DRC: NGO NRGI invites the Government to observe good governance to take advantage of the Cobalt market
The NGO Natural Resource Governance Institute (NRGI) recommends to the Government of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), to put in place a policy of good governance in the mining sector in order to allow the population to benefit from the repercussions of the Cobalt market.
This non-governmental organization issued this opinion during a press briefing organized on Saturday March 26, 2022, in Kinshasa.
For this NGO, the DRC is in a unique position, but limited in time: “cobalt, of which it has the largest deposits in the world, is an essential element for the production of batteries for electric vehicles. »
NRGI points out that the demand for these batteries is growing at the rate of the increased demand for electric vehicles, but will only last as long as the energy transition takes place, or even less if the poor governance of Cobalt induces producers of electric vehicles to reduce their dependence on electricity. -to this metal.
“As part of the energy transition, the DRC does not have much time to maximize its potential revenues from cobalt and attract the necessary additional investments. Accelerating
governance reforms from the allocation of licenses to the management of revenues and environmental and social impacts is a key condition for this,” said Hervé Lado, Regional Manager for West Africa and of the Center (francophone) of NRGI.
“There needs to be transparency in licensing including looking at business due diligence aspects, looking at anti-corruption aspects, flexible taxation and competition aspects in asset transfer. The national policy is that we use the standards, the initiative for transparency in the extractive industries, therefore the EITI. So we insist on the fact that if the DRC does not take advantage of this moment here when cobalt is still in high demand to improve its governance and well, it may not take advantage of the opportunities that the energy transition grants to Cobalt producing countries. explained Roger Vutsoro, Country Director of the NGO NRGI.
“We must act now because there is not much time left for Cobalt to remain critical. If the DRC does not improve the governance of the supply chain of Cobalt, companies could do without it and look for alternatives elsewhere and in this case, we will have missed an opportunity to take advantage of this manna which is Cobalt “, he adds.
Furthermore, NRGI indicates that the Congolese Government must ensure that the populations suffer less and less from the negative effects of the extraction of Cobalt, including by removing children and women from the mines, and above all
that they benefit from it. consistent way.
Impacts on the environment, in particular forests, must be better controlled and minimized, underlines the NGO Natural Resource Governance Institute (NRGI).
