The tragedy is, Africa sells gold, cobalt, lithium, oil (you name it) and then purchases the finished product at 10X the price. That is not a lack of resources, it is a lack of processing power, industry, and long-term vision. And, as you correctly point out, foreign powers understand this cycle well, and have regulated the rules so that Africa remains the supplier, never the builder
But other countries like China are filling the same vacuum that Europe used to fill, but with new tools. Loans, infrastructure, and partnerships which appear as "win-win" but which keep people in a state of dependency. So how do we break the cycle? Maybe it begins with governments developing real midstream industries, not just selling raw rocks. Or even regional groupings, so that African countries stop competing with each other to offer the lowest export price
Strategies for escaping the debt trap, the raw material export trap, and the dependency trap on developed countries. The strategy isn't a single tactic, but rather a combination of long-term policies that include value-added products, governance, smart financing, and investment in people. African countries that successfully escape the trap typically employ several strategies simultaneously: securing revenue from resources, enforcing technology transfer through contracts, building scale through regional integration, and improving governance.
Several countries have the potential to escape the raw material export trap, including Botswana, which previously exported 100% of its raw diamonds. It changed its regulation requiring diamond processing domestically, establishing a diamond processing and cutting center in Botswana (transferring technology, skills, and creating jobs). While this strategy cannot yet be adopted across all industries, it is a first step toward moving up the value chain and increasing the SWF (Sustainable Investment Fund) to stabilize revenues.