DRC's national animal, the okapi.

The mining of certain metals is highly concentrated among just a few countries. For cobalt, the DRC accounts for 70 per cent of global mining.

Political insecurity and troubling labor conditions in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the main source of cobalt, and strikes and electricity shortages in platinum-mining South Africa, are further problems.

Congo supplies around 70% of the world’s cobalt, a key metal in the lithium-ion batteries used in EVs, with about a third of that coming from these so-called artisanal miners.

Chinese companies have a tight grip on Congo’s cobalt mining industry, refining three-quarters of the world’s cobalt supply and producing about 70% of the world’s lithium-ion batteries.

Congo overtook Peru to become the second-largest copper producer in 2023 and provides about 70% of the world’s cobalt, which is used in many electric vehicle batteries.¹⁾