DRC Urged to Tie Cobalt Export Quotas to Local Processing to Boost Battery Value Chain
DRC Cobalt Policy: Resource Matters Calls for Local Processing Rules in Export Quota System
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) should use its emerging cobalt export quota system to accelerate local mineral processing and capture more value from the electric vehicle battery supply chain, according to a new white paper published in December 2025 by the NGO Resource Matters.
The report, which focuses on the local processing potential of strategic minerals such as cobalt, copper, and lithium, urges the Congolese government to integrate value addition as a core criterion for access to cobalt export quotas.
Resource Matters argues that this approach would enable the local production of battery precursors and reduce the country’s dependence on foreign industrial infrastructure.
“As Congo studies the quota system to put in place, it could adopt criteria that directly support its policy objectives, particularly value addition,” the document states. “Minimum entry conditions could be defined for participation in the quota system.”
The NGO further recommends prioritizing exports with the highest metal content. Under a proposed cascading system, higher-grade cobalt products would be exported first, while lower-quality ores would only be authorized for export once higher-value products had been exhausted.
According to Resource Matters, this would create competitive pressure among investors to develop local processing facilities.
These proposals form part of a broader policy objective aimed at regulating cobalt prices and managing export flows. Currently, Congolese cobalt is mainly exported as hydroxides containing around 28% to 38% cobalt.
These products represent only an intermediate stage in the value chain, while downstream activities—refining, sulfate production, precursor manufacturing, and battery cell production—are overwhelmingly dominated by China. Refining alone accounted for about 84% of global refined cobalt supply in 2024.
Resource Matters argues that even limited local integration—such as producing battery precursors domestically—would significantly enhance the DRC’s economic and technological gains from cobalt mining.
Given cobalt’s status as a strategic mineral for electric vehicles, the country holds strong leverage to retain a portion of production for domestic industrial use.
The organization points to existing legal tools within the Congolese mining framework to support this strategy. While the mining code enshrines the principle of free commercialization of mineral production, it also provides for exceptions.
In particular, Article 266 of the Mining Code authorizes the state to determine the share of production that must be reserved for local industry.
This provision is reinforced by Article 559 bis of the Mining Regulation, which states that the proportion of production allocated to national industry is to be set by an interministerial decree from the ministers of mines and industry, based on the needs identified in the country’s Strategic Industrialization Plan.
Resource Matters acknowledges that implementation remains challenging due to limited downstream industrial demand within the DRC. However, it notes that the situation is evolving.
The government is currently examining options to supply two downstream companies in the copper value chain, and regulatory developments are creating new openings.
In a recent press release outlining the conditions for obtaining and executing cobalt export quotas, the Congolese regulator ARECOMS introduced a category known as the “strategic quota for ARECOMS.” This quota, reserved for projects of national importance, is set to take effect on January 1, 2026.
According to Resource Matters, this mechanism could provide a practical entry point for aligning export controls with industrial policy objectives, allowing the DRC to move beyond raw material exports and position itself more strategically in the global battery minerals value chain.
