Benjamin Katabuka is KoBold Metals’ new key figure in the complex contest over the Manono deposit in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). At the end of March 2025, the lawyer was appointed Country Managing Director of the US mining junior, backed by billionaires Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos, despite the company having no active operations in the country to date.

KoBold plans to apply for copper and cobalt exploration permits but has been focused since January on bidding for rights to the Manono lithium deposit, regarded as having “the potential to become a large-scale, long-life lithium mine.” It appears this will be the arena where Benjamin Katabuka must first prove his mettle.

The Manono lithium deposit lies at the center of a dispute involving Australian company AVZ Minerals and the Congolese state-owned Cominière, partnered with Chinese firm Zijin Mining, currently before arbitration tribunals. AVZ claims it was unfairly excluded and maintains rights to the site.

KoBold’s offer proposes to resolve the dispute by providing AVZ “appropriate compensation” in exchange for relinquishing its claims to Manono. Both companies have announced a framework agreement for “AVZ to assign its business interests in the Manono lithium deposit to KoBold, at fair value.”

The remaining challenge is persuading Congolese authorities to endorse this arrangement, amid interest from major players like Rio Tinto. To navigate this, KoBold has placed its trust in Benjamin Katabuka, whose blend of international legal expertise and practical experience in the Congolese mining sector positions him well.

A lawyer by training, Katabuka holds degrees from the universities of Neuchâtel, Geneva, and Pennsylvania, and is a member of the New York Bar. His career spans North America, Europe, and Africa. After consulting in Geneva, he established himself as a leading figure in the Congolese extractive industry with over a decade of experience.

From 2022 until his appointment at KoBold, Katabuka served as Managing Director of C. Steinweg Bridge in the DRC, a South African subsidiary of the Dutch logistics group C. Steinweg Group provides import-export services in the DRC. Before that, Katabuka worked for Freeport-McMoRan in Kinshasa, the American group that operated the Tenke Fungurume copper-cobalt mine and developed the Kisanfu project before selling them to China’s CMOC.

This article was initially published in French by Boaz Kabeya (intern)

Edited in English by Ola Schad Akinocho