Here’s what happened while America was busy with Fed meetings. Regime change in real time
Africa holds about 30% of the world’s critical minerals.
Congo has most of the cobalt. South Africa has the platinum. The continent is loaded with copper, chromium, lithium and rare earths. This is not optional stuff. Cobalt goes in every EV battery. Rare earths go in every semiconductor. Platinum goes in hydrogen fuel cells.
China noticed.
Beijing has spent the past decade writing checks to Africa. Its Belt and Road initiative poured money into African mining, railways to the mines, ports to ship the ore, refineries to process it — and contracts that guarantee Chinese buyers get first dibs on the output.
Central bankers are paid to be boring and cautious. When they start hoarding gold and building alternative settlement systems, something real is happening.
They see what China sees: The dollar’s monopoly made sense when there were no alternatives. Now there are alternatives.
This is coordinated preparation for a world where the dollar shares the throne instead of sitting on it alone.
This is what regime change looks like in real time.
Charlie Garcia MarketWatch Dec. 16, 2025
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