Battery and electric vehicle market: members of the DRC government called upon to play their part as quickly as possible
The Minister of Industry Julien Paluku, during the 53rd meeting of the Council of Ministers, took stock of the significant progress made in the context of the implementation of the recommendations of the DRC Africa Business Forum, especially with regard to the cooperation with States producing electric battery components.
According to him, the signing of the joint declaration by the Heads of State of the DRC and Zambia on April 29, 2022 in Lusaka preceded by the signing of the cooperation agreement between the two countries represented by their ministers in in charge of industry, mining and finance materialize this joint desire to set up a value chain in the production sector of electric batteries and clean energies.
“Thanks to this cooperation, the two countries will be able to truly play their role in setting the price of cobalt on the international market and thus effectively influence both upstream and downstream input and output markets in the battery and car value chain. electrical. Considering the cross-cutting nature of this project, for which the largest producer of batteries in the world has shown their interest, the plea has been made so that each member of the government in his sphere of competence plays his part as quickly as possible in order to allow the Congolese to truly benefit from the mineral resources of their country”, reports the minutes of the meeting held on Friday, May 13, 2022.
Head of State Félix Tshisekedi and his Zambian counterpart Hakainde Hichilema decided at the end of April to harmonize their development policies and strategies vis-à-vis the mining and industrial sector for the success of the market relating to the establishment of a value chain in the electric battery and clean energy sector. To do this, they have set up a framework called “Battery Council of the Republic of Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC – Zambia Battery Council).
This agreement between the two countries aims for the joint exploitation of strategic minerals including lithium and cobalt, essential for the manufacture of batteries for electric cars. It goes without saying that this new vision is part of a development partnership between the two countries. The minerals that will be exploited and developed by the two countries (which hold nearly 70% of world reserves) represent a market of around 10,000 billion US dollars.
