At a time of severe economic crisis in the country, the new discovery announced by Kenya's Minister of Mineral Resources, Salim Mvurya, could be read positively, as an added value to be able to generate new revenues to pay off an ever-growing public debt.
On the other hand, however, it could trigger territorial conflicts that in other African nations and regions have given rise to extremist formations, guerrilla warfare and secessionist uprisings, as well as the exploitation of child labour and women.

We are talking about coltan, one of the rarest and most precious minerals on the planet, whose fame in the Third Millennium is due to its use in new technologies, in particular to produce mobile phones, batteries for electric cars and other electronic devices.
According to the BBC, deposits of coltan, whose name comes from the fusion of columbite and tantalite, have been found in six counties in the country, but their size and value has yet to be determined. "Our teams will do a soil analysis so that we can start assessing the economic value of this particular mineral," Minister Mvurya said. But it seems that several parties are already at the sites of the discoveries in order to convince the local population to give up their land. Just as residents of Embu County in eastern Kenya, one of the counties most credited for the presence of this mineral, have been advised to hold on to their land.

Coltan is 90% a sub-Saharan African phenomenon, and the Democratic Republic of Congo alone holds about 70% of the world's reserves. Especially for this 'new gold', the country has for years been plagued by violent conflicts, especially in the eastern regions of North and South Kivu, where secessionist guerrilla groups are fighting with the government and the East African peacekeeping forces for the autonomy of areas that have become rich in resources but which remain miserable for the local population with the aggravating factor of being caught up in internal struggles for power.

This is why if on the one hand this important discovery could bring job opportunities (but what kind of job is a miner? And how well protected is he in Africa?) on the other hand there is the great risk of instability and feuds at least at the local level. The price of coltan depends on the amount of tantalum it contains, but on average a kilo of the rare mineral sells for $48, according to Forbes.