The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has started negotiations with the European Union (EU), in order to establish a partnership around the value chain of strategic minerals. This follows French President Emmanuel Macron’s visit to Kinshasa in early March 2023.
During the Council of Ministers meeting, the DRC government spokesperson announced that discussions will continue with a view to concluding a strategic partnership before September 2023. This partnership supports the EU strategy for the Great Lakes , and is based on four pillars: the value chain of critical minerals, cooperation in research and innovation, alignment with environmental, social and governance criteria, and capacity building.
This partnership is part of the European desire to achieve the objective of carbon neutrality by 2050, which involves the massive use of electric batteries containing cobalt, coltan, germanium and lithium, strategic minerals present in the DRC. The objective of the DRC being to develop a local value chain and a market around the industry of batteries, electric vehicles and renewable energies.
With this in mind, the Congolese government has launched a vast project aimed at developing these strategic minerals. This project will rely on a multi-sectoral and inclusive government team that will have to work with EU officials in order to conclude a partnership before September 2023. DRC President Félix Tshisekedi has insisted that the two parties agree on a road around industrial projects for the recovery of critical minerals capable of accelerating the ecological transition in the DRC and in the EU.
In conclusion, this partnership intervenes in an international context where the ecological transition implies a massive use of strategic minerals, of which the DRC is a major supplier. The creation of a local and integrated value chain will be a valuable asset for the economic development of this country. We should also not forget that the partnership with the EU is part of the more global framework of the strategy for the Great Lakes, which gives a political dimension to the project.