The Global Race to Mine the Metal of the Future

<p>In the high-stakes competition to dominate the business of clean energy, the Democratic Republic of Congo is a major arena: The country is the source of more than two-thirds of the world’s cobalt, a key component of electric-car batteries.</p><p>In recent years, China has established a strong presence in Congo, while the United States has lost ground. We went to the African country to understand how that happened.</p><p>Guest: <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/by/dionne-searcey">Dionne Searcey</a>, a correspondent for The New York Times.</p><p>Have you lost a loved one during the pandemic? The Daily is working on a special episode memorializing those we have lost to the coronavirus. If you would like to share their name on the episode, please RECORD A VOICE MEMO and send it to us at <a href="mailto:thedaily@nytimes.com">thedaily@nytimes.com</a>. You can find more information and<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/03/podcasts/daily-memorial-covid.html"> specific instructions here</a>.</p><p>Background reading: </p><ul><li>The United States failed to safeguard decades of diplomatic and financial investments in Congo, where<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/21/world/us-china-energy.html"> the world’s largest supply of cobalt</a> is now controlled by Chinese companies backed by Beijing.</li><li>The power struggle over Congo’s cobalt has<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/21/world/us-china-energy.html"> rattled the clean-energy revolution</a>.</li></ul><p>Want more from The Daily? For one big idea on the news each week from our team, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/newsletters/the-daily?module=inline">subscribe to our newsletter</a>. </p><p>For more information on today’s episode, visit <a href="http://nytimes.com/thedaily?smid=pc-thedaily">nytimes.com/thedaily</a>. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. </p>