亚历克西斯的观点：这次联合国大会最引人注目的特点之一，就是在会议期间各方为争夺关键矿产资源而展开的激烈竞争。
Alexis’s view One of the most eye-catching features of this UN General Assembly has been the drive to secure deals — particularly for critical minerals — playing out on the margins of the gathering.
从非洲的角度来看，这一切的核心可以用一个词来概括：韧性（即适应变化、持续发展的能力）。这些合作机会为非洲国家提供了新的发展途径，在一个充满不确定性的世界中为它们提供了稳定支持。如今，非洲国家越来越倾向于与邻近国家建立更紧密的合作关系。
From the African perspective, the subtext boils down to one word: resilience. These deals offer partnerships, a ballast in a fractured world. And, increasingly, the aim is to partner with other countries closer to home.
资源丰富的非洲国家正在共同努力，从单纯出口原材料转向更加重视本地加工，以提升产品附加值并创造更多就业机会，从而实现长期经济增长。非洲政策制定者的根本目标是让本国经济摆脱对大宗商品价格波动的依赖，进而避免因此带来的经济动荡。
Mineral-rich African nations are converging around a push to pivot from simply exporting raw materials to a greater emphasis on local processing to add value and jobs that can generate long-term growth. The underlying motivation for African policymakers is to untether their economies from commodity cycles and, by extension, the upheavals that come with them.
当然，这其中也存在风险。联合国秘书长安东尼奥·古特雷斯在纽约的一次活动中警告称，矿产资源争夺过程中可能存在被剥削的情况。但他强调：“不能再让非洲成为被剥削的对象。”
There are dangers, of course. UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned of potential exploitation around the scramble for minerals. “No more plundering,” he said at an event in New York.
不过，这种注重增强韧性的理念并不仅仅局限于矿产资源领域。在本周的“Semafor’s The Next 3 Billion”活动中，这一理念贯穿了所有讨论的主题。在公共卫生领域，非洲疾病控制与预防中心的负责人强调了非洲需要自主生产疫苗的重要性（尤其是通过区域合作来实现这一目标）；非洲金融公司的负责人则指出了非洲金融市场和养老基金在推动经济增长方面可以发挥的关键作用。
But this emphasis on building resilience goes far beyond the issue of mineral resources. It was on show this week at Semafor’s The Next 3 Billion event, permeating discussions on a range of subjects. In public health, the head of Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention stressed the need for the continent to manufacture its own vaccines, and to do so in regional groupings. Similarly, Africa Finance Corporation’s head emphasized the role African financial markets and pension funds can play in boosting economic growth.
在能源领域，这一理念表现得尤为明显——人们正在讨论在东非建立炼油中心的可能性。所有这些举措都基于“合作共赢”的原则。尼日利亚的阿利科·丹戈特（Aliko Dangote）投资的巨型炼油厂就是一个成功的例子：该炼油厂的成功证明了提升本地产业自主能力的重要性。长期以来，由于缺乏炼油能力，非洲最大的原油生产国一直依赖外部市场来获取燃料；如今，尼日利亚已不再需要依赖其他国家了。
Nowhere is this approach clearer than in energy. That thinking is driving talk of a refining hub in East Africa. And, again, the idea is premised on working together. One key success of Aliko Dangote’s mega-refinery in Nigeria is that it showed the importance of developing autonomy. Africa’s largest crude producer, so long undermined by its lack of refining capacity, doesn’t need to rely on the rest of the world for fuel anymore.
肯尼亚贸易部长告诉 Semafor：对于他的国家来说，真正的韧性不仅体现在保障物资供应上，还体现在提升本土的加工能力上——尤其是要能够大规模地加工这些物资，以满足区域市场的需求。这就是下周将在拉穆（Lamu）动工建设的、耗资160亿美元的丹戈特（Dangote）炼油厂项目的核心理念。他说：“非洲正在积极承担起自己应有的责任。”
Kenya’s trade minister told Semafor that for his country, the lesson is that resilience requires more than securing supplies, but also building the capacity to process them closer to home and doing so at a scale that serves regional markets. That is the logic behind the proposed $16 billion Dangote refinery in Lamu, which breaks ground next week. “Africa is now standing up to its role,” he said.
Semafor 的记者英卡·阿德戈克（Yinka Adegoke）指出：非洲要实现可持续发展，就需要大量的可靠电力、资金以及专业技术支持，以便在当地对矿产资源进行加工。
Notable Africa’s solution to development requires enormous reliable electricity, capital, and technical expertise to facilitate the local processing of minerals, wrote Semafor’s Yinka Adegoke.