An investment firm, where Hunter Biden, the president’s son, was a founding board member, helped facilitate a Chinese company’s purchase from an American company owned by one of the world’s richest cobalt mines, located in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Mr. Biden and two other Americans joined Chinese partners in establishing the firm in 2013, known as BHR and formally named Bohai Harvest RST (Shanghai) Equity Investment Fund Management Company.

The three Americans, all of whom served on the board, controlled 30 percent of BHR, a private equity firm registered in Shanghai that makes investments and flips them for a profit. The rest of the company is owned or controlled by Chinese investors, including the Bank of China, according to records filed with Chinese regulators.

But why? Why is it so important for Americans to own a cobalt mining company in Africa? And why did China need Hunter Biden to aid them in the project? After all, it’s just cobalt. It’s not oil! Or is it?

The UAE Transformation

Every nation has its moments—decisions or discoveries that redefine its future. Earlier in the 17th century, if someone had told Westerners that the small patch of land in the eastern part of the Arabian Peninsula would become a modern-age paradise thriving on cutting-edge technology, they would have touted it as impossible and nothing short of a miracle.

Deep into the modern era, that same patch of land, now called the United Arab Emirates (UAE), is redefining the world order with its technological leadership. The miracle that transformed the barren sandy lands filled with natives who engaged in hunting and fishing for their livelihood into a heaven of global billionaires happened in late 1950s when crude oil was first discovered in Umm Shaif, Abu Dhabi.

The discovery of oil is considered the tipping point for the UAE. So much so that the history of the region could be rewritten as pre-oil discovery and post-oil discovery.

What Is Cobalt Used For?

Cobalt has a wide range of applications and is often used in many industrial processes. As of 2022, cobalt was most commonly used in batteries, followed by alloys, tools, pigments, catalysts, ceramics, and other uses. Because cobalt increases the life and energy density of batteries, it is one of the main metals used in lithium-ion batteries, which are essential for everything from cell phones and laptops to electric vehicles. As a result, cobalt demand has drastically increased in recent years, with producers scrambling to meet demand.

The iPhone Revolution

In 2007, wearing his standard black turtleneck, Steve Jobs unveiled the iPhone, a device that would reshape the way we communicate and, more importantly, how the world operates.

Apple iPhone sales have dramatically increased from 1.4 million in 2007 to over 231 million units per year by 2023. More than 2.2 billion iPhones have been sold globally since 2007. Apple, now the most valuable company in the world, has a market cap of $3.5 trillion.

The U.S. car market is saturated with automakers like Ford, Honda, and Chevrolet. But one company stands out: Tesla. Tesla and its CEO, Elon Musk, gained notoriety in 2012 when they released the Model S. Tesla’s release positioned it as one of the few successful independent automakers and a pioneer in the electric car market. Notably, it also proved to be a hit with auto buyers. The Model S, a sleek luxury sedan that starts at $74,990, is ranked best in class for safety by Euro NCAP.

When the Model S premiered in 2012, Tesla made headlines when trade press gave it laurels. The electric plug-in car received a near-perfect score of 99 out of 100 from Consumer Reports in 2013, which noted this was "the highest score in our Ratings".

By September 2014, the car set a new sales record for itself in the U.S. with 2,500 sold in just one month, and in Q1 2015, sales reached a new high at 10,030 sold. It is now considered a staple within the electric car stratosphere. As of September 15, 2024, the company’s market capitalization was $735 billion.

Cobalt: The New Oil

Elon Musk, thanks to his ownership in Tesla, is now considered the richest man in the world, with a staggering $250 billion fortune.

More than 22 million electric vehicles have been sold in under a decade. With climate change initiatives being forced upon every country in every corner of the world, this number will likely reach 200 million in the next decade. After all, there are 8 billion people on the planet. Everyone you know either has a car or knows somebody with one.

Whether it is the most powerful company in the world or the richest man in the world, they both have the same business model. Buy low and sell high. I know, nothing fancy. No specialized business terms necessary. Because despite what you might think, this is and has always been the best business model.

A iPhone cost Apple $490 to make and retails at $1,099. Apple earns roughly a $609 profit per phone.

Tesla makes a $8,400 profit off each tesla twice as much as Ford at $3,700 per vehicle.

Whether it’s Apple or Tesla, the bottom-line is the only way to profit one must have to have low raw material costs. Although Tesla and Apple sell far different things, what is the one raw material they have in common? You guessed it! Cobalt!

As you can see, cobalt is one of the fastest-growing commodities in the world, and it’s easy to understand why: everything we use, from laptops to phones to electric vehicles, contains a battery. But why is the Democratic Republic of Congo, which holds the most cobalt in the world, still one of the poorest nations? Shouldn’t the DRC benefit from its natural resources, just as the UAE did with oil?

The African Resource Struggle

ountries in Africa receive very different terms of doing business than other nations. On the surface, it appears that the world lends to Africa extensively and is concerned with its wellbeing. But in the world of global economics, Africa is a resource haven and every other continent fights over it to secure its own country’s viability.

They playbook is to give loans to the country under the guise of developing the nation. These loans are way more than the country can afford to pay, so in return they turn over access to their economic resources.

How rich would the DRC be if it could sell its raw materials at fair market prices, as the UAE sells its oil? Would it need loans from other countries if it could simply profit from its own land's riches? Wouldn’t it be self-sufficient like the UAE?

The Overwhelming Truth

If cobalt is the oil of the future and controlling it controls the future, and Hunter Biden helped China buy the mining company from a U.S. firm, whose future is he securing—America’s or China’s? One thing is for sure: neither gives a damn about the security of the DRC. As China mines in the DRC, human rights violations continue, with children as young as seven working in the mines. Apple, Tesla, and the majority of electric vehicle companies purchase cobalt directly from Chinese mining companies in the DRC.

If we are switching all vehicles to battery power to be environmental friendly and win the 'Moral Champion of the World' award, which country, company or leader is going to take the award for modern day slavery? No one…

Let this be a lesson to any community, country, or continent: if you don’t control your resources, you don’t control your future. And if Africa didn’t have anything of value, why is everyone fighting to control it?