DR Congo seeks to reduce China's dominance in its mining sector

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is actively seeking new investors for its world-class deposits of key metals, aiming to reduce its mining industry's reliance on China.

Mines Minister Kizito Pakabomba revealed that the country plans to streamline customs and tax processes to attract new partners, News.Az reports, citing Bloomberg.

The plan includes streamlining processes to pay customs and taxes, along with a partnership with the United Arab Emirates, he noted.

The nation is also planning to revamp a railway that can be used to transport minerals so cargoes can be more easily exported from a port along the Atlantic Ocean, positioned closer to US and European markets, he said.

Congo wants to “attract better investors, more investors and diversified investors,” Pakabomba said.

The ambitions come as the country continues to play a key role in international metals markets, while also finding itself at the center of a contest between China, the US and other countries vying for access to critical minerals. Congo recently overtook Peru to become the second-largest producer of copper and is by far the world’s biggest source of cobalt. Both commodities are key to the global energy transition.

The government is looking to make “strategic choices” about who runs Congo’s mines, the minister said, citing this year’s example of the state’s decision to oppose a proposed sale of Trafigura Group-backed copper and cobalt miner Chemaf Resources Ltd. to China’s Norin Mining Ltd.

“We’ve stopped this transaction,” Pakabomba said. If Chemaf remains set upon an ownership change, “we’ll consider with them the different options that could be taken,” he said.

News.Az