The Competition
Acts of the Moderns III — Part 3/2 of Kenya: A Transformation Story
For my daughters Tini and Edel, and grandson, KK. May you live in a better world than I could ever dream about.
The 4th DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) driverless-car Grand Challenge — dubbed “AI-Max” — took place on October 25th, 2025, in the sun-baked Mojave Desert, USA. The 180-kilometre race stretched from Barstow, California, to Primm, Nevada.
Against all odds, a little-known team from an obscure country emerged victorious in this global competition. Their win, the most improbable in the event’s 20-year history, saw them beat the odds-on favourite from MIT by a staggering 4.57 minutes — creating an instant worldwide sensation!
Which team was this? Where did it come from? How did they defeat the world’s best, including entrants from China, South Korea, India, Japan, France, England, Germany, and the US?
Part 3/2 introduces the new R&D campus where the team built their robot.
Oloombokoshi
It was a scar and a cradle. Born of tectonic upheaval some 30 million years ago, the Great Rift Valley split the earth’s crust with titanic force. Massive geological plates had pulled apart, rending the land from the Red Sea down to Mozambique like the gush of an alien sculptor god.
The Rift had birthed volcanoes, sunken lakes, and escarpments steep as the Tower of Babel. Lake Naivasha shimmered in the basin of a collapsed caldera. Ol-Karia’s steaming vents hissed with the dragon’s breath of a living planet. The crust here was thin, cracked, powerful.
Stretching, encompassing a rectangular area approximately 1,200 square kilometers from Oloombokoshi town in the southwest to Hell’s Gate National Park in the southeast, to above Entontol town in the northwest and Ndabibi Area in the northeast, was a new birth of human imagination noisily taking shape.
For seventy kilometers southwest of Lake Naivasha as the crow flies, where the dry acacia-dotted savannah of Oloombokoshi met the edges of the geothermally active Rift Valley escarpments, something new had begun to rise from the ochre dust — a new African Xanadu.
From the air (from the crow’s eyes), it looked like a great green wheel had been laid gently upon the mostly flat plain: a massive open circular complex sparkling and smelling new from all the fresh landscaping, ringed with tall security towers gleaming in the morning sun, partitioned into two interlocking halves like the yin and yang of East Africa’s green industrial revolution it had clear ambitions to kickstart.
The upper partition, occupying the northwestern half of the outer complex, isolated for optimal safety, was KENYWORKS — a vast new manufacturing complex still under construction by a hard-hatted army in blue and founded on green hydrogen energy metallurgy. Its heartbeat was powered by pure, pressurised hydrogen split from steam by the roaring geothermal wells of nearby Ol-Karia.
Towering stacks glowed white-hot inside the plant’s dome-like shells, where iron and rare earths were smelted and refined without a puff of carbon. Conveyor belts shimmered with metallic hum, transporting components destined for turbines, fuel cells, and next-gen magnets and batteries.
Then, the lower partition, the “yang”, lay the CAMPUS LOOM, the mind of the enterprise: a giant research and development campus designed like a living organism — flexible, open, and still under construction.
From the air, the campus was mostly a sprawling tent city, resembling a fan opening out from the main R&D complexes. Major radial avenues divided the neighbourhoods, named after African heroes and heroines in alphabetical order.
Thus Amina of Zazzau Avenue on the western section — named after the 16th century Hausa warrior queen of Zaria, located in modern Nigeria.
Then, Biko Crescent — honouring Steve Biko, South African anti-apartheid activist and intellectual. And so on until in the easternmost section the Zenzile Miriam Makeba Boulevard — the legendary South African singer and civil rights activist.
Criss-crossing the avenues widthwise were smaller transverse branches named for African animals and birds in alphabetical order. Thus Aardvak Alley from the bottom section, Buffalo Lane, Crowned Crane Crescent, on and on and ending with a lengthiest, Zorilla Walk at the top.
So, someone would say, “I live on T-22 Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti Avenue on Duiker Path.” And you would have a good idea where that was!
The place was mostly made up of tens of thousands of tents. Each tent came with modular solar panels, rainwater capture systems, compost toilets, and smart-cooling mesh walls. Everyone had a cot, a desk, and a folding seat, equal in dimensions and in every direction — occupied by janitor, gardener, constructor, theoretical physicist, even the President of Kenya, when he came to visit, which was often (staying famously at T-7 Sadat Road on Firefinch Lane).
Here Nobel laureates queued for breakfast behind early-career engineers and muscled construction workers.
People got around on their two legs or monocycles, bicycles, hoverboards, mopeds, scooters, motorbikes, and EVs and FCEVs — only water-vapour-emitting engines. The roads were wide, made of compressed earth, and tree-lined — with growing baobabs, lemon-scented gums, and pink cassias.
At its southwestern tip, next to the little town of Oloombokoshi itself and main entrance, stood a ten-storey structure the size of a football field, a honeycomb of glass, aluminium, and cross-laminated timber — the Wangari Maathai Research Complex or WMRC.
The walls breathed with intelligent ventilation systems that drew in cool night air and filtered it through green vertical gardens of jacaranda, croton, and Kenya flame trees.
Inside, the structure was a labyrinth of still unfinished labs and cubicles, with no walls of status — just open workspaces, glass partitions, and biophilic designs. In the centre, a great circular fountain pulsed gently, it’s ceramic-tiled branches stretching through every floor, guiding eyes and minds inward.
The gardens inside the building were like hidden oases — miniature ecosystems of papyrus reeds, spider lilies, and wild orchids, punctuated with benches carved from recycled stone. Each level featured a fish tank — aquaria filled with native cichlids and tilapia, micro-managed to maintain perfect ecological balance.
Dainty rose gardens and sturdy compacted-earth paths separated four other smaller complexes housing labs, meeting, conference, eating, and shopping places, named after treasured Kenyan heroes and a heroine.
There was the Thomas Risley Odhiambo Complex or TOC, the pioneering Kenyan scientist, founder of ICIPE — the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology.
There was the Mekatilili wa Menza Complex or MMC, the fierce, early 20th-century Giriama resistance leader who defied colonial rule and courageously opposed the imposition of colonial policies that eroded Giriama culture.
There was the Barack Obama Sr. Complex or BOC, the outstanding Kenyan economist and policy thinker, known for his intellectual rigor and dedication to pan-African development — and father of the no less outstanding 44th President of the United States.
And then there was the Binyavanga Wainana Complex or BWC, the acclaimed Kenyan writer and cultural icon, known for challenging narratives about Africa and celebrating African imagination.
At these crisp and rarefied complexes disciplines collided freely in a flat hierarchy with only expert leads. Electrical engineers worked and supped next to biochemists. Hydrologists rubbed shoulders with social economists. Poets and sculptors laughed and exchanged ideas with philosophers, roboticists and AI specialists.
This was a sacred place that had once echoed with the footfalls of humanity’s earliest ancestors. Homo habilis, clever with stone. Australopithecus afarensis, upright but still learning balance. And later, Homo erectus, fire-carrier and wanderer, ruling the plains for 1.8-million years before extinction. (Certainly we Homo sapiens were threatened with extinction only 300,000 years after our first appearance!)
They had moved through this same landscape, threading between volcanic ridges and lakes, drinking from the same springs that now fed geothermal turbines. Their bones continued to whisper stories to archaeologists — perhaps a warning to temper our arrogance and hubris.
Where once they hunted and huddled, now hundreds of thousands of years later, here we were their descendants huddled and engineering fuels lighter than air and alloys purer than fire. The new green industrial arcology was rising not in defiance of the past, but in deep continuity with it. Now a new generation was forging a new chapter.
Oloombokoshi had always been a crucible — for geology, for evolution, and now, for innovation. It had held the beginning of the human story. And now, if those dreaming and building here were right, it might hold a future worth surviving for.
You breathed and the air was fresh and pregnant with unlimited possibilities for the present and the future.
The Meeting
Off the CAMPUS LOOM WMRC some distance on the east side, a low, discreet structure sat like a polished stone in a bed of flowers. This was the Taaitta arap Towett Conference Complex or TTCC, its stylish geometric walls hugged by gardens of hibiscus, impatients, and black-eyed susan vine, with pathways meandering through stone sculptures of yet more Kenyan heroes and heroines in discrete shaded pergolas.
The centre section of this complex was architecturally sealed off, housing the Keel Room — a high security conference chamber encased in lead-lined borosilicate glass panels and quantum-shielded smart concrete, designed to dampen every signal, every sound. Those who stepped into its inner sanctum first deposited their cell phones and any other electronic devices at the secured entrance reception — for near-guaranteed privacy from modern spyware.
On a hot Friday morning, the 7th of March, 2025, seven twin-engined AugustaWestland AW139 helicopters belonging to the Kenya Defence Forces, arrived at the Oloombokoshi CAMPUS LOOM helipad section, bringing the President of Kenya and his executive guests — the presidents of Somalia, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, and their foreign ministers, top advisers, and security entourages.
Invitations had gone out for “an extraordinary meeting of top parties” a month earlier to all eight member states of the East African Community or EAC, but two — South Sudan and Burundi — were no-shows with usual diplomatic apologies.
Some two hours later — after a quick tour of the new marvels taking shape day-and-night at Oloombokoshi with the President as their guide, and after enjoying a light-lunch with main dish of slow-roasted boneless Nile perch with coriander-lime butter and steamed matoke parcels wrapped in banana leaf — they were all seated in snug leather chairs inside the secure and air-conditioned Keel Room, facing each other across an oblong table, with ministers and advisers seated closely behind them.
But, before the President could begin, the President of Uganda pointed uneasily at the young white woman seated behind the President. “I’m sorry, but I thought this is a sealed-off meeting? No foreign consultants?”
The President chuckled easily. “Ah, apologies your Excellencies!” He swung around and pointed at the beautiful blonde. “This is my Executive Secretary, Lorna Archer-Kivindyo.” He told Lorna, “Stand up and show yourself.”
Lorna dutifully stood up with her pad and pen briefly, smiling politely at the guests. She was 28-years-old, sharp and professional.
“Don’t let the skin fool you, she’s more Kenyan than I am! Her great-great-grand-uncle was Lord Delamere. I trust her with all my secrets!”
The President of Uganda said testily, “No offence to her, but, I also hear and saw pictures of other colonialists who oppressed Africans, and butchers of men like Shaka Zulu, and brutal slavers like King Glele of Dahomey, are now being celebrated at night as the Great Hall of Africans?”
The President replied wryly, “I believe it is well said that if we were to judge the past using today’s standards, then there would be no heroes left. The Great Hall of the Africans celebrates Africans who have had an impact that was, viewed overall, positive. For example, Shaka Zulu’s violence indirectly caused the Mfecane period of chaos. However, the new states that emerged from it, like the Sotho Kingdom under Moshoeshoe, or the Swazi under Sobhuza, were stronger and better able to deal with the white settlers.”
The President of Rwanda was dubious. “It’s a very thin line! Delamere and Grogan severely punished Africans, sometimes for as little as looking at a white woman! If you ask me, there are certainly better heroes we can celebrate.” He looked at Lorna wryly. “Imagine, we would be whipped for looking at this lovely white lady!”
And the room burst out with amused laughter.
The President was tickled. “I would receive the most strokes!”
More laughter. Poor Lorna wanted to melt — or change colour!
The President said, “I will not sit here and defend anyone! However, I’ll just say that Delamere and Grogan also did a lot of good. Delamere spent his own fortune to introduce wheat and maize commercially. Grogan was the first to introduce large-scale irrigation projects.” And without losing a beat he changed the subject. “Now, please allow me to introduce the rest of my team.”
He pointed at Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for the Ministry of Investments, Trade, and Industry. “This is Dr Amina Janmohammed, our CS for Investments, Trade, and Industry. Her ministry is responsible for all our hydrogen energy products and for wooing new investors, like yourselves!”
There was a murmer of mirth and approval from the guests.
The sharp, bespectacled 54-year-old widow with two children, stood up briefly and nodded warmly at the guests.
The President then pointed at Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for the National Treasury and Economic Planning. “And this gentleman here is Dr Christopher Nyaoga, one of our top economics experts and the Cabinet Secretary for the Treasury.”
Christopher, a tall, balding, 42-year-old father of four, wearing Cartier “Santos Dumont” titanium optical frames, dressed in a Milano fit, made to measure two-piece navy blue Giorgio Armani suit, on his wrist Audemars Piguet Royal Oak selfwinding timepiece, and on his feet Gucci leather horsebit loafers, stood up briefly and waved heartily at the guests.
The President added, “Later, Chris will present to us on the idea that he and his team have been working on for a joint EAC commodities exchange as a natural step up of the regional trade and investment framework we currently have. Excellencies, it’s time we moved away from the archaic London Metal Exchange — which exploits us because we are divided.”
The President then pointed at Jacklyn Bundotich. “This is Jacklyn Bundotich — Special Programs Adviser. Oloombokoshi is her baby!”
“Gosh!” The President of Tanzania waxed, impressed. “So young! What an incredible place you have here.”
“Thank you, Madam President.” Jacklyn responded respectfully. Tall and stunningly beautiful in a sharp Anyango Mpinga midnight blue structured blazer and cream silk blouse suit, she stood up briefly and nodded confidently at the guests. She would be turning 35-years-old in a week’s time but looked ten years younger, thanks to a radiant skin and daily gym program.
Next, the President pointed at Maimuna Mazrui. “Here we have Professor Maimuna Mazrui. She’s our hydrogen energy R&D lead. I’ll tell you she’s protected more than I am!”
The guests chuckled approvingly.
Maimuna, short and buxomy at 44-years of age, looking more like a contented housewife of five children she was than the exceptional scientist and Nobel laureate she also was, stood up briefly and nodded politely at the guests.
Next, the President pointed at elderly Jacob Orowe. “This is Professor Jacob Orowe. We’ll respect his age and ask him to remain in his chair!”
But Jacob, all 87 years of him, tall and dignified in crisp signature Kaunda suit, made the effort and stood up to acknowledge the guests, with no aid, and bending only slightly. The guests were impressed. Then he sat down.
“He’s the reason why we’re here today,” the President said proudly. “He’s the architect and genius behind our whole green hydrogen energy transition. And, for that reason, the man we’re all going to blame if it all goes horribly wrong!”
The guests were charmed and laughed appreciatively.
Next, the President introduced 23-year-old Ndinda Mutisya. “Then, this beautiful young lady here is Professor Ndinda Mutisya, our natural resources and mineralogy exploration lead.”
Ndinda, unassuming, of average height, slender and exceptionally beautiful like a Hollywood movie star even wearing just a tad of makeup, stood up briefly, shyly — looking like she wanted the earth to open up and swallow her!
The guests were stunned. “No!” the President of Somalia exclaimed incredulously. “This young one? I thought maybe she was another secretary!”
“She’s a professor?” The President of Tanzania could not believe it.
“Don’t let her cute smile and shyness fool you!” The President chuckled. “She and her team were responsible for opening our eyes to the true picture of natural resources and minerals we have. She’s another MVP — protected like the jewel she is!”
The President wasn’t kidding. Ndinda had just flown into Nairobi earlier that morning on a military jet from North Kivu, where a contingent of heavily armed KDF crack soldiers were a part of her team scouring the countryside mapping resources under the aegis of the President of the DRC.
Lastly, the President turned to Kefa Maloba — a short, quiet, unassuming scientist in his late fifties you could easily confuse with a janitor, wearing a single-breasted matte charcoal grey wool-linen blend Mandarin-inspired suit. Were it not for his colour you would have thought he was Chinese! And, ironically, he was — professionaly. “And lastly, we have Professor Kefa Maloba, our top rare earth elements expert and mining remediation strategy lead.”
Kefa stood up briefly and nodded matter-of-factly to the guests.
The President said, “He is the man we will be listening to mostly today. Believe it or not, he is a Kenyan but is on loan to us by the Chinese Government for the next ten years. Kefa works for the giant Baotou Iron and Steel Corp at the world’s largest rare earth elements mine — the Bayan Obo mine in Inner Mongolia, where 80% of Chinese deposits are concentrated.”
“I thought most REE deposits in China were in Jiangxi in the south?” the President of Uganda interjected, curiously. “I visited the place two years ago and was told so.”
The President turned to Kefa, to answer.
Kefa stood up and replied matter-of-factly, “Right now the south is only making up an estimated 6% of China’s REEs. These are what we call the heavy REEs like Gadolinium, Lutetium, Yttrium, Scandium, and Dysprosium.”
The President of Uganda nodded, accepting the correction. “So, you’re the man who is going to clean up the mess after we’re finished with digging the earth and leaving giant craters, all for tiny grams of these rare oxides?”
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Kefa stood up again. “Yes, that is my speciality, Mr. President.” Kefa was humourless.
The President of Tanzania was amused. “The Chinese Government allow you to tell us their secrets?”
“These production and reserve figures are in the public domain, Madam President.” Kefa replied simply.
The President said, “We have an NDA with the Chinese that Kefa will not reveal their secrets, and he will not reveal our secrets after he returns to them.” Then, after a beat. “Now, let me suggest we round off introductions by each country introducing its team, then we’ll move on to Kefa’s main presentation.”
After introductions were completed, the President said, “The purpose of this meeting — which I apologize because we only hinted at due to its sensitive nature — is to begin to explore if, under the framework of the EAC, we can work more closely together in three key areas.
“The first is on mining the rare earth elements — the REEs.” He paused to let it sink in. “I believe I do not need to tell anyone here that REEs are to the rapidly emerging green and AI revolution what coal was to the industrial revolution, and oil was to the automobile and aviation industry.
“Thanks to the global climate crisis, I believe we humans have little choice but to transition away from fossil fuels, as fast as possible, towards cleaner energies, like green hydrogen.”
“That is not what your friend in the White House is telling his countrymen,” the President of Uganda interjected, with a touch of sarcasm. “He’s telling his industry people to return to coal and make more internal combustion engines, and less EVs. Do you think he’s stupid or out of his mind?”
The President took it in gamely. “Well, I think it’s most unfortunate that a leader of the most enlightened country in the world is a climate change denier. Perhaps when the temperature tips beyond 2 degrees Celsius and he losses New York and Los Angeles and New Orleans to the oceans, then he might think twice about his position.”
The President of Uganda replied levelly, “The point is that ‘green’ turns out to be not so ‘green’ or even ‘clean’, as everybody seems to think! The way everybody is rushing to go ‘green’, you’re going to need thousands more of this fellow — ” He pointed casually at Kefa — “to clean up the environmental mess that is left behind. Is it any wonder the Chinese cannot let him go? That you have to sign an NDA for your own countryman!”
The President thought about it and answered respectfully, “You’re raising a legitimate concern about the ‘darker’ side of the — let me call it — ‘cleaner’ energy transition. The truth is, no industrial revolution has been without major consequences. The coal itself was absolutely devastating to humans! The industrial cities, like London and Manchester, were often shrouded in thick, choking, smog—you know, soot, smoke, and sulfur dioxide.
“The number of people who died from health issues as a consequence of just the air and water pollution, and diseases like cholera and TB, will never be truly known. But, it is grossly understated. Let’s not even start on the environmental damage caused. It’s not a wonder that Karl Marx wrote his famous Communist Manifesto in the late 1840s, after reflecting on human misery and wretchedness at a scale that was depressing in the extreme. We know who he blamed!
“Anyway, the point I’m making is that we have to learn from history, we have to do better. And, you’re right — that is why we have Kefa, here, even though he’s on loan to us! Let’s just say he’s another MVP!
“Indeed, if I may, Kefa here has a PhD in Environmental Geoscience from Stanford University. He worked as a junior research fellow with the US Environmental Protection Agency during early cleanup efforts at mining giant Molycorp’s Mountain Pass rare earth mine in the Mojave Desert.
“His second remediation experience was at the monazite mining sites across Para and Minas Gerais in the southeast region of Brazil, addressing legacy contamination using what are known as hyperaccumulator plants to extract Thorium traces from the soil. It’s not surprising that he’s leading one of the largest teams we have here in Oloombokoshi.”
The President of the DRC, who had not spoken a word, cleared his throat. “I agree with you,” he told the President supportively. “One cannot stop the clock, or even isolate yourself and try to take people back to the past. EVs and FCEVs are the future! Henry Ford would understand what we mean. People wanted a faster horse — not motor cars!”
Then, after a beat, he added, “Perhaps I should address an elephant in the room?” He paused, as some squirmed invisibly in their chairs, guessing where he was going with that thread.
The President read the awkward situation and quickly intervened. “Ah — Excellencies! Kindly, let me urge we proceed!”
All round there were murmurs in agreement he does.
The President paused to think, then continued. “So, for today’s meeting, let’s just focus on the REEs. And, without further ado, let me invite Kefa to make a presentation that will begin to illuminate where we are on this issue in the EAC.”
Kefa dutifully stood up and walked over to a widescreen presentation station, connecting his laptop using 4K wireless HDMI. He picked up a remote and pressed a button and the screen came alive with a 3D topographic map of Africa.
Kefa said conversationally, “Your Excellencies, let us begin with the Earth beneath us, and how it came to hold what it holds. Because if we’re to talk about Rare Earths, we must first understand deep time.”
As he spoke he gestured gently with the remote and the screen shifted to a time-lapse animation of tectonic plates moving over 600 million years.
“Africa was once part of the supercontinent Gondwana. Over tens of millions of years, violent tectonic collisions, volcanic intrusions, and the splitting of the crust gave birth to a belt of igneous and metamorphic rock — rich in mineralization.
“From the East African Rift, where we sit now, to the Central African Massif, this belt is where the Earth’s internal furnace cooked up deposits of monazite, bastnasite, and xenotime — the rocks that bear the rare earth elements.”
A layer faded in, showing the periodic table, with the 15 known Lanthanoids highlighted, and separately Scandium and Yttrium.
Kefa explained plainly, “According to the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry or IUPAC, the Rare Earth Elements or REE, also simply called Rare Earths or RE, also Rare Earth Metals or REM, consist of the 15 so-called Lanthanoids” — the names, symbols, and atomic numbers animated vertically on the side of the screen as he spoke — “as well as Scandium and Yttrium.
“Historically, most were discovered and researched in the 19th and early 20th centuries by chemists.”
Kefa made a gesture and the screen changed to show a stylized diagram of animated mineral cross-sections of carbonatites, alkaline igneous intrusions, and placer deposits against a black background.
Kefa continued explaining, “But, Rare Earths are never found alone. You don’t mine a mountain of neodymium! As His Excellency pointed out, you extract a gram here, and a gram there — from host minerals that are richer in other, more common elements. Currently there are over 200 such minerals that can play host to REEs — but only four are commercially viable, based on current extraction and separation technologies.”
He made a gesture and a clean, sharp, colour-coded table slid into view showing the host minerals for REEs. “At the top we have Monazite, which contains what we call Light REEs — Cerium, Lanthanum, Neodymium, and Praseodymium. In some cases they also contain radioactive Thorium — which, owing to ignorance and in some cases a rush to market — is still a major cleanup program in the US, Brazil, and China.”
A layer superimposed, showing the major Monazite sites in Africa: Madagascar, Mozambique, the DRC, Uganda, Tanzania, and Kenya.
“Next we have Bastnasite, which also contains Light REEs, especially Cerium, Lanthanum, and Neodymium.” The superimposed layer lit up with new colours against the DRC, Uganda, Burundi, Tanzania, Namibia, South Africa, and Kenya. “So far major sites are known to be in the same countries as Monazite, including Burundi.
“Thirdly, we have Xenotime, which contains Heavy REEs — Yttrium, Dysprosium, and Erbium.” On the superimposed map, a new colour flashed in with Malawi, Namibia, South Africa, and Madagascar. “These are of very high value, but also come with radioactive traces of Uranium and Thorium. Rich occurrences have been confirmed in Malawi, Namibia, and Madagascar.
“Lastly, at the bottom, we have Apatite, which contains Phosphates, and can host REEs as trace elements. Thus, for example, they are associated with iron-REE deposits like at Bayan Obo in China.”
Kefa made a gesture and a new table slid into view — this one showing a detailed list of the many current uses of REEs animated vertically. He explained to the guests dispassionately, “Now, Your Excellencies, it’s equally important to highlight some of the modern use cases for REEs — which is the main reason why they have become more sought after than gold.
“Going alphabetically, we have Cerium Ce at the top, which is used in catalysts in automotive catalytic converters, glass polishing for smartphones and LCD screens, diesel fuel additives, metal alloys, and lighting. Strategically, it is vital for clean emissions, optics, and industrial chemistry.
“Next, we have Dysprosium Dy, which enhances heat resistance in Neodymium, Iron, and Boron magnets essential in today’s EVs and turbines. It is also used heavily in industrial robotics and aerospace motors. Strategically, it is crucial for high-temperature magnet applications in EVs and renewables.
“Next, we have Erbium Er, which is used in fibre-optic amplifiers crucial for the telecom infrastructure. It’s also used in medical lasers and skin treatments or nuclear medicine. So, strategically, it is key to telecom networks and medical technology.
“Next, we have Europium Eu, which is used in the red phosphor in TVs, smartphone displays, and fluorescent lights. It is also used in anti-counterfeiting inks in currency and passports. Strategically, it is central to consumer electronics and security printing.
“Next, we have Gadolinium Gd, which is used in MRI contrast agents, nuclear reactor shielding, data storage, and microwave applications. Strategically, it is critical for medical imaging and nuclear safety.
“Next, we have Holmium Ho, which is used in high-strength magnets, industrial lasers, and nuclear reactors — where it absorbs neutrons. Strategically, it has nuclear and magnetic speciality use cases.
“Next, we have Lanthanum La, which is used in Nickel-Metal Hydride or NiMH batteries essential in hybrid cars, optical lenses, and catalysts in oil refining. Strategically, we can say it is critical in the energy storage, petrochemicals, and optics industry.
“Next, we have Lutetium Lu, which is used in cancer treatment in radioisotope therapies, and PET scan detectors. So, strategically, we can say it occupies a critical niche in the fast-growing medical imaging and therapy treatment areas.
“Next, we have Neodymium Nd, which is used in combination with Iron and Boron in permanent magnets essential in EV motors. It is also used in wind turbines, audio systems, auto-catalysts, and lasers. Strategically, it is one of the most critical and sought-after REEs for the green energy transition, including for the exponential manufacture of GPUs and other specialized processors required for AI computing.”
“So, this is what you have run out of for your ‘green’ revolution!” the President of Uganda interjected sarcastically, causing hearty laughter.
The President chuckled and retorted wryly, “Maybe you can sell us some of that Copper and Cobalt in Kasese in return for the large fleet of government internal-combustion guzzlers we’re disposing this year.”
“No, thank you!” shot back the President of Uganda, seemingly playfully. “We’re not in the market for your mitumba!” Then, he turned abruptly to Kefa and ordered, “Let’s continue, my friend! I’m waiting to hear one thing from you that I can’t get from ChatGPT!”
And the whole place rocked with uproarious laughter.
Kefa, affecting only a brief thin smile, un-paused his animated presentation and continued. “Next, we have Praseodymium Pr, which is used in permanent magnets blended with Neodymium, aerospace alloys, and glass and ceramic colourants. Strategically, it is valuable in transport, aerospace, and high-tech manufacturing.
“Next, we have Prometheum Pm, which is rare and radioactive. It is used in nuclear batteries with applications in spacecraft and pacemakers. It is also used in beta radiation sources targetting industrial gauges. Therefore, strategically, it is crucial in niche nuclear and space applications.
“Next, we have Samarium Sm, which is used in combination with Cobalt in high-temperature stabilized permanent magnets applied in defence and space industries. It is also used in nuclear reactor control rods. Therefore, strategically, it is key in defence, aerospace, and nuclear energy.
“Next, we have Scandium Sc, which is used in combination with aluminium in alloys essential for aerospace, EVs, and sports equipment. They are also used in solid oxide fuel cells with applications in power generation. Strategically, we can say it is key in lightweight, high-strength alloys essential in aerospace and clean energy technology.
“Next, we have Terbium Tb, which is used in the green phosphors in LEDs and TV screens, and in what we call magnetostrictive alloys in sonar, and precision actuators in robots. It is also present in permanent magnets. Strategically, we can say that it is essential in electronics, lighting, and military applications.
“Next, we have Thulium Tm, which is used in high-temperature superconductors in medical lasers, portable X-ray devices, and MRI imaging. Strategically, we can say it is essential in medical and imaging technology.
“Next, we have Ytterbium Yb, which is used in stainless steels, fibre-optic cables, and portable X-ray sources. Strategically, it is important in communications and the rapidly-emerging research in quantum computing applications.
“Finally, we have Yttrium Y, which is used in red phosphors in LEDs and TV screens. It is also used in superconductors, microwave filters, and as medical tracers in radiotherapy. Therefore, strategically, it is essential in telecom, display technology, and medicine.
Kefa made a gesture and a new animated screen showing many of the modern applications for REEs — smartphones, TVs, EVs, robots, medical devices, aeroplanes, ships, space rockets — superimposed against solar panels, wind turbines, magnets, phosphors, catalysts, batteries, glass and optics, and medical devices.
As the emerging new world conveniences rolled in and scaled to fill the whole screen, he explained candidly, “The key takeaway is that in every turbine that spins, every EV that moves, every screen that lights up, there’s a piece of the earth we stand on. The 21st-century economy runs not only on oil — but now increasingly on atoms we once overlooked.”
He made a gesture as he was speaking and an overlay faded in showing a summary of Africa’s estimated deposits, as he explained, “According to the United States Geological Survey of 2024, estimated total global REE reserves is 156 million tonnes, of which 98 million tonnes, or 63%, is here in Africa. Yet, we account for less than 3% of estimated revenues earned from REEs. This is because we have almost zero value chains and instead specialize in exporting raw materials.”
There were murmurs and nods of consternation as the guests digested the import of his words in their own ways.
Then Kefa made a gesture and a new layer faded in, showing the Great Rift Valley, Karagwe-Ankole Belt, and Central African Massif.
Kefa said, “Of course, these precious resources have not gone unnoticed by man!”
And he made a gesture and a new overlay appeared that caused some muffled gasps among the guests: a glowing heatmap showing exploitation over time — colonial mining hotspots, post-independence industrial efforts, and modern state-backed corporate interests.
There was Belgium in the DRC from the mid-twentieth century — extracting Cobalt, Uranium, and Niobium.
Then France and Elf Aquitaine in Gabon from the 1960s — extracting Uranium.
Then China since 2001 in Zambia and the DRC — extracting Copper and Coltan.
Then India, Brazil, and Turkey in Rwanda, Madagascar, and Kenya — extracting Tantalum.
The temperature in the room seemed to go up a notch as Kefa explained matter-of-factly, “Let me now zero in on where specifically REE projects are underway.”
He made a gesture and a new layer superimposed on the screen with highlighted key areas, including: Ngualla in southern Tanzania, Kangankunde in Malawi, Akapel in eastern Uganda, Bingo, Lueshe, Kirumba, and Kachere in eastern DRC, also Manono-Kitotolo in the southeastern DRC, Buru Hill in Zambia, and Lokiriama area in northern Kenya, also Mrima Hill in coastal Kenya.
And the room became more excited and animated, as Kefa went on explaining, “What your seeing here is a corridor of potential running from the Indian Ocean to the Atlantic. Geologically, these are tied to alkaline intrusions and carbonatites — rock bodies rich in light REEs, sometimes with high-value heavies, like Dysprosium — ”
But he never got to finish his sentence as the President of Uganda stood up and thundered at the President, “This is rubbish! You called us here to show off how advanced you are! Why don’t you tell us the real purpose of this meeting? Tell us the truth that you have run out of raw materials for your ‘green’ nonsense here? Now, you want us to ‘co-operate’ and give you what you want!” He sat down. “It will not happen as easily as you think! In Kiswahili it is said pesa mkononi!”
The President of Rwanda was saying, “Where is all this silly data coming from…?”
The President stood up and said calmly, “Please, calm down, Your Excellencies!” He looked at the President of Uganda reassuringly. “You’re wrong that we’ve run out of raw materials. However, you’re right that we’re seeking to foster a stronger regional co-operation and — ”
But he never finished the sentence as the President of the DRC fumed at the President of Uganda, “Why don’t you stop this hypocrisy? Everybody here knows who the master you’re serving is! At least Kenya is trying to stand on its own feet. And you!” He turned his venom on the President of Rwanda. “Shamelessly in bed with the European Union! Stealing our resources in broad daylight with your militias armed to the teeth with blood money!”
And the meeting degenerated into shouting matches and accusing fingers.
The President tried to retain control. “Your Excellencies! Please! I beg you! Let us maintain decorum! Let us take a break for tea!” But no one was listening any more.
The President of Uganda and his delegation stormed out in a huff, followed by Rwanda. The meeting was over prematurely.
“You were right!” Jacklyn told the President afterwards, aside. “It was a mistake to bring them together like this. We need to deal with them individually. It’s no wonder the developed world makes mincemeat of us! We can’t even sit down and have a civilized discussion about our resources.”
But, the President chuckled, unperturbed. “Actually, it went better than I expected. It was like watching a kindergarten fight between four-year-olds for chocolate bars! Believe me, they all want in. Pesa mkononi, the man said! Damn right!”
END.
Acknowledgments
There are tons of research information into REEs at various levels. For me, key were Volker Zepf, PhD thesis: Rare Earth Elements, and Georges M. Kasay, Olawale Kayode Aromolaran, Anthony Bolarinwa, Charles Nzolang: Rare Earth Deposits and Their Prospects in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Also, Nagaiyar Krishnamurthy, Chiranjib Kumar Gupta: Extractive Metallurgy of Rare Earths (2nd Ed.). And Kirsten Hund, Daniele La Porta, Thao P. Fabregas, Tim Laing, John Drexhage: Minerals for Climate Action: The Mineral Intensity of the Clean Energy Transition. And for an interesting investigative journalist’s perspective Guillaume Pitron: The Rare Metals War: The Dark Side of the Energy and Digital Transition.
On hydrogen metallurgy enlightening was Jianliang Zhang, Kejiang Li, Zhengjian Liu, Tianjun Yang: Primary Exploration of Hydrogen Metallurgy. And on circular ecology T.E. Graedel, B.R. Allenby: Industrial Ecology and Sustainable Engineering. On modern foundational manufacturing Hermann Kuhnle, Gunter Bitsch: Foundations & Principles of Distributed Manufacturing: Elements of Manufacturing Networks, Cyber-Physical Production Systems and Smart Automation.
The KENYWORK “Substation 4” image is courtesy Md Abdur Rahim.
I must also admit that I could not have written this instalment without the “co-authorship” no-less of ChatGPT 4o. Let me indulge my passion to dream and write while the setting sun still shines, and the dawn of a super-human race emerges certain cleverer than I could ever hope to dream! :-)
Lastly, I thank my family for their continued toleration of my indulgence, and especially my two daughters Tini and Edel — who may not be with me physically, but are always in my heart.
