By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Belgium’s foreign minister says his country is interested in deepening involvement in the minerals sector of Central Africa’s Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), an assurance that comes as the DRC seeks to attract investment partners.
The DRC holds mineral resources including copper, cobalt, lithium, and uranium, among others, on a large scale. Investment in the sector, however, has been hampered by chronic instability and security concerns, posing obstacles to their development.
At the moment, the DRC is in talks with Washington after a Congolese senator pitched a minerals-for-security deal to U.S. officials.
The foreign minister said Belgium has firms with the know-how to ramp up its role in the sector.
“We have globally recognised expertise with players like Umicore and John Cockerill, who have the capacity to process all these rare critical materials,” Belgian Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Prévot said during a visit to the DRC on Monday.
“If one day the opportunity arises to also be an investment partner, we will not pull back,” he added.
Belgian firms have been involved in mining, processing, and trading Congolese cobalt, copper, and diamonds for decades, despite China’s influence.
Belgium-based global materials technology group Umicore signed a deal with state miner Gécamines last year to ship germanium concentrates to Europe.
Prévot said Belgium’s approach to working with Congo was beneficial for both countries, contrasting it with how some other partners operated.
“We observe the motivations of other international actors that can sometimes have a more transactional approach,” he said.
Prévot was due to visit the city of Beni on Tuesday as part of a trip intended to draw attention to human rights issues, particularly in Congo’s eastern provinces, where the army is facing an offensive by Rwandan-backed M23 rebels.
