Kenyan Cabinet Secretary for Mines Ali Hassan Joho said Kenyan authorities would prioritize bidders that give "Kenya the best deal on beneficiation" in allocating the tender to develop the country's Mrima Hill mining project, the Financial Times reported on April 3. Joho said the tender's allocation would be made "without losing sight of friends and allies," but emphasized that domestic value addition rather than geopolitical considerations would play a decisive role in determining the outcome of the bidding process.

On March 24, the Kenyan government invited investors to submit expressions of interest in the Mrima Hill project, located 65 kilometers (40 miles) from the port of Mombasa in the southern Kwale county. The Kenyan government said a 2022 geological mapping exercise had confirmed the presence of five elements, including niobium, yttrium and strontium. The project was previously held in a protracted legal dispute after the Kenyan government revoked the permit of the previous holder, a subsidiary of Canadian mining company Pacific Wildcat Resources.