Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on April 29, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 24, 2026
Add as preferred source on GoogleBelgium is interested in expanding its role in Congo's minerals sector, focusing on copper and cobalt, as Congo seeks diverse investment partners.
By Ange Kasongo
KINSHASA (Reuters) - Belgium is open to deeper involvement in Democratic Republic of Congo's minerals sector, its foreign minister said on a visit to the former Belgian colony, which is seeking to diversify its investment partners.
The vast Central African nation is home to large reserves of copper, cobalt, lithium and uranium among other minerals, but chronic instability has long been an obstacle to the foreign investment needed to fully develop them.
Kinshasa is currently on a push to attract new players to the sector and talks are already under way with Washington after a Congolese senator pitching a minerals-for-security deal contacted U.S. officials.
Asked by Reuters on Monday about possible interest in Congolese minerals, Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Prevot said Belgium had 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," he said.
"If one day the opportunity arises to also be an investment partner, we will not pull back," he added.
Despite China's dominance, Belgian firms have been involved in mining, processing and trading Congolese cobalt, copper and diamonds for decades.
Belgium-based global materials technology group Umicore signed a deal with state miner Gecamines last year to ship germanium concentrates to Europe.
Prevot said Belgium's approach to working with Congo was good 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.
Prevot was due to visit the city of Beni on Tuesday as part of a trip intended to draw attention to serious human rights issues, particularly in Congo's eastern provinces where the army is facing an offensive by Rwandan-backed M23 rebels.
(Additional reporting by Maxwell Akalaare Adombila in Dakar; Writing by Sofia Christensen; Editing by Robbie Corey-Boulet and Joe Bavier)
The article discusses Belgium's interest in expanding its role in the Democratic Republic of Congo's minerals sector.
Belgian companies like Umicore and John Cockerill are highlighted for their expertise in processing critical materials.
Congo is seeking to diversify its investment partners and is in talks with the U.S. for a minerals-for-security deal.
Explore more articles in the Headlines category
