Cobalt is an essential mineral for the manufacture of batteries and electric vehicles. The DRC and Zambia, which together account for almost 80% of the world’s cobalt reserves, have decided to set up an African value chain for the production of batteries and electric vehicles. Part of the partnership is to tap into a market that will be worth about $46 billion by 2050. This project was the focus of a conference held on 26 February 2023 in Niamey, Niger, as a prelude to the ninth session of the African Regional Forum for Sustainable Development (ARDF-9).
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Cobalt is an essential mineral for the manufacture of batteries and electric vehicles. The DRC and Zambia, which together account for almost 80% of the world’s cobalt reserves, have decided to set up an African value chain for the production of batteries and electric vehicles. Part of the partnership is to tap into a market that will be worth about $46 billion by 2050. This project was the focus of a conference held on 26 February 2023 in Niamey, Niger, as a prelude to the ninth session of the African Regional Forum for Sustainable Development (ARDF-9).
At the Africa Business Forum in Kinshasa on 24-25 November 2021, a BloombergNEF representative presented a study showing that the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) could exploit its cobalt reserves to become a cost-competitive and CO2 emission-competitive producer of battery cathode precursor materials. The study also found that investment costs in the DRC were lower than in any of the other major battery producing countries, due to their relatively low project development costs, even after taking into account infrastructure, labour and other costs.
The opportunity for the DRC lies in the fact that the country alone has 70% of the world’s cobalt reserves. This mineral is essential for the manufacture of electric batteries. To seize this opportunity, the DRC has joined forces with Zambia, which has 10% of the world’s cobalt reserves. The two countries aim to create an African value chain for the minerals used to make batteries.
The two states are being supported by development partners such as the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) and the African Economic Commission (AEC). For the UN body, the project should benefit the entire continent. « The minerals involved in the value chain for the production of batteries and electric vehicles are present in all African countries. And to move to the production of electric vehicles, we need African countries that already have the expertise in this area, including South Africa, Morocco, Kenya, and Rwanda, » explains Antonio Pedro, ECA’s Acting Executive Secretary.
The project feasibility study
ECA, AfreximBank and a consortium of partners are working directly with the DRC and Zambia to establish a value chain for battery minerals.
A feasibility study of the project to create an African regional value chain for minerals used in the manufacture of batteries and electric vehicles will be launched in the coming days by the ECA. The study will, among other things, estimate the cost of the project as well as the source of funding, define the legal and policy framework for the activity and analyse African expertise in the field.
This feasibility study will add to the progress already made by the DRC and Zambia, notably the establishment of a cooperation framework for the development of electric batteries, the creation of an African Centre of Excellence on Batteries (ACEB), and the establishment of the DRC-Zambia Battery Council.
A market worth around $46 billion
The stakes of an African value chain for the minerals needed to manufacture electric batteries are colossal. Over the next 25 years, the market for electric batteries should reach 46 billion dollars. The stakes are also ecological, given that cobalt is also used in the manufacture of solar panels and wind farms. This would be a boon for a continent like Africa, where nearly 600 million people have no access to electricity, according to the World Bank.
Fanta Mabo
The Republic of Congo is suspending the export of timber in the form of logs. The measure came into force on Sunday 1 January 2023 at the port of Pointe-Noire. Congo joins Gabon, which has been applying this sustainability approach to forest management since 2010. Cameroon, on the other hand, continues to export logs, to the detriment of environmentalists and international agreements on forest preservation.
The port of Pointe-Noire in the Republic of Congo no longer exports timber in log form. Exports of timber from Congo are now limited to semi-finished and finished products. The decision taken at the end of last December, which has been in force since 1 January 2023, should, according to the port authorities, enable the Congolese forestry sector and more broadly the industries in the sector to increase their contributions to the gross domestic product (GDP) and thus increase state revenue.
Pointe-Noire port officials are following in the footsteps of the Congolese Minister of Forest Economy, Rosalie Matondo, who announced in a letter dated 21 October 2022 that from 1 January 2023, timber exports from Congo would be restricted to semi-finished or finished products. Congo thus joins Gabon, which has applied this policy since 2010.
Congo’s decision goes against the guidelines of the Council of Ministers of the Central African Economic Union (UEAC), which decided on 28 October 2022 to postpone for the umpteenth time, to an unspecified date, the entry into force of the log export ban.
Congo’s decision can also be seen as a message to Cameroon, the second largest forest cover in the Congo Basin, with around 22 million hectares of forest, or almost 46% of the country’s total area. Despite calls from environmentalists and numerous international agreements, notably the Paris Agreement, which calls for sustainable forest management, Cameroon continues to export logs in the name of a tax windfall that amounts to 80 billion CFA francs (nearly 122 million euros), according to official figures. A tax levy that the players in the timber sector no longer intend to suffer. In a strike notice sent to the Prime Minister on 23 December 2022, they announced a strike, which has been in progress since 2 January 2023.
Fanta Mabo
CONGO: Ban on export of timber in log form comes into force
The Republic of Congo is suspending the export of timber in the form of logs. The measure came into force on Sunday 1 January 2023 at the port of Pointe-Noire. Congo joins Gabon, which has been applying this sustainability approach to forest management since 2010. Cameroon, on the other hand, continues to export logs, to the detriment of environmentalists and international agreements on forest preservation.
An organisation of journalists on climate change has been launched in Cameroon. It is the Cameroon branch of the Network of African Journalists on Sustainable Development and Climate Change. Barely created, the young branch called Rjacc-Kamer is already hard at work. The aim is to publish a scientific study in preparation for the COP 27 climate conference to be held in November 2022 in Egypt.
A document to assist decision-making in the fight against climate change is being prepared in Cameroon. The initiative of the Cameroon branch of the Network of African Journalists on Sustainable Development and Climate Change (Rjacc-Kamer) aims at producing a contribution in the run-up to the 27th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27) to be held in November 2022 in Egypt.
« Africa is the continent most vulnerable to the effects of climate change. On the occasion of the COP27 scheduled on African soil, we, as journalists specialised in climate change, intend to contribute to the reflections that will be conducted during these meetings, » says Gibrile Kenfack Tsabdo, president of Rjacc-Kamer. The members of this network have given themselves four months (until the end of September 2022) to carry out and publish the results of their study on climate change in Africa and Cameroon in particular.
An Africa21 project
Rjacc-Kamer is the Cameroonian representation of the Network of African Journalists on Sustainable Development and Climate Change. This project which aims at promoting sustainable development on a large scale through the African media was launched in 2019 by Africa 21, a Swiss association working for the promotion and implementation of sustainable development, and in particular the United Nations (UN) 2030 Agenda.
The study announced by Rjacc-Kamer is the very first project of the young antenna, whose constitutive General Assembly was held on 2 June 2022. It is composed of 12 journalists (six of whom are women), who produce content on environmental protection on a permanent or ad hoc basis.
Fanta Mabo
CAMEROON: A network of journalists on climate change is launched
An organisation of journalists on climate change has been launched in Cameroon. It is the Cameroon branch of the Network of African Journalists on Sustainable Development and Climate Change. Barely created, the young branch called Rjacc-Kamer is already hard at work. The aim is to publish a scientific study in preparation for the COP 27 climate conference to be held in November 2022 in Egypt.