Zo Randriamaro: "Madagascar's mineral resources will be exploited to produce weapons for Ukraine or Gaza."

BarcelonaFrom her office in Antananarivo, Zo Randriamaro coordinates an ecofeminist organization, CRAAD-OI, that fights against extractive projects that threaten ecosystems and communities in Madagascar. The project is a means of attracting foreign companies involved in the project. Global research into critical minerals for the energy and digital transition, and also for a growing arms industry.

Madagascar seems to be in the throes of a critical mineral rush.

— In Madagascar, we have almost all the so-called critical raw materials: nickel, lithium, graphite, cobalt, and rare earths. We are estimated to have the largest reserves of rare earths outside of China. They are not yet exploited, and we are supporting the communities that will be affected by these mining projects to resist. A month ago, the government approved a mining project in the south of the country for Energy Fuels, one of the largest uranium producers in the United States. They did so because they couldn't get the World Bank and IMF loans we used to get each year for the national budget, and this company signed an agreement with the government and will pay more than $800 million. That's why we are afraid that another rare earth mining project like the one we are fighting against will also be licensed if the company offers enough money to the government.

What impact do these types of mines have?

— A very serious environmental impact, but also a social one. Most of the time, people are evicted from their land to make way for mining operations. In a population where the majority depends on agriculture and fishing, their livelihoods are completely lost. And all this is done without giving them any information about what will happen to them or a place to go. I'm sure even the government has no idea where it will relocate the thousands of displaced people [from the Energy Fuels project].

Is exploitation always carried out by foreign companies?

— Yes. And we don't just focus on mining; we generally fight against extractivism: projects that have a very serious ecological footprint and cause massive displacement of people to extract natural resources from Madagascar. And all for export, not for the country or its people. They present it as the engine of Madagascar's economic growth and development. It's a government policy, strongly encouraged by the World Bank and international financial institutions, which have even pushed the government to change mining legislation to facilitate investment by foreign companies in the mining sector, with tax reductions. Forgive me for being so blunt, but this returns Madagascar to the status of a colony. Only now it's carried out through the exploitation of natural resources. Before, it was through political and territorial domination.

How does your organization fight against this?

— At the local level, we're raising awareness among communities about the impacts it will have and helping them say no and resist. At the international level, we're trying to make life difficult for the company in terms of the financial resources it still needs to find: we're writing to its investors to explain what the project will entail. China owned a rare earth mine in the north of the country, but they ran into financial problems, and the company closed, and the shares were acquired by an Australian company. This Australian company is also still looking for more investment.

Do you think the Malagasy public believes this is the way to grow?

— Many people think this is the path to economic development, that we are rich in mineral resources and should exploit them for our own benefit. But the problem is that right now, they are not being exploited for the benefit of the population, but rather for the benefit of large mining companies, which don't care what might happen to the population and the natural environment of Madagascar.

And they also argue that this mining is essential for the necessary energy transition.

— The American company Energy Fuels, which has obtained the license from the Malagasy government, doesn't even talk about energy transition, only about its country's "energy security," because Trump is now in favor of "drilling" for oil and gas. In fact, we asked our partners in the United States to conduct an analysis, and we discovered that most of the rare earths they will extract from Madagascar will be used for defense and military purposes, not for energy security. They will exploit our resources to produce weapons and military equipment that will end up in the wars in Ukraine and Palestine.