THE GCC: A NEW HUB FOR CRITICAL MINERALS?
An overriding impression that I have had from many of the conferences that I have been fortunate to speak at and attend over the past year is the increasing attention on the GCC (Gulf Co-operation Council) region.
For many a decade, the region was excluded from any co-operative projects with the developed world related to mineral resources exploration, mining and processing. But rising geopolitical and trade tensions, the brutal exposure of a lack of supply chain resilience in many sectors, the very dominant position of China across the value chain, and the region’s own desire to develop its capacities in its non-oil economies (above all non-energy resources and manufacturing) has prompted a rethink. The latter ambition is enhanced by its geography and above all its access to local investment capital, as well as its proven reliability as a partner in the energy sector, which it can leverage as it moves forward into this arena. That said, this is a development which remains in its infancy. What follows are a few by no means exhaustive thoughts about some key considerations, which effectively follow on the article on the Myths of Deglobalization in the Q2 edition of The Ghost In The Machine.
As the war in Gaza has amply demonstrated, peace and security in the wider MENA region remains a high risk, which appears unlikely to change materially in the foreseeable future. But bear in mind that even through the 1984 to 1987 Iran- Iraq ‘tanker war’, OPEC continued to function effectively, and despite the recent bombing of key Iranian nuclear facilities, and the various exercises to remove senior members of Hamas, Hezbollah and the Iranian leadership, a broader regional escalation has been avoided thus far. Perhaps as importantly, the objections from long standing vested interests’ barriers, or generic and very understandable security concerns have largely fallen by the wayside, as is often the case when necessity becomes the mother of invention, as the old adage goes. As an aside, this is also increasingly true of European attitudes to sourcing energy supplies from Africa.
BUILDING RESILIENT SUPPLY CHAINS REQUIRES TIME, EXPERTISE, AND INTEGRATED PLANNING BEYOND INITIAL INTENTIONS AND CAPITAL ACCESS.
Intention, the relatively ready access to capital and the broader desire of Europe and North America to ‘de- risk’ their over dependency on China, and in so doing diversify their supply chains are all positives. But they are certainly not sufficient on their own. Even a rudimentary understanding of supply chain risks highlights the need to develop local technical expertise, as well as developing reliable upstream supply, and ensure downstream demand, while ensuring that distribution channels are resilient and secure. As importantly it takes a lot of time to put this in place, and a great deal of planning expertise with regards to ensuring all the various parts of the supply chain and distribution channels are properly integrated. Many projects are still at a largely conceptual stage, and there will also be numerous climate and environmental hurdles and challenges to address, which fast developing technology will help to overcome, but will likely create delays in the implementation process.
16 | ADMISI - The Ghost In The Machine | Q3 Edition 2025
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