Julien Paluku describes project to install a pilot plant in the DRC for precursors of electric batteries in Switzerland
The Democratic Republic of Congo was represented by the Minister of Industry Julien Paluku, at the conference on cobalt organized on Tuesday by the firm Cobalt Institute in Zurich, Switzerland.
In his speech to Swiss investors, the Congolese minister presented the ongoing project to install a pilot plant for electric battery precursors in Lubumbashi, in the province of Haut-Katanga. This is within the framework of the development of a regional value chain for electric vehicles and batteries as well as clean energies.
Julien Paluku, referring to a study conducted by Bloomberg, the Minister of Industry indicated that the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) remains “the best destination in the world for the industry of electric vehicles and batteries”.
Indeed, the DRC is full of significant reserves of minerals involved in the manufacture of electric vehicles and batteries, including cobalt, lithium, manganese and nickel, said Julien Paluku.
In addition, he took the opportunity to announce that an African Center of Excellence has been set up at the Faculty of Polytechnics of the University of Lubumbashi, in Haut-Katanga with the assistance of Zambia, for the training of a local labor specialized in this type of industry.
His ardent desire is to see this great project boost the economy of the DRC and that of the other African countries concerned by the development strategy of this value chain.
