Kamoto Copper Company SA (KCC), a subsidiary of Swiss mining group Glencore, is accelerating the integration of its logistics operations in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The company announced the upcoming opening of a customs office and a one-stop shop directly at its Kolwezi mining site in Lualaba Province.

In a statement published on LinkedIn in mid-May 2026, KCC said the infrastructure is intended to centralize all public services involved in customs and export procedures at a single location. The company said the initiative is designed to streamline administrative procedures, reduce processing times and improve logistics flows linked to its mining operations.

“This initiative marks an important step forward in the simplification and modernization of our logistics processes,” the company said, adding that it aims to speed up truck clearance and improve coordination among stakeholders involved in import-export operations.

Streamlining exports

In the Congolese mining sector, which relies heavily on copper and cobalt exports, the speed of administrative procedures is a strategic issue. Customs delays, truck downtime and slow document processing can increase logistics costs, reduce equipment turnover and disrupt production schedules.

Locating customs services closer to mining sites is not new in the DRC. Several major operators already use customs-approved bonded warehouses or accelerated export clearance mechanisms.

The DRC’s mining procedures manual provides for coordination among several agencies — including the General Directorate of Customs and Excise (DGDA), the Congolese Control Office (OCC) and mining authorities — in export operations and the management of approved bonded warehouses.

KCC’s initiative comes as mining companies seek to improve supply chain efficiency while copper and cobalt production continues to rise in Lualaba and Haut-Katanga provinces.

A tense fiscal environment

The project also comes amid tighter fiscal and regulatory scrutiny in the Congolese extractive sector. In 2024, the General Directorate of Administrative, Judicial, State and Participation Revenue (DGRAD) launched a dispute involving about $895 million sought from local Glencore subsidiaries.

More recently, Africa Intelligence reported that the General Directorate of Taxes (DGI) was seeking around $4.7 billion from KCC and Mutanda Mining (MUMI) through tax reassessments covering the 2022 and 2023 fiscal years. According to the publication, the DGI is seeking about $3 billion from KCC and $1.7 billion from MUMI.

Glencore has challenged the claims, describing them as “completely without foundation,” while the Congolese tax authority maintains that some subsidiaries of the group understated their taxable earnings.

In this context, the establishment of a one-stop shop and a customs office directly at KCC’s site may also be viewed as an effort to strengthen operational oversight and compliance in an environment of increasing regulatory controls.

Boaz Kabeya