DRC envisions a future with battery metals

As global exploration intensifies the drive for resources to service the energy transition, the first DRC-Africa Battery Metals Forum was held in Kinshasa to consider how to leverage the emerging opportunities. Dominique Sambwa, chairman of SRK Consulting Congo, was present at the event with SRK colleagues from the Lubumbashi office as well as from SRK’s South Africa and China practices. Sambwa highlighted that a key focus of the forum was on the downstream beneficiation potential for the region, which DRC and Zambia hope to exploit through a Special Economic Zone (SEZ). DRC and Zambia produce over 70% of the world’s cobalt and 10% of global copper. According to the United Nations’ Economic Commission for Africa, the two countries are in a unique position to move from exporters of raw materials to becoming manufacturers of battery precursors – the material at the final step before becoming a cathode.