DR Congo presses minerals value-add agenda as conflict clouds energy transition role

Traders Union
All News
Financial Institutions
DR Congo minerals value-add

Highlights

The Democratic Republic of the Congo asserts at the UN that conflict in its eastern region threatens stable supplies of critical minerals like cobalt and copper.
Prime Minister Judith Suminwa calls for implementing existing agreements, referencing the June 2025 DRC-Rwanda peace deal and UN Security Council Resolution 2773 outlining disengagement steps.
The DRC demands a shift from raw mineral extraction to regional processing and technology-sharing to ensure local economic benefits and equitable participation in the energy transition supply chain.

UN speech ties security concerns to minerals strategy

As reported by UN News, Prime Minister Judith Suminwa tells the UN General Assembly that the Democratic Republic of the Congo remains affected by conflict in its eastern region while global demand rises for cobalt, copper, lithium, nickel and other critical minerals. She says the country is central to the energy transition as the world’s largest producer of cobalt and a major copper producer, but warns that a decarbonized economy cannot be built on what she calls “blood-stained minerals.”

Speaking in New York, Suminwa says the DRC continues to face aggression involving Rwanda through the AFC/M23, while other armed groups including the ADF and CODECO are worsening the humanitarian crisis. She points to the June 2025 peace agreement signed in Washington between the DRC and Rwanda and says UN Security Council Resolution 2773 of 2025 sets out a clear path through a cessation of hostilities, the withdrawal of Rwandan forces from Congolese territory and the restoration of state authority.

Suminwa says new commitments are not the main need, arguing instead for implementation of measures already adopted. She also refers to a May protocol on the disarmament and demobilization of combatants from the Democratic Forces for the Freedom of Rwanda, or FDLR, and says MONUSCO supports the repatriation earlier this month of 120 people associated with the group.

Push for regional processing and local economic gains

The Congolese government is using the UN platform to argue for a different industrial model around critical minerals, saying producer countries should not remain limited to raw extraction while processing, research, technology and most profits stay abroad. Suminwa says it would be unjust and risky for added value, jobs, know-how and technologies to remain concentrated far from the communities enabling the transition.

Her remarks place the DRC’s security and humanitarian challenges alongside a broader business and industrial policy message for mining, battery and digital infrastructure supply chains. The country says it wants to work with African and international partners to build competitive regional businesses that can expand employment, skills and shared prosperity while supporting global demand tied to net-zero goals and AI-related infrastructure growth.

In our earlier coverage of Glencore’s secondary listing on the Australian Securities Exchange, we explained how the miner is expanding its investor base without raising new capital as it pushes ahead with its copper growth strategy. We also outlined how easier access to institutional funding can support long-term energy-transition metals supply and potential future dealmaking in the global mining sector.

This material may contain third-party opinions, none of the data and information on this webpage constitutes investment advice according to our Disclaimer. While we adhere to strict Editorial Integrity, this post may contain references to products from our partners.