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A grinding mill at Zimbabwe’s Arcadia Lithium mine, acquired in 2022 by China’s Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt for over $400 million. Lithium from this site powers the global shift to electric vehicles and clean energy. (Photo by Tafadzwa Ufumeli/Getty Images)

By Rabah Arezki and Rick van der Ploeg, Project Syndicate | July 23, 2025

Vast natural-resource endowments have proven to be more of a curse than a blessing, with resource-rich countries often developing more slowly than their resource-poor counterparts. Today, countries rich in critical minerals have a chance to change this – but only if they invest in strengthening their institutional capacity.

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