The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the world’s top producer of cobalt, loses nearly $1 billion every year to illegal trade, exacerbating conflict and deepening poverty, according to political analyst Oluwole Ojewale from the Institute for Security Studies.
The True Cost of the DRC’s Cobalt Boom
The DRC supplies 70% of the world’s cobalt, a critical mineral for electric vehicle batteries and renewable energy projects. Yet, much of its production comes from 150,000 to 200,000 artisanal miners, supporting over a million people who work in harsh, unsafe conditions while middlemen and armed groups exploit and siphon profits.
In North and South Kivu, miners extract minerals under dangerous conditions, only for their hard-earned cobalt to be illegally funneled into global supply chains. Middlemen mix illicit cobalt with legally mined materials, forging traceability documents and bribing border officials in Zambia, Burundi, and Tanzania to smuggle the minerals into major global markets in London, Shanghai, and North America.
“The absence of strong governance allows legal and illegal cobalt to blend seamlessly,” said Ojewale, highlighting how armed groups and middlemen profit while the DRC loses billions in rightful revenue.
Conflict Over Resources: M23 Rebels Tighten Their Grip
The M23 rebel group, reportedly backed by Rwanda, has intensified its hold over the region, capturing Goma, the largest city in eastern Congo, in January. Now pushing toward Bukavu, M23 seeks control of lucrative deposits of coltan, gold, and tin ore.
Despite a regional peace conference in Dar es Salaam urging negotiations, the DRC has refused to engage with M23, citing ongoing violence, displacement, and human rights abuses.
The ongoing conflict has:
- Killed thousands and displaced over 100,000 people in recent months.
- Worsened an existing humanitarian crisis, with over 27 million people affected by food shortages, climate shocks, and disease outbreaks.
- Drawn in foreign military forces, including South Africa, which recently suffered 13 soldier casualties near Goma.
Tensions between DRC and Rwanda continue to escalate, with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa calling on Rwanda to end military support for M23, while Rwandan President Paul Kagame blames the DRC for failing to control the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR)—a militia linked to the 1994 Rwandan genocide.
The Health & Environmental Toll of Cobalt Mining
Beyond lost revenue, unregulated mining poses severe health and environmental risks:
⚠️ Miners work without protective gear, leading to respiratory diseases, cancer, and birth defects from toxic cobalt dust.
⚠️ Mining waste contaminates water sources, threatening local agriculture and ecosystems.
⚠️ Deforestation and pollution degrade land, making long-term sustainability nearly impossible.
Can the DRC Break Free from the Cycle?
With global cobalt demand expected to quadruple by 2030, fueled by the rise of electric vehicles and high-tech industries, there’s an urgent need for reform.
To curb illegal trade, the DRC established Entreprise Générale du Cobalt, a state-run monopoly, alongside regulatory bodies. However, corruption continues to undermine these efforts, allowing smuggling and exploitation to thrive.
At the recent Investing in African Mining Indaba in Cape Town, industry leaders stressed the need to formalize artisanal and small-scale mining to curb illicit trade and ensure ethical sourcing of critical minerals.
Ojewale warns that unless governments and global corporations enforce stricter regulations, improve traceability, and crack down on middlemen, the minerals powering the clean energy transition will continue to fuel conflict, displace communities, and rob the DRC of a stable future.
“Without decisive action,” Ojewale cautions, “the world’s green energy revolution will come at the cost of bloodshed and exploitation in Congo.”
