DRC Urged to Define Strategic and Critical Minerals for Energy Transition

Resource Matters Calls on DRC to Establish Clear Framework for Strategic and Critical Minerals

While many countries have developed clear strategies distinguishing between “strategic” and “critical” minerals, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has yet to define a comprehensive list of minerals requiring special attention in its energy transition strategy.

This observation comes from the NGO Resource Matters in its December 2025 publication on the local development of minerals essential to the energy transition.

Currently, only cobalt, coltan, and germanium are classified as “strategic minerals” in the DRC. According to Resource Matters, this limited classification prevents other important minerals from being recognized as strategic, despite their potential fiscal and economic significance.

The concepts of strategic and critical minerals differ from country to country. “Typically, strategic minerals are essential to national sovereignty or the economy, linked to sectors such as energy, industry, defense, or technology.

Critical minerals, by contrast, are vulnerable in terms of supply due to high geographic concentration, geopolitical risks, or lack of alternatives,” explains Resource Matters.

In the DRC, experts have yet to agree on exhaustive lists for either category. Existing lists “vary from one source to another,” highlighting that there is currently no consensus on which minerals should be prioritized.

Resource Matters stresses that this lack of a structured conceptual framework weakens the coherence and effectiveness of the country’s mineral strategy. “A thorough review and transparent definition of priority minerals is necessary to strengthen the DRC’s ambitions in the energy transition,” the NGO concludes.