese advances
Nishimura was able to conclude similar agreements on
exploration and supply networks with the governments of Namibia and the
Democratic Republic of Congo, while he also visited Angola and Mozambique to
lay the groundwork for similar trade deals.
The Japanese government has been prodded into action by the
aggressive expansion efforts of China in Africa.
China already has some of the world's most extensive
deposits of rare earth minerals, but is already feeding growing domestic
demand. To meet anticipated future demand, state-run Chinese firms are busily
acquiring overseas mining interests, with the Democratic Republic of Congo a
particular target.
On August 1, restrictions on exports from China of gallium
and germanium went into effect in a move that analysts say is retaliation for
the US and Japan imposing a ban on sales of high-end semiconductors to
China.
Gallium and germanium are both used in the manufacture of
semiconductors, solar cells and LEDs.
"These are two of the many types of rare earth minerals
that come primarily from China, although they can also be mined in other
countries, of course," said Morinosuke Kawaguchi, a technology strategist
and consultant who was previously a lecturer at the Tokyo Institute of
Technology.
"China has become the world's largest producer because
it was able to extract these minerals relatively cheaply and supply them to the
world market, meaning that mines elsewhere were shut down," he told
DW.
Now that China has restricted exports, prices for the
resources are once again rising and shuttered mines are now economically
viable, he said.
"Large deposits of mineral resources have already been confirmed in many African countries, which is why Japan — which has virtually none of these resources — has stepped in," he added.
Japan's priority on capacity-building
As an added sweetener to the deals, and more that are likely
to be coming, Japan is likely to continue to be generous with its aid budget,
said Ryo Hinata-Yamaguchi, an assistant professor of international relations at
the University of Tokyo.
"Through the years, Japan has been very good at
capacity building in developing nations, of providing technical support,
funding for infrastructure projects, creating skilled labor forces and so
on," he said.
"China has been less good in these areas. And Tokyo is
hoping that its partners will choose Japanese quality over Chinese
quantity."
Countries in Africa and the island states of the Pacific are
aware of Beijing's use of assistance with conditions and are seeking
alternative sources of development aid, Hinata-Yamaguchi said.
"Japan's approach has been to work with local
governments and people as partners," he said. "China has acted
questionably in many of its trade agreements, and that has made the local
people very distrustful. Japan is consciously taking a very different road and
is making sure that capacity-building, training and education are up
front."
Securing access to key minerals has been high up on the
agenda of Japan and Western countries in recent years.
It was a key topic at the G7 energy and environment
ministers meeting in Japan in April, where they agreed to boost cooperation in
the area.
Just a stop-gap arrangement between Japan and Africa?
Kawaguchi noted that Japan's investment in African resources
could be something of a stop-gap arrangement.
"A lot of money and effort is going into exploring
beneath the seabed in Japan's exclusive economic zone (EEZ)," he said.
"And that is paying off as test excavations at depths of 3,000 meters and
more have come back with incredibly high amounts of minerals."
Japan controls an EEZ of some 4.47 million square kilometers
of the Pacific.
"It's a vast area and the tests show that the resources
there are huge, but the bottleneck at the moment is bringing them up from the
seabed economically," he said.
"But as soon as the technology is available then it can
be exploited. The future of Japanese technology is under our own seas."