March 2026 Edition
Priyakshi Pujari
Arms and Arguments Club Member
“Exploiting Africa – How China and Europe hunt for the raw materials of the future”| DW Documentary
The DW documentary “Exploiting Africa: How China and Europe Hunt for the Raw Materials of the Future” operates as a critique of contemporary resource geopolitics. Its central argument that both China and Europe reproduce extractive and colonial relationships is persuasive, particularly in its linkage between the green energy transition and intensified resource dependency in Africa. The documentary exposes how “sustainable” futures in the Global North are built upon environmentally and socially unsustainable practices in the Global South.
China’s state-led investment model and Europe’s regulatory, market driven approach are treated as equivalent without sufficient structural comparison. More critically, African agency is underdeveloped; states appear largely as passive victims rather than strategic actors negotiating within constraints.
The documentary presents a critical view of global supply chains, emphasizing exploitation, geopolitical rivalry, and the uneven distribution of gains.