Kinshasa, June 25th, 2025 (CPA)-A partnership aiming at the local transformation of minerals in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has been signed between the Minister in charge of the Portfolio and a private company, Buenassa, during a ceremony organised on Tuesday in Kinshasa, the country’s capital, CPA has learnt on Wednesday from an administrative source. ‘This is a historic day, in that it marks a crucial step in development through the signing of this inter-strategic partnership between the Democratic Republic of Congo and the private company Buenassa’, has declared Mr Eddy Kioni, General Director of Buenassa. This partnership is in line with the vision of the President of the Republic, Felix-Antoine Tshisekedi, who is working with the government to help DRC gradually regain control of the mining sector. Mr Kioni has pointed out that the local processing of minerals is now an ambition, a programme which aims to take DRC towards a transformational phase in terms of the development of its economy, the reappropriation of resources by its citizens, by local communities, but also as a contribution to efforts to achieve the objectives of energy transition in a geopolitical context requiring a rebalancing between the various partners of DRC, on its eastern flank via the east-west corridor. This signing between the Minister in charge of the Portfolio, Jean Lucien Bussa, and the General Director of Buenassa marks a new era in the management of critical minerals, marked by the State’s participation in industrial mining projects, in a particular geostrategic context, and the strengthening of its position as world leader in this sector. In addition, the Buenassa industrial initiative, a Congolese company in which the State is participating by acquiring a stake in the form of preference shares in order to secure its sovereign interests, will enable DRC to move up the value chain while ensuring a rebalancing of access to critical minerals, particularly in the copper-cobalt sector, from a multilateral perspective.
The roadmap
The objective, according to the source, is to set up a board of directors in the near future, to which the various parties will turn in order to set the company’s strategic direction, as well as work on satisfying the prerequisites for the project’s continuation. The Buenassa Company has received funding of more than three million US dollars from the Industry Promotion Fund (FPI), following the finalisation of the scoping studies. The pre-feasibility and feasibility studies will be carried out on the project site, in Lualaba province, starting with securing agreements for the supply of minerals and energy (water and electricity), and structuring the next phases of the financing, which will involve partnerships at national level from the private and public sectors, at regional level via international development agencies, and at international level through a partnership with the United States of America. Let’s remember that this project will be based on copper and cobalt, two essential minerals for the global technology industry. Indeed, cobalt is a key component of lithium-ion batteries, used in electric cars and electronic devices, while copper remains indispensable in electrical infrastructures. The Buenassa copper and cobalt refinery project, which aims to produce 120,000 tonnes of copper cathodes of the highest purity, 99.99%, and 30,000 tonnes of cobalt sulphate, with a provision for cobalt metal under study, to support the electric vehicle and defence industries in particular, promises to have a transformational effect on the national economy through local value-adding, in particular through the generation of direct and indirect revenue for the State, the creation of quality jobs, and the transfer of technology and associated training opportunities. This partnership is part of the drive to develop minerals locally, a key issue for economic development and the promotion and creation of new jobs in the Democratic Republic of Congo. ACP/