Filagot Woldeselassie’s Post

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Founder | Engineer| Energy & Environment Consultant | Women advocate| Chevening scholar

"These mineral rich countries should not just be sources of these resources but should be hubs where processing and manufacturing happens". #Ethiopia #Africa #Energyaccess #PIDAWEEK

DRC is in the news, this time around, it’s about the role it’s likely to play in Europe’s green energy future given its vast deposits of critical minerals, copper and #cobalt in particular. Allow me to mention here that DRC commands two thirds of the world’s cobalt production and it’s no surprise that many developed nations are looking to the Congo as a suitable supply source of cobalt. As this demand grows, it’s my hope that we will start seeing investment inflows into the country that mirror the country’s development/growth agenda and catalyze local mineral value addition. Currently, DRC’s cobalt finds its way to #China where it’s processed, this for me represents a significant source of #revenue leakage. Perhaps DRC should now start thinking of convincing European investors to set up processing and battery manufacturing plants locally then shipping a finished product, this is where value is. This demand, for me, presents further opportunities for neighboring countries like #Zambia. Given the recent investments we’ve seen going into developing railway #infrastructure especially the Lobito Corridor, a 1300km railway 🚃 line connecting DRC and Zambia to the port in Angola, Zambia is guaranteed of safe and seamless passage of its minerals to Asia, US etc. My only hope is that as this scramble for critical minerals continues, we should prioritize local value addition and infrastructure development. These mineral rich countries should not just be sources of these resources but should be hubs where processing and manufacturing happens. Rafiki Energy 🔋

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