Browsing: Cobalt in DRC

• According to authorities, tapping into DRC’s mineral wealth will yield significant returns for investors and contribute to the Congolese population’s socio-economic advancement.
• This strategic approach resonates with President Félix Antoine Tshisekedi’s agenda to foster job creation and entrepreneurial opportunities.
• Canadian mining giant Ivanhoe Mines is cited as an example of a “modern investor” doing business in DRC.

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is embarking on a bold mission to harness its untapped mineral wealth, valued at $24 trillion, by courting “modern investors” to drive its mining-powered development plan.

At the forefront of this initiative is Mr. Miguel Kashal Katemb, the Director General of the Regulatory Authority for Subcontracting in the Private Sector (ARSP), who articulated the nation’s aspirations at the 30th annual Mining Indaba in Cape Town, South Africa.

In his address to the audience of investors, Mr Katemb underscored the DRC’s openness to all investors while emphasising the …

• Africa has huge potential to power global supply chains for automobiles, handsets, food, renewable energy, and healthcare.
• The value of the African supply chain finance market rose by 40% between 2021 and 2022, reaching $41 billion.
• Africa has at least a fifth of the world’s reserves in a dozen metals critical for the energy transition.
• African countries need to capitalize on their comparative advantages and bolster technology adoption, improve logistics and leverage trade agreements.

Riding on its key comparative advantage of driving green transition globally, Africa can become a new hub for international supply chain, including for technology intensive industries. However, to realize this ambition, the ball lies principally in the court of policymakers in Africa and businesses to position the continent at an advantage.

These revelations are contained in the new United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Economic Development in Africa Report 2023 released on 16^th…

• DRC President Tshisekedi pledges peaceful elections on 20 December 2023.
• DRC is enjoying five years of steady economic development under President Felix Tshisekedi 
• The country is well underway to becoming Africa’s top investment destination.

Since the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) President Felix Tshisekedi came into power in 2018, he has spearheaded the revamping of the mineral-rich country’s economy.

The numbers tell it all. The DRC GDP in 2018 was $47.57 billion before rising to $51.78 billion in 2019. As of last year, it clocked an impressive $58.07 billion. Had it not been for the economic rout brought by Covid-19, the DRC’s GDP would have been considerably higher.

Today, the DRC is well on its way to attaining its rightful status as a key investment destination in Africa. How did DRC President Tshisekedi manage to drive this economic revolution?

DRC role in regional integration

In a move that has culminated …

DRC President Félix Tshisekedi has announced the signing of a mining deal with the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Many other companies have shied away from the troubled Eastern region. However, the UAE company Primera Group has signed a share deal for export rights of minerals mined in the region.…

• DRC’s agriculture and vast extractive industry are prime targets for global investors. UAE investors have already struck a deal with the Kivu and Maniema Gold Company (SAKIMA).
• Investors can expect huge returns with DRC estimated to be Africa’s fastest growing economy at 4.7% this year.
• Through reforms, Kinshasa has cut business opening process to just three days.

While global economic growth is projected to average between 2.7% and 3.2%, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) will be Africa’s fastest growing economy posting 4 percent jump this year.

This high rate of economic growth is getting the eye of investors from across the globe who are eyeing DRC’s promising returns in investments. Which begs the question: What is driving investors into DRC? I set out to find out why.

DRC’s key investment areas

According to this year’s Africa’s Macroeconomic Performance and Outlook report by the African Development Bank Group (AfDB), the …

• Lithium battery industry to grow over 30 percent annually from 2022 to 2030
• Market value for lithium batteries to exceed US$400 billion by 2030
• DRC, Zambia and Tanzania looking to refine cobalt, manufacture lithium batteries

The sale of Electric Vehicles (EVs) is booming in the transport industry of the developed world, and now Africa wants in.

Rather than continue to supply raw materials for the making of the electric vehicle, countries like DRC, Zambia, and Tanzania, want to refine the ores and even manufacture the final product, lithium batteries.

Their ambitions are well placed because the lithium battery industry is booming and will only keep growing. A 2022 analysis by the McKinsey Battery Insights team projected that the entire lithium-ion battery chain, from mining through recycling, could grow by over 30 percent annually by 2030 when it would reach a value of more than US$400 billion.

“Batteries for mobility applications, …

• Companies that purchase cobalt are said to engage in a “futile” exercise when they attempt to differentiate flows from industrial mines and the significant production from small-scale artisanal mining
• Buyers will only be able to fulfil an anticipated four-fold growth in global demand for cobalt by 2030 with ASM
• The DRC Congo was the world’s greatest producer of cobalt in 2022, producing 130,000 tonnes of the metal, roughly 68% of all cobalt mined worldwide

To meet the growing demand for the mineral used in batteries that power electric vehicles and consumer gadgets, changes are needed to legitimize the activities of unregulated artisanal mining in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Companies that purchase cobalt are said to engage in a “futile” exercise when they attempt to differentiate flows from industrial mines and the significant production from small-scale artisanal mining, or ASM, according to a paper released on Wednesday 8th Feb …

It is important to outline how the DRC stands to become a crucial investment hub in Africa. Foreign and domestic private entities reserve the right to establish business ventures across the nation and engage in all forms of remunerative operations, this is according to the US State Department as it outlines its engagement strategy with the country.

The DRC’s investment agency—the National Agency for Investment Promotion (ANAPI) provides essential facilitation services for initial investments over US$200,000 and is responsible for simplifying the investment process, make procedures more transparent, assist new foreign investors and improve the business image of the DRC—as the investment destination. 

The DRC has potential sectors that are essential for investment and boosting the nation’s economic landscape for the betterment of the region. The sectors do not only create enough revenue to expand the welfare of the population, but create sustainable systems that creates millions of job opportunities. …