Conference Agenda

Discussion Points

• What is the actual contribution of artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) to the DRC’s economy today?
• Why does ASM continue to operate largely informally despite ongoing formalisation efforts?
• Where do the main barriers lie, including regulation, taxation, market access and local governance?
• What concrete initiatives can progressively integrate ASM into responsible supply chains?
• What alternative solutions can help gradually reduce illegal mining activities?

Discussion Points

• How can simplified Environmental and Social Management Plans (ESMPs) be adapted and implemented within the realities of ASM in the DRC?
• How can ESMPs be effectively integrated into often informal artisanal mining areas?
• Which social and human rights impacts require stronger oversight and protection?
• What best practices already exist in environmental and social management within the ASM sector?
• What role should civil society and international institutions play?

Discussion Points

• What concrete steps have the United States and the DRC taken since the signing of the Strategic Partnership Agreement, and how can both sides accelerate its implementation to deliver tangible results?
• How can the DRC and its partners build secure, transparent, and responsible critical mineral supply chains that meet growing global demand while ensuring that benefits accrue to the Congolese people?
• What are the most critical regulatory, infrastructure, and governance reforms needed to attract and retain U.S. and international investment in the DRC's mining and mineral processing sectors?
• What opportunities exist to develop local processing and value addition capacity in the DRC, and what role can U.S. investors and development finance institutions play in supporting that vision?
• How are U.S. companies such as KoBold Metals and Virtus Minerals contributing to the partnership's goals, and what conditions are necessary to scale up U.S. private sector engagement in the DRC?
• How can sustainable and responsible mining practices be embedded into the partnership's framework to ensure long-term environmental stewardship and meaningful benefits for local communities?

Discussion Points

• What defines a truly “win-win” partnership in the DRC, across key stakeholders’ government, mining operators, investors, and regional partners?
• From an operator’s perspective, what makes a partnership work in practice in the DRC and what typically fails?
• What are the most realistic pathways for the DRC to develop downstream value addition and move beyond extraction?
• What are the key conditions required to make downstream and industrial projects in the DRC bankable, including legal certainty, fiscal stability, dispute resolution and institutional coordination?
• How can the DRC balance its industrial ambitions with the need to remain fiscally and commercially competitive for investors?

Discussion Points

• What makes mining and downstream projects in the DRC bankable today?
• How do financial institutions assess risk in the DRC compared to other African markets?
• What financing structures, including PPPs, blended finance and guarantees, are most effective in unlocking investment?
• Should regional cooperation be driven by competition or by integrated value chains, and how does this impact investment decisions?

Discussion Points

• What is the 'elephant in the room' for the DRC’s mining sector?
• Strengthening governance and transparency: A roadmap to combating corruption and maximizing the mining sector’s contribution to the DRC’s development.
• How to respond to generational infrastructure deficits, growing geopolitical constraints, and persistent social tensions that influence the country's development?
• Moving beyond the 'elephant in the room': What concrete measures will transform the DRC from a regional player into a global hub for critical minerals, while ensuring tangible benefits for local communities?

Discussion Points

• How are mining companies turning critical minerals into global impact and tangible local development?
• What does “global responsibility” mean for a mining company operating in the DRC?
• What bold decisions need to be made today to ensure that the energy transition generates real value for Africa?

Discussion Points

• How can we leverage the influence of traders, blended finance mechanisms, and access to new markets to overcome energy and infrastructure bottlenecks and accelerate local value creation?
• How can OECD due diligence standards serve as a concrete lever to attract greater and more diversified investment in the Copperbelt, the DRC, and Zambia?
• Adoption of common standards: Can this contribute to risk management, maintaining the social acceptability of projects, and stabilizing investment in the context of energy transition?
• Introducing the AXIS (Asset-eXchange-Impact-Sovereign) National Program and the GoldConnect Initiative: a new mechanism to structure gold supply chains, guarantee transparency and traceability of flows in the DRC.

Panel Discussion

• The Lobito Corridor is gaining significant attention. Is the DRC ready to fully play its role?
• What concrete priorities and action plans are being implemented by the DRC to maximise the corridor’s impact?
• What role do banks and international financial institutions play in financing large-scale regional infrastructure projects?
• How are SADC countries positioning themselves to develop efficient corridors and build win-win partnerships?
• Best practice: What lessons can be learned from examples of successful PPPs, in areas such as one-stop-border posts?
• Harmonised policies: what prevents regional countries from creating a common policy on transportation, customs procedures and regulation to strengthen cross-border partnership, and improve regional integration and development?

Panel Discussion

• Strategic focus: Which sector of the mining industry is likely to stimulate industrialisation and reduce dependence on informal artisanal mining in the DRC?
• Can the special economic zone model alone accelerate industrialisation?
• Is industrialisation possible without fundamental reform of the energy sector?
• Is local transformation economically viable without major tax incentives?
• What model of industrialisation would be suitable for the DRC, and how can it learn from successful countries with large populations?
• How can the DRC ensure coherence between the Mining Code, fiscal policy, and industrialisation strategy to attract investment and support local value addition?
• Given the global demand for DRC’s critical minerals, when can we expect reforms to the industrialisation and local transformation code?

Discussion Points

• Strengthening the national exploration strategy to anticipate the potential depletion of reserves and ensure the long-term sustainability of the mining sector?
• Exploring the “Airborne and Geological Geophysical Mapping Project”: the new hope to modernise national geological mapping and improve the governance of geoscientific data
• What incentives and partnership approaches are being proposed to attract junior mining companies to raise capital for new exploration and investment?

Discussion Points

• Rethinking the model of collaboration between mining operators and Independent Power Producers
• Addressing the myth in the national utility company and the electricity shortage: how to come out of blackout?
• What financing mechanisms, regulatory frameworks, and public-private partnerships are needed to support local energy investments and reduce mining companies' dependence on isolated solutions?

Discussion Points

• Navigating the mining recruitment lifecycle: A step-by-step breakdown.
• What professional integration policy does the government have in place for young people interested in the mining sector?
• Skills shortage in the mining sector: strengthening apprenticeship programs through a skills development initiative for school leavers and students to be work-ready.
• How can training centers, private initiatives, mining companies, and the government work together to ensure the sustainable integration of young people into mining professions and secure employment?
• What is the business case for financial institutions to invest in youth-led ventures within the mining sector?

Discussion Points

• How is the DRC positioning itself in this race among giants for its critical minerals?
• What are the DRC's strategic priorities and strategic objectives to ensure the sustainable growth of its critical minerals?
• How can we ensure that the interests of strategic partners are aligned with those of the country and serve the interests of the Congolese nation?
• Critical or strategic minerals, which of those will the DRC benefit from?
• How does the appetite of new partners differ from that of existing partners, and who defines the roadmap?