Prime Minister Jean-Michel Sama Lukonde presided over the signing ceremony of the Framework Agreement for the launch of the pre-feasibility study of the Special Economic Zone dedicated to the battery and electric vehicle value chain project in the Democratic Republic of Congo on Monday 27 March in the large conference room of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Kinshasa.
Indeed, this pre-feasibility study will allow to design an implementation plan and an operational model for the creation and exploitation of the cross-border Special Economic Zone (SEZ), to identify the main challenges to be taken up in order to facilitate the creation and the exploitation of the cross-border SEZ, to elaborate a financing plan and strategies for the mobilisation of funds, and finally to conceive a strategy for the promotion of investments dedicated to this SEZ
A model project
"This project must be an example and a model not only in the framework of South-South cooperation, Africa and all the other countries of the sub-region, but above all at the global level on the respect of the demands of different countries to benefit from their resources," the Congolese Prime Minister began his speech.
"Here, the DRC, which is rich in all the minerals we have talked about (cobalt, copper, lithium), wants to benefit from its resources, to make its people benefit from them and above all to guarantee the development of our country," said Sama Lukonde. He added: "Here, we have put all the instruments in place, we have placed this system that we want in Upper Katanga, where it was important that we could develop our own intelligence from the point of view of developing not only batteries, but electric vehicles.
According to the Prime Minister, the idea is to bring to the DRC a good number of partners interested in seeing this project develop. He welcomed this important project which is in line with the development vision of the two Heads of State, namely President Félix Tshisekedi and his Zambian counterpart, Hakainde Hichilema.
It should be noted that this ceremony took place in the presence of the diplomatic corps and some members of the government, including the Congolese Ministers of Finance and Industry who signed this framework agreement with the Zambian Minister of Trade and financial partners.
A forum on the need to develop a regional value chain
In view of its biodiversity and its strategic minerals which are used in the manufacture of electric batteries, renewable energies and electric cars, the DRC, through President Felix, has set itself the ambition of developing a regional value chain around the electric battery and electric vehicle industry. The process of implementing the said chain has been triggered and is ongoing since the organisation of the DRC Africa Business Forum held in Kinshasa on 24 and 25 October 2021, under the high patronage of the Congolese Head of State.
The African Heads of State and Government representatives present at the forum reflected on the need to develop a regional value chain around the battery industry, while producing a clear set of specifications that can significantly contribute to the diversification of the economy and the development of African resources in Africa and by Africans.
In order to implement this industry, it is recalled that the DRC and its partners (CEA, AFC, AFFREXIMBANK, BADEA) have commissioned a study by Bloomberg NEF on the production cost of battery precursors in the DRC, an independent study based on MNC (Manganese-Nickel-Cobal) technology.