DRC: here are the production figures in the primary sector in 2020 (BCC report)

The Central Bank of Congo published its annual report for the 2020 financial year this week. This document presents the quintessence of the economic activity of the country and the financial and administrative situation of the Bank as a company.

DESKECO relays here the production figures in the primary sector. Indeed, according to the data in this report, in 2020, economic activity in the primary sector grew by 7.1% against 1.7% in 2019. Its contribution to growth was 3.1 points coming from 0.8 points the previous year. This change is mainly due to the good performance of the “Extraction” branch, whose contribution to growth reached 2.7 points against 0.3 point in 2019. The contribution of the “Agriculture, forestry, livestock, hunting and fishing to growth was weakly constituted, ie 0.4 points against 0.5 points a year earlier.

Extraction        

Despite the collapse in international demand, following the Covid-19 health crisis, the added value of the “Extraction” branch increased by 9.7% in 2020, after the 1.0% slowdown observed one year earlier. This rebound is due to the increase in production of key products exported by the DRC, namely copper and cobalt. In terms of contribution to growth, this branch regains its status as an engine of economic growth. His contribution was 2.7 points compared to 0.3 points in 2019.

Agriculture

The activity of the “Agriculture” sub-branch increased by 3.1% in 2020, maintaining its contribution at 0.5 points of growth.

Food crop production

The added value of subsistence agriculture increased by 3.1% in 2020, thus contributing 0.4 points to real GDP growth. This development is mainly due to slight improvements observed in the production of peppers and peppers, palm nuts, vandzou, wheat and barley, as well as sweet potatoes, for respective rates of 10.2%, 8.7%. , 6.4%, 6.3% and 5.5% compared to the previous year.

Cash crop _

Growth in cash crop value added slowed to 3.8% in 2020 from 7.2% a year earlier. Moreover, the contribution of this sub-branch to growth remained virtually nil. This situation is linked to the lack of investment in all crops. However, a few crops recorded improvements in their production levels. These include cocoa, cakes, cotton and palm oil, with respective growth rates of 19.4%, 6.6% and 6.3%.

Forest

In 2020, the added value of the forestry sub-branch contracted by 9.2%, after growth of 3.5% in 2019. This contraction is explained in particular by the Government’s policy aimed at environmental protection and the supervision of indigenous populations in terms of forest exploitation.

Copper

In 2020, copper production increased by 12.7%, reaching 1,601.2 thousand tonnes, of which 0.2% produced by Gécamines and 99.8% by other Gécamines partner companies. . However, it should be noted that Gécamines’ production volume improved by 18.2% compared to the previous year, standing at 3.5 thousand tonnes. On the other hand, the production of other Gécamines partner companies reached 1,597.7 thousand tons, an annual increase of 12.7%.

Cobalt

 Cobalt production increased by 11.1% in 2020, reaching 86.6 thousand tonnes. This increase is mainly due to the dynamism of Gécamines, which improved its production volume by 850.4%, i.e. 14.3 thousand tons after 1.5 thousand a year earlier, while that of its partners contracted again by 5.5% in 2020. This development is due to the takeover by Gécamines of its cobalt mining site, formerly operated by a local company, after the termination of the partnership.

Zinc

In 2020, the volume of zinc production increased by 149.5%, standing at 15.3 thousand tons. The production of Gécamines amounted to 3.0 thousand tons and that of the partner companies to 12.3 thousand. This production was supported by strong demand from China.

Diamond

Total diamond production amounted to 16,560 thousand carats, down 12.3% compared to 2019. Although production by diamond industries (MIBA and other industries) was up 85.9 %, with 6,484 thousand carats produced, that of artisanal products fell by 34.6%, or 10,076 thousand carats, after 15,404 thousand a year earlier. This situation is due in particular to the low level of investment in this sector.

Gold

The volume of gold production, in 2020, stood at 31,501 kilos, down slightly by 0.3% compared to 2019. It is worth noting the persistence of the massive fraud observed in the artisanal mining of this product, thus compromising the Government’s efforts to capture the real level of production.

crude oil

In 2020, crude oil production activity rebounded, after a decline observed a year earlier. Indeed, the production volume of black gold increased by 7.0%, standing at 8,737.5 thousand barrels.