DR Congo's state cobalt buyer pursuing new mine partnerships

DR Congo's state cobalt buyer pursuing new mine partnerships

DR Congo's long-inactive state cobalt buyer is set to the unveil the artisanal mines it will work with in a bid to improve dire working conditions, the firm's head said Thursday.

Over 200,000 people are estimated to work in informal cobalt mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the world's largest producer of the critical mineral, a key ingredient in batteries.

Accusations of child labour and corruption also plague the sector.

In 2019, the DRC established the Entreprise Generale du Cobalt (EGC), which has a monopoly on buying and selling artisanal cobalt, with the aim of improving conditions.

However, the state company has remained largely inactive since.

On Thursday, EGC director general Eric Kalala told AFP the company is studying eight pilot sites from which it may soon start sourcing cobalt.

The sites are on concessions owned by the DRC's state mining company Gecamines in the southeastern provinces of Lualaba and Haut-Katanga.

Read also

Subsidy removal: APC chieftain speaks on Tinubu's palliative as NLC insists on strike

PAY ATTENTION: Follow us on Instagram - get the most important news directly in your favourite app!

"We're studying the mineralisation (of the sites) to check we can use them," Kalala said on the sidelines of an EGC event in Kinshasa.

Confirmation of the pilot sites is expected within the coming weeks, he added, saying the EGC would then try to secure access to the mines, distribute protective gear and start a mineral traceability scheme.

"It's a first step," he said.

EGC officials at the Kinshasa event said the Covid pandemic, the war in Ukraine and delays in establishing a market regulator contributed to the struggles to get the firm operating.

But Congolese mining activist Franck Fwamba told event attendees that politicians with stakes in informal cobalt mines were to blame.

He also suggested that DRC's Mining Minister Antoinette N'Samba was opposed to the EGC.

Last year, N'Samba said in a media report that EGC's artisanal cobalt monopoly was illegal.

Read also

Can a $20 billion bet wean Indonesia off coal?

The minister's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from AFP.

eml/js

© Agence France-Presse

Source: AFP

Authors:
AFP avatar

AFP AFP text, photo, graphic, audio or video material shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium. AFP news material may not be stored in whole or in part in a computer or otherwise except for personal and non-commercial use. AFP will not be held liable for any delays, inaccuracies, errors or omissions in any AFP news material or in transmission or delivery of all or any part thereof or for any damages whatsoever. As a newswire service, AFP does not obtain releases from subjects, individuals, groups or entities contained in its photographs, videos, graphics or quoted in its texts. Further, no clearance is obtained from the owners of any trademarks or copyrighted materials whose marks and materials are included in AFP material. Therefore you will be solely responsible for obtaining any and all necessary releases from whatever individuals and/or entities necessary for any uses of AFP material.