Cobalt mining in DRC is crucial for global electronics and electric vehicle industries.
Research, conducted in both China and the DRC, reveals how governments that are often viewed as peripheral, such as the DRC, can influence and sometimes define global industries. Findings were based on months of fieldwork in the artisanal and industrial cobalt mines of the DRC and on China’s infrastructure developments. We also examined local media and government documents to review legal and administrative decisions. Researchers found that there’s a high level of control by the DRC government, both national and regional. Mining policy decisions made by politicians in the DRC’s capital Kinshasa or mining regions like Kolwezi are felt throughout global battery supply chains.