US vs. China in the Congo over cobalt: More foreign invention in DRC ahead?
A just-published series in the New York Times spotlights the competition between US and Chinese interests over Congolese mineral wealth (here, here, and here).
The current Kinshasa government has called for audits and renegotiations of Sino-Congolese agreements negotiated under the corrupt predecessor of the present leader, Félix Tshisekedi.
Will the Chinese budge sufficiently? Or could they respond by fomenting unrest to get the current government overthrown? Meanwhile rebel militias remain major threats in some mineral-rich areas.
And yet another variable: What if electric cars could be cheaper without cobalt? Imagine what that could mean to the already-battered DRC economy.
Update, Nov. 29, 2021: The New York Times’s expose of Albert Yuma Mulimbi, “a longtime power broker in the Democratic Republic of Congo and chairman of a government agency that works with international mining companies to tap the nation’s copper and cobalt reserves.” His enemies say he has has stolen billions from his impoverished country. “Top State Department officials have tried to force him out of the mining agency and pushed for him to be put on a sanctions list, arguing he has for years abused his position to enrich friends, family members and political allies.”
Update: Dec. 3, 2021: Article in the Times reporting the ouster of Albert Yuma Mulimbi as chair of the DRC’s state mining company, Gécamines. Alas, however, the Times says that for the moment “Mr. Yuma will retain his role supervising the reform of small-scale and informal mining in Congo, one industry executive said. His plans include buying cobalt from the informal miners, also known as artisanal miners, and regulating pricing. Cobalt produced by artisanal mining, as opposed to industrial operations, makes up about 30 percent of the nation’s output.” Mulimbi says he will improve safety. Let’s see. Mineral production has been a disaster not only in terms of safety but also environmental protection.