Tshisekedi Extols DRC’s Critical Minerals for Green Transition

During his intervention at the Africa Mining Indaba 2023 (#AMI2023), Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) President Felix Tshisekedi extolled the potentialities of the mining sector of his country, particularly in the context of the #GreenTransition.

Taking place in Cape Town from 6 to 9 February 2023, the Africa Mining Indaba will showcase DRC as a attractive destination for #FDI in mining. In addition to having a country pavilion with several stands, a dedicated DRC Day on 8 February 2023 is on the program. Accompanying President Tshisekedi is a large delegation comprising of the Minister of Mines, Governors of the provinces of Katanga and Lualaba as well as several stakeholders in the mining sector.

DRC boasts more than 1,100 different types of minerals. Among these, DRC possesses huge reserves of Cobalt, Coltan, Lithium and Germanium which are critical minerals for electric batteries used in Electric Vehicles (#EV) and other electronic devices. In fact, DRC has 80% of the world’s reserves of cobalt and contributes 25% to the world’s supply of tantalum from coltan.

However, he lamented the fact that due to a lack of #GoodGovernance, Africa has not been able to tap into the promised riches afforded by its vast mineral resources. Therefore, countries are adjusting their mining code in line with best practices to promote Local Value Addition (#LVA) rather than just exporting raw minerals and ores.

To that effect, according to Antoinette N’Samba Kalambayi, Minister of Mines of DRC, the priority of the mining sector will evolve to ensure sustainable and shared development for the benefit of the local population. She also laid emphasis on the necessity to consider the #ESG criteria in the mining sector to guarantee the safe extraction and secure supply of critical minerals.