Kenya: Mrima Hill Residents and Their Forest Under Threat from Foreign Investors

Mrima Hill, a picturesque wooded hill near the Tanzanian border, has recently seen a surge of foreign visitors. This interest is driven by significant reserves of niobium, a mineral used to strengthen steel, located in the area.

The site is small, covering approximately 3.6 square kilometers. However, the mineral deposit has been valued at $62.4 billion by Cortec Mining Kenya, a subsidiary of English companies and the Canadian firm Pacific Wildcat Resources, as of 2013.

The Greedy Eyes of Foreign Investors

As competition for access to rare earths intensifies globally, the former interim U.S. ambassador to Kenya, Marc Dillard, visited the site in June, as confirmed by several villagers interviewed by AFP and the American diplomatic mission in Nairobi.

Washington has made securing critical minerals a central element of its diplomacy in Africa, aiming to compete with China's near-monopoly in this strategic sector.

The White House has notably celebrated achieving a peace agreement between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, a nation rich in mineral resources, despite ongoing violence in the East.

Just before the American representative's visit, an Australian consortium made an offer in April to exploit the rare earths. Chinese nationals have also recently attempted to visit the area, where land speculators are flocking, as reported by Juma Koja, a community guardian.

Fear of Displacement

"People come here in big cars [...], but we turn them away," he told AFP, noting that a team from the agency was initially also denied access to the forest. "I don’t want my people to be exploited," he justified.

The guardian fears irreversible environmental damage, particularly the loss of unique native trees such as the large orchid, which is already threatened even before mining begins. "In my heart, I cry" at this thought, he confided.

The lush forest, rich in medicinal plants, also houses sacred sanctuaries and has long supported the local population, although more than half of them currently live in extreme poverty, according to government data.

The local community is especially worried about being displaced due to the niobium mining, from which they would gain nothing.

"Where will they take us?" worries Mohammed Riko, 64, vice president of the Mrima Hill Community Association. "Mrima is our life."

A Government Hesitant About Mining

Kenya imposed a national ban on new mining licenses in 2019 due to concerns over corruption and environmental degradation, a ban that has been gradually relaxed since.

With China increasingly limiting its own rare earth exports, Nairobi now sees opportunities to seize.

The Kenyan Ministry of Mines announced this year bold reforms, including tax incentives and increased licensing transparency, aimed at attracting investors and boosting the sector from 0.8% of GDP to 10% by 2030.

However, Kenya lacks precise soil data, according to Daniel Weru Ichang’i, a retired professor of economic geology at the University of Nairobi.

"There is a romantic view of mining, perceived as a sector where money can be made easily. We need to come back down to earth," he observes.

Widespread corruption in Kenya "makes this already high-risk sector less attractive to potential investors," he adds.

In 2013, Kenya revoked the mining license granted to Cortec Mining Kenya, citing environmental and licensing irregularities. The company claims it was penalized for refusing to pay a bribe to the then-Minister of Mines, which he denies. The company lost its appeal in an international court.

Domitilla Mueni, treasurer of the Mrima Hill Association, still hopes for significant benefits. She has planted trees on her land and cultivated it to maximize profits in case mining companies wish to buy it.

And she wonders, "Why should we die poor when we have minerals?"