By Minako Sasako / Yomiuri Shimbun Correspondent

12:53 JST, August 21, 2025

KOLWEZI, Democratic Republic of the Congo — Japan has fallen behind in the race to form cooperative ties with African countries for access to their mineral resources, and the country is now trying to make up lost ground, as the mineral-rich continent is becoming increasingly important for Japan’s economic security.

China, in contrast, has gained control over many African supply chains of key minerals essential for advanced technologies and for which demand has been rapidly increasing.

The Japanese government aimed to strengthen ties with African nations by holding the Ninth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD 9) in Yokohama from Wednesday to Friday.

In Kolwezi in the south of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Kabanda Ilunga, 45, crumbled soil on the ground beside a paved road. From the pile that formed, he picked up a bean-sized piece of copper ore.

“High grade [copper] is 35,000 [Congolese] francs (about ¥1,780) per kilo,” he said. “[Chinese people] buy all of [it].”

Kolwezi is located at the center of the Copperbelt,........

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