As of 2015, the DR Congo started experiencing a multidimensional crisis mainly due to the postponement of the presidential elections. Nonetheless, the country’s attractiveness is extremely high in terms of commodities. The DR Congo is a resource-rich country which detains 10% and 30% of the world’s copper and cobalt reserves. In 2007, China and the DR Congo signed a Sino-Congolese mining and infrastructure agreement which led to a rise in the Chinese outbound mining investments in the copper-cobalt belt of the ex-Katanga province a decade later. Under China’s guidance, the country is at the heart of green technologies. Since 2017, several car makers, batteries manufacturers, and iPhone maker (BMW, Volkswagen, Contemporary Amperex Technology Limited (CATL), Samsung, and Apple) have decided to secure their cobalt supplies directly from the DR Congo.
However, the geopolitics of cobalt has revealed the DR Congo’s vulnerability. First, political and electoral crises endanger a regular supply of critical raw materials, such as cobalt. Second, the new mining legislation has become another matter of concern for foreign mining companies, while waiting for its promulgation. The implementation of the 2018 mining code would imply a rise in taxation, knowing that cobalt could be classified as a strategic substance. In response, on February 8, 2018, a cartel of giant mining companies (including Ivanhoe, Glencore mentioned in the Paradise Papers, and three Chinese companies) denounced to President Kabila the fiscal regime of the new mining code. In the same month, Gecamines, a private company detaining public assets, planned to review its mining contracts. This is likely to create further tensions between Gecamines (state) and its partners, particularly Ivanhoe, Glencore, and the Chinese companies. Third, the country is not able to supply greener metals. Its mining sector is exposed to environmental and social risks, including child labour. Although cobalt is not a conflict mineral, the traceability of 20% cobalt mined by artisanal diggers has become a critical issue that the London Metal Exchange (LME) and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have attempted to address.
Overall, the mining sector is under pressure in a fragile state on the edge. The DR Congo has to improve the mining sector’s governance. In addition, it must restore political stability and state authority to benefit from the development of climate-friendly technologies, notably e-mobility. Thus, it might fully participate in a low-carbon economy in line with the Paris agreement’s requirements.
396 words