The two-day event brought together ministers, industry executives, researchers, and development partners from across the continent to explore how Africa, and particularly the DRC, can transition from raw material exporter to a hub for battery production, electric mobility, and green industrialisation.
Speaking at the forum, Susannah McLaren, Head of Responsible Sourcing and Sustainability at the Cobalt Institute and a member of the Forum’s Advisory Board, provided a data-driven assessment of the DRC’s global position in the battery value chain.
“In 2020, global cobalt demand exceeded 200,000 tonnes for the first time, with batteries accounting for more than 75% of consumption and electric vehicles alone over 40%,” said McLaren. “Mine production reached 254,000 tonnes, with the DRC supplying roughly 76% of that total. Yet nearly 80% of cobalt refining still takes place in China.”
That imbalance, she noted, underlines the DRC’s opportunity to capture more downstream value through local refining and processing.
“These developments position the DRC to attract the kind of long-term, responsible investment global buyers are seeking,” said McLaren, pointing to the growing adoption of ESG standards and independent assurance across the sector.
She highlighted that major Congolese producers, including China Molybdenum’s Tenke Fungurume Mining (TFM) and Glencore’s Kamoto Copper Company (KCC) and Mutanda Mining (MUMI) operations, have received the Copper Mark certification, while TFM is undergoing additional assessment.
McLaren also underlined the reforms reshaping artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM), a long-standing challenge for the DRC’s cobalt industry.
“ASM cobalt now contributes less than 2% of output, reflecting market shifts,” she said. “But important governance changes are underway. In February 2025, the government introduced sweeping regulatory measures separating certified artisanal cobalt and mandating that it can only be exported through L’Entreprise Générale du Cobalt (EGC).”
The new rules ban mixing uncertified material, establish OECD-aligned standards, and require traceability, safety, and environmental compliance across ASM operations.
“These regulatory shifts represent a leap forward for responsible Congolese cobalt,” McLaren noted. “They not only restore trust but also create a framework that aligns with global sourcing expectations.”
She also pointed to temporary cobalt export suspensions earlier in 2025, first in February, then extended in June, as part of efforts to stabilise markets and encourage local beneficiation.
“This is not just about market management,” McLaren said. “It’s about creating a window for the DRC to encourage in-country processing, build industrial parks, and develop special economic zones that can host refining and precursor industries.”
McLaren concluded with a call to international investors:
“Link offtake to value-add. Co-invest in infrastructure and special economic zones. Fund training, labs, and assurance systems. If you seek resilient, responsible, and future-ready supply chains, the DRC is where to build them.”
The DRC’s focus on diversification beyond cobalt was also a key discussion point. Célestin Kibeya, General Manager of Cominière S.A., spoke about the Manono Lithium Project, one of the country’s emerging developments.
“The Manono project represents a new chapter for our mining industry,” said Kibeya. “Lithium has long been known in the region, but only now, with advances in battery technology, has it become a truly strategic mineral.”
Kibeya identified energy and infrastructure as the most urgent priorities.
“Our first challenge is energy availability,” he said. “We are involved in the rehabilitation of the Mpiana-Mwanga hydroelectric power plant, focused on hydroelectric generation to meet the Manono project’s needs.”
He noted that Cominière is also improving road links from Lubumbashi to Manono and across the Manono–Kalemie corridor, including a new bridge over the Luvua River.
The Manono project is a large mining development aimed at extracting lithium, tin, and tantalum.
“You cannot develop a mining project without energy or transport,” Kibeya emphasised. “These investments will support not just Manono but the wider community.”
Providing a scientific and educational dimension, Professor Hercule Kalele Mutondo, Technical Director at the Congolese Battery Council (CCB) and Professor of Chemistry and Electrochemistry at the University of Kinshasa, emphasised the importance of academic–industry partnerships.
“The DRC’s greatest opportunity lies in the abundance of minerals used in battery manufacturing,” he said. “But to realise this potential, universities and training centres must adapt to the needs of the mining and processing industries.”
He called for direct collaboration between academia and industry to align curricula with operational requirements and ensure that local talent drives industrial growth.
On the scientific front, Professor Mutondo reaffirmed cobalt’s irreplaceable role in the global energy transition.
“Research from the Cape Peninsula University of Technology shows cobalt-based electrodes producing greater power than nickel-rich batteries,” he explained. “This demonstrates that cobalt remains central to high-performance energy storage and electric vehicle technologies.”
He added that communities must remain at the centre of this transformation.
“Local populations should be the first beneficiaries through jobs and capacity-building,” he said. “The new development model focuses on creating value and opportunity within communities themselves.”
The forum concluded with a clear consensus: the DRC’s future in the battery metals sector depends on integration, transparency, and value addition.
Government institutions such as the CCB and EGC are laying the groundwork for responsible, traceable supply chains, while projects like Manono expand the country’s reach into new minerals such as lithium.
Together, these developments point to a broader African ambition — not only to supply the materials powering the world’s clean energy transition, but also to manufacture and benefit from them at home.
As McLaren summarised: “Every tonne of cobalt and lithium extracted here can power not only global batteries, but also local jobs, skills, and prosperity.”
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