DR Congo’s new quotas on cobalt exports will help the country benefit from global trade in the critical mineral, President Félix Tshisekedi said.
The country produces about 70% of the world’s cobalt, a crucial component in electric vehicle batteries and mobile phones, and had suspended cobalt exports entirely in February over crashing prices.
“It is going to lead to an increase in the price of cobalt, and this is going to contribute to the development of our economy,” Tshisekedi told reporters in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. He said cobalt had previously been shipped out of the country without proper controls, and his government has also said illegal cobalt mining is fueling violence by M23 rebels in the country’s east.
Under the new system, miners will be entitled to ship up to 18,125 tons of cobalt for the rest of 2025, with annual caps of 96,600 tonnes in 2026 and 2027. One tenth of the remaining surplus will be used to form a national cobalt reserve, while the rest, Tshisekedi said, would be handed to small-scale miners.
