The DRC and Zambia signed an agreement on Monday 27 March to launch the feasibility study for the cross-border special economic zone dedicated to the manufacture of batteries for electric vehicles. The 2000 ha project is located in the province of Haut-Katanga, bordering Zambia.
The pre-feasibility study of the project was launched on Monday in the presence of Congolese and Zambian authorities. It will be funded by the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) to the value of USD 750,000 and the results should be available in August 2023.
Rich in lithium and other materials needed for renewable energies such as cobalt and copper, the DRC wants to make the most of this global market, which is worth more than USD 8 000 billion by 2025. The stakes are high for both countries, especially now that the European Parliament has lifted the option to end the production of thermal batteries by 2035.
“The market for electric batteries, which is considered to be more environmentally friendly, will be worth between 7,000 and 48 billion dollars. If we can capture even 10% of this market within 10 to 15 years, our country could benefit from around 8 billion dollars,” said Julien Paluku, Congolese Minister of Industry.
He further noted that the DRC appears to be “a solution country of humanity”. “The DRC presents itself as a solution country because of its biodiversity and its strategic minerals, which are used in the manufacture of electric batteries, renewable energy and electric cars,” he said.
“The DRC presents itself as a solution country because of its biodiversity and its strategic minerals, which are used in the manufacture of electric batteries, renewable energy and electric cars,” he said.
“We are putting this project in a tax-free area, which is considered to be a bonded area, because we often know of many investors who pack up because they are only subject to a lot of harassment,” continued the Congolese Minister for Industry. “That is why we are isolating them in this space that the Congolese and Zambian governments have created to allow investment to be much more competitive with reduced costs,” he said.
However, Jean-Luc Mastaki, sub-regional director of the UN Economic Office for Africa, warned about the progress and dynamism of the battery market. “The debate on the batteries of the future requires the DRC not only to focus on the ability to produce the lithium ion battery today but to be able to continue to innovate in order to be able to adapt to the evolution and the technology at the international level. There is a lot of research and development underway that tends to substitute some raw materials of which we have a stronger hold in batteries,” he said.
