KINSHASA – With the aim of accelerating its ecological transition, the European Union wants to create a partnership with the DRC on the exploitation of rare and strategic minerals including copper and cobalt.
According to official sources, the EU and the DRC are in talks with a view to implementing a so-called win-win partnership around cooperation and investment projects in the exploitation of rare and strategic minerals, a sector dominated, so far, by China. A protocol and a roadmap will be announced very soon in order to materialize this agreement.
According to these sources, this partnership is motivated, on both sides, by several reasons. On the one hand, the DRC, which has the ambition to develop a value chain and a market around the battery industry, electric vehicles and renewable energies.
On the other side, the EU which, with the aim of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050, wants to strengthen its policy of supplying rare and strategic minerals. But also, is also seeking to reduce its dependence on certain countries such as China, where these minerals are currently processed.
“We want to create value in the DRC, local added value. Not just exporting your raw materials to Finland, Europe and then refining them in Europe. said Jutta Urpilainen, European Commissioner for International Partnerships.
For her, this offer suits the posture of the DRC but the approach will be different from those of its other partners.
“We don’t want to create dependency, nor do we want neocolonialism. We really want to create local value and we want to create a win-win partnership. “, she hammered.
Recall that this EU-DRC agreement on rare and strategic minerals is announced in a context where the DRC denounces the implementation of the Chinese contract concluded in 2015 with the Kabila regime, in which the results are against the country.
© CongoForum – Arnaud Kabeya, 11.03.23
Image – source: 7sur7.cd