Africa: towards the creation of a Battery Council of the DRC and Zambia

As a prelude to the signing of the cooperation agreement on the establishment of a value chain on the manufacture of batteries and clean energies in the very next few days, between the Congolese President Félix-Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo and his Zambian counterpart Hakande Hichilema, the Congolese Minister of Finance, Nicolas Kazadi, took an active part in a meeting in Lusaka, Zambia at the Presidential Palace, on Wednesday March 9, 2022.

During this mission, the Minister of Finance was accompanied by the Special Adviser to the Head of State in charge of investments and certain experts from the Ministry of Industry.

It should be noted that this meeting to harmonize views between the Republic of Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo follows the DRC-AFRICA Business forum organized in November 2021 by the Ministry of Industry in the presence of several Heads of State and Government. , including that of Zambia.

Considering that the DRC and Zambia, two bordering states, have more than 70% of the world’s cobalt reserves, it is quite logical that the two states harmonize their development policies and strategies in certain growth-enhancing sectors, in l occurrence, mining and industry for Win-Win cooperation.

It is for this reason that Zambia and the DRC agree to set up a common governance framework called the DRC-Zambia Battery Council (DRC-ZAMBIA Battery Council), whose Executive Committee will be composed of two Heads of State, the Deputy Secretary General of the African Economic Community for the United Nations, as well as the President of Afrexim Bank, as a financial partner. This governance body will have a Technical Committee in charge of monitoring and evaluating the initiative.

In addition, it will also be a question of creating a harmonized legislative and regulatory framework as well as a system of incentives common to the two States for a business environment conducive to the development of the value chain and the flourishing economic microcosm.