Welcome to Foreign Policy’s Africa Brief.

The highlights this week: Officials from African nations attend a critical minerals summit in Washington, fighting flares up again in Ethiopia’s Tigray region, and South Africa temporarily withdraws from the G-20.

Welcome to Foreign Policy’s Africa Brief.

The highlights this week: Officials from African nations attend a critical minerals summit in Washington, fighting flares up again in Ethiopia’s Tigray region, and South Africa temporarily withdraws from the G-20.

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Officials from African countries including Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Guinea, and Nigeria attended a critical minerals summit in Washington on Wednesday.

Around 50 nations from around the world were represented at the meeting, hosted by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio. U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance proposed a trading bloc to counter China’s supply chain dominance and export controls of rare earths.

The summit comes just after the U.S. government announced a nearly $12 billion critical minerals stockpile dubbed “Project Vault,” which will be supported by $1.67 billion in private capital along with a $10 billion loan from the U.S. Export-Import Bank.

Although U.S. officials have described Africa as “peripheral” to Washington’s interests, African engagement is necessary to its efforts to dismantle Beijing’s chokehold on the list of critical minerals that Washington imports in large quantities.

That list includes tantalum, used heavily in the defense and aerospace sectors, and manganese, which is critical for steelmaking. More than half of the world’s tantalum comes from African nations, including Congo, Nigeria, and Rwanda. Meanwhile, South Africa is home to an estimated 80 percent of the world’s known manganese reserves, and Gabon supplies 63 percent of the United States’ manganese imports.

The summit comes at a heated time for U.S.-Africa relations. U.S. President Donald Trump’s approach to Africa focuses on “commercial diplomacy.” According to his National Security Strategy, released in November, U.S. interests on the continent center primarily on its “abundant natural resources” and seek to avoid “any long-term American presence or commitments.”

Although African nations are eager to strike trade deals with Washington, they are facing U.S. visa bans; health aid cuts; and........

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