News (814)
Prime Minister Judith Suminwa Tuluka received officials from the Congolese Battery Council (CCB) and the International Trade Centre (ITC) on Feb. 24, 2026. The meeting focused on a strategic partnership to develop local value chains for battery minerals, according to an official statement issued afterward.
The initiative seeks technical support from the ITC and access to its international network to advance local processing by identifying public-private partnerships and target markets. Officials describe the project as cross-cutting, mobilizing the energy, mining, industry, infrastructure and trade sectors.
Against that backdrop, Kinshasa is seeking to narrow the gap between its mineral resources and end markets. The involvement of the ITC, a U.N. agency specializing in trade support and the integration of developing countries into global value chains, suggests an approach focused on market access, standards and international partnerships, at a time when the battery strategy has yet to translate into finalized industrial investments.
Interministerial Coordination Challenges
In March 2025, then-Industry and SME Development Minister Louis Watum Kabamba launched construction at the Musompo Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Lualaba province. The zone is intended to host activities ranging from precursor materials to battery production, with a possible extension into assembly. It covers more than 900 hectares. Construction costs are estimated at over $200 million, and roughly $2 billion in private investment has been targeted, with projections of 25,000 direct jobs and 60,000 indirect jobs.
Progress has been slow. In November 2025, at the Makutano forum, the chief executive of Arise IIP, a developer involved in several SEZs in the Democratic Republic of Congo including Musompo, expressed concern about a slowdown in the project. “The project seems to have slowed following the minister’s departure from the Industry Ministry in August,” said Romain Deniel.
Deniel noted that establishing a special economic zone “requires the involvement of four, five, sometimes six ministries” and therefore demands “significant coordination.” He added that beyond the administrative framework, the battery value chain is a “very strategic” segment that also requires the buy-in of existing operators, given the project’s potential to affect the structure of the value chain.
The ITC Lever
Taken together, these developments highlight a central issue: local processing depends not only on political will or technical studies, but on the state’s ability to sustain stable interministerial coordination across mining, energy, industry, finance and infrastructure, while navigating a mining sector already structured around export chains and dominant players. The trade-offs extend beyond tax incentives to energy and infrastructure access, local content requirements, supply conditions and the role of incumbent operators in the future industrial model.
In that context, the announced cooperation with the ITC represents a complementary lever. While industrial projects are still building momentum, Kinshasa is seeking to secure another critical link, namely market access and partnerships. The ITC could help clarify export channels, standards and traceability requirements, identify industrial or financial partners, and structure value chains aligned with international market expectations. The challenge for the DRC is to prevent the battery strategy from remaining limited to industrial zone announcements and to translate it into concrete commercial and industrial projects.
One major question remains unanswered: the operational substance of the partnership. The official statement refers to technical support and access to the ITC’s international network, but provides no timeline, deliverables, volumes or target industrial segments, whether refining, precursors, components or assembly.
Pierre Mukoko & Boaz Kabeya
The Democratic Republic of Congo's Ministry of Rural Development has announced a drinking water project targeting the provinces of Mongala, Nord-Ubangi and Sud-Ubangi.
State Minister Grégoire Mutshail Mutomb said the program includes the construction of modern water supply networks and public standpipes designed to serve communities within a five- to 10-kilometer radius, according to the Congolese Press Agency (ACP).
The ACP reported that the minister also identified infrastructure gaps in Gbadolite and announced plans to extend water systems to nearby areas. Additional studies will be conducted, while the national water utility Regideso is expected to undergo modernization to support sustainable service delivery.
Regional context: PREDIRE program and PDL-145
The announcement comes as authorities promote the regional PREDIRE program, which supports infrastructure development and transboundary water resource management in the Ubangi River basin. The African Development Bank (AfDB) says the program covers Nord-Ubangi, Sud-Ubangi and Mongala in the DRC, as well as the Greater Bangui area in the Central African Republic, targeting direct beneficiaries across the region. The ACP said both initiatives fall under the PDL-145 Territories program, which aims to expand access to basic services.
Neither the ACP nor official communications specify the project’s budget, financing sources or implementation timeline, including its start date, duration or phases. Authorities have not disclosed the list of targeted communities by province or the number of planned facilities, such as standpipes, network length, pumping stations or reservoirs.
Operational details also remain unclear, including Regideso’s role in ownership, maintenance and tariff setting, as well as expected service standards and oversight mechanisms. The relationship between the announced project and PREDIRE, including their respective geographic scopes, coordination framework and whether financing is shared or separate, has not been explained.
Boaz Kabeya
Xcalibur Multiphysics Group is preparing to roll out the second phase of an airborne geophysical and geological mapping program in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), one month after signing a second contract worth $297.8 million with the Ministry of Mines.
Mines Minister Louis Watum Kabamba chaired the first steering committee meeting on February 23, 2025, attended by company representatives. Discussions covered technical guidelines, the implementation timeline and operational requirements, including equipment mobilization and administrative compliance. No further details were disclosed.
The steering committee will oversee the program’s implementation, ensure compliance with financial procedures and recruit an independent consultant to supervise quality control. Authorities also announced a public awareness campaign.
According to the ministry, Phase B aims to modernize the country’s geological mapping, strengthen governance of geoscientific data, reduce exploration risk and build local technical capacity.
The three-year program will cover the provinces of Kasai, Kwango, Kongo Central and Katanga, spanning more than 700,000 square kilometers. It will increase survey density in areas identified during Phase A and conduct detailed investigations of detected anomalies. Magnetic and radiometric surveys will be carried out across the remaining territory, while gravity surveys will focus on the Central Basin to assess oil and gas potential. Detailed geological and geochemical mapping is also planned.
Six to eight aircraft planned
The project includes a capacity-building component, the full implementation of a Geographic Information System (GIS) to manage and analyze data, and the construction of a laboratory for chemical, petrographic and metallogenic analysis.
Operationally, Xcalibur plans to fly more than 2.7 million linear kilometers. Flight lines will be spaced 250 meters apart to generate high-resolution data across geologically diverse zones. The company intends to progressively deploy six to eight aircraft for the program.
During the dry season, one aircraft equipped with the Tempest electromagnetic system will operate full-time to collect more than 300,000 linear kilometers of data, with lines spaced 2.5 kilometers apart.
All airborne and ground data will be integrated into XENAI, Xcalibur Smart Mapping’s artificial intelligence platform. The company says the system provides secure access to multilayered geoscientific datasets and enables advanced analysis using machine learning.
The data processing is expected to produce integrated interpretation and prospectivity reports, identify priority geological targets and provide a factual basis for national planning and investment promotion. The Geological Service and the Congolese government will retain ownership of the data and determine how it is used and shared.
Ronsard Luabeya
Democratic Republic of Congo Deputy Prime Minister for the Civil Service Jean-Pierre Lihau has signed an accountability agreement with secretaries-general, inspectors-general and directors-general as part of a public administration reform drive.
The agreement formally places responsibility for workforce management on the heads of public administrations. Effective immediately, they are required to ensure that staffing levels align with approved budget positions. The move aims to prevent a repeat of large numbers of unregistered but salaried employees.
Speaking on Top Congo on Feb. 19, 2026, Lihau said the initiative follows the identification of more than 87,000 “new units” (NU) since control procedures were launched in 2022.
The term “new units” refers to public employees who were not recorded in the state’s official administrative files but were already receiving salaries or bonuses. According to the minister, their high number has added pressure to the public payroll in recent years.
He said 87,956 such cases had been identified across all public administrations. He warned that similar situations could now result in sanctions against responsible officials, including dismissal.
The measure forms part of a broader regularization and payroll integration process. In July 2025, the Civil Service said it had identified more than 500,000 employees not yet integrated into the payroll system, of whom 180,000 had been regularized. A new integration phase for the third quarter of 2025 was announced, with lists published on the Civil Service’s official website.
The reform also relies on Administrative Circular No. 006 of Sept. 10, 2025, which sets out procedures for certifying “new units.” It establishes a review process led by a working group tasked with verifying appointment documents and the availability of funded positions.
The initiative is part of President Felix-Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo’s broader government reform effort aimed at strengthening transparency and control over the public payroll.
Boaz Kabeya
The Democratic Republic of Congo and Gabon have signed an agreement to develop mobile roaming services between the two countries.
The memorandum of understanding was signed on Feb. 19, 2026, on the sidelines of the 10th ordinary session of the regulators’ conference held in Kinshasa, according to the Congolese Press Agency (ACP).
The agreement aims to allow users to make calls, send text messages and use mobile data in the other country through a partner network without changing their phone numbers.
Christian Katende, head of Congo’s Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (ARPTC), said the cooperation is intended to improve user mobility and lower the cost of cross-border communications, with the goal of strengthening connectivity between the two countries, ACP reported.
The protocol was initialed by the heads of the two regulatory bodies, ARPTC for Congo and ARCEP for Gabon, according to Congolese media reports.
No timeline has been announced for implementation. Lower-cost roaming typically requires technical coordination and pricing agreements between operators, including reduced roaming fees or harmonized tariffs, depending on the terms negotiated.
The initiative comes amid a broader regional push. In Central Africa, the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa (CEMAC) relaunched efforts in March 2025 to introduce free roaming, meaning services without extra charges, and called for obstacles to its implementation to be removed, though timelines and modalities vary by country and operator.
Ronsard Luabeya
The Democratic Republic of Congo's central bank has moved to add gold to its official reserves, signing an agreement on Feb. 20 with DRC Gold Trading, the state-owned company responsible for collecting and exporting artisanal gold.
Under the deal, the Central Bank of the Congo (BCC) will serve as the primary buyer of gold produced by the country's artisanal miners through DRC Gold Trading, Governor André Wameso said at the signing ceremony.
The project is designed to “correct a major historical anomaly”: the fact that a leading gold producer holds no physical gold in its vaults. For the BCC, the initiative also aims to reinforce the stability of the Congolese franc and strengthen the country's financial sovereignty, against a backdrop of rising gold prices and a broader push to diversify reserve assets.
The move is consistent with the priorities Wameso has pursued since his appointment as central bank governor in July 2025: reducing the country's structural dependence on the dollar and restoring confidence in the Congolese franc. Since September 2025, the national currency has appreciated 19%.
The financial terms of the BCC-DRC Gold Trading partnership, including the payment currency, purchase price, volumes, timeline, delivery arrangements, storage, auditing and transparency mechanisms, have not been publicly disclosed. Those details are critical to assessing Wameso’s strategy.
Challenges
The BCC said that holding monetary gold will protect its reserves against inflation and geopolitical shocks. Described as a safe-haven asset with no counterparty risk, gold would help reduce the reserves’ exposure to fiat currency depreciation and bolster confidence in the national currency. The extent of that effect will depend, in part, on gold’s eventual share of total reserves.
According to several monetarists, the project’s impact on franc stability will also hinge on the purchasing framework, particularly the payment currency. If gold is purchased in Congolese francs, the operation could support use of the national currency, but it would strengthen the franc only if the BCC prevents those purchases from generating uncontrolled monetary expansion. If the liquidity injected into the economy is not subsequently absorbed or offset, the operation could stoke inflation and increase demand for dollars. Conversely, if gold is purchased in dollars, the arrangement could enhance the appeal of the official channel in a heavily dollarized sector, but it could also strain foreign currency liquidity if payments draw down foreign exchange reserves.
Wameso must also contend with competition from informal supply networks. To draw gold away from those channels, the official buyer must offer sufficiently attractive pricing and payment terms while guarding against the re-labeling of smuggled gold. For several players in the sector, payments in Congolese francs are widely seen as a drawback.
In 2025, the DRC channeled 2.3 metric tons of artisanal gold through official channels, according to official statistics described as preliminary and incomplete. For 2026, DRC Gold Trading is targeting 15 to 18 metric tons of artisanal gold per year and more than $2 billion in export revenues. To establish itself as the primary buyer, the BCC must also address a liquidity challenge: balancing foreign exchange interventions, which involve selling dollars, buying francs and meeting priority public import needs, with gold purchases.
Pierre Mukoko & Ronsard Luabeya
Anhui Foreign Economic Construction Ltd Congo Corp (SACIM) has completed its first public sale of 288,000 carats of industrial diamonds in Antwerp, Belgium, the Consulate General of the Democratic Republic of Congo in the city said.
The sale was held from Feb. 16 to Feb. 20, 2026, with technical support from Belgian firm Samir Gems, active in the diamond and jewelry trade, and the Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC). A total of 67 international companies took part, with leading buyers from China, India, the United States and Italy.
The transaction marks the return of Congolese industrial diamonds to the Antwerp market after more than a decade, the Consulate said. However, the interruption did not affect all exports. Official statistics show Belgium among the importers of Congolese industrial diamonds in 2024 and 2025, with 3.96 million and 1.7 million carats respectively.
Following the sale, Sacim, Samir Gems and the AWDC agreed on an annual schedule of public sales and a framework for technical and institutional support aimed at strengthening the long-term presence of Congolese diamonds in Antwerp.
The sale comes eight months after the liberalization of diamond trading by Congolese producers. In June 2025, then-Minister of Mines Kizito Pakabomba repealed a 2022 decree that regulated mineral sales through the Center for Expertise, Evaluation and Certification of Precious and Semi-Precious Mineral Substances (CEEC). The framework limited producers to a restricted list of buyers, a system that could influence prices. As a major player in the sector, Sacim was among the companies most affected.
The terms of the Antwerp sale were not disclosed. Official 2025 mining statistics nonetheless show an improvement in Sacim’s average sales price. In 2024, when the sector’s average price stood at $9.63 per carat, Sacim recorded $11.38. In 2025, the company maintained an average price of $11 while the sector average fell to $7.4 per carat. Natural diamond prices have been declining for several years.
According to official data, exports by Sacim, jointly owned by China’s Anhui Foreign Economic Construction Corporation (AFECC) and the Congolese state, were halved, falling from 2,887,100.25 carats in 2024 to 1,151,865.58 carats in 2025. The company accounted for 13.5% of national output, producing just over 1.1 million carats.
Ronsard Luabeya
Tshopo province, in north-central Democratic Republic of Congo, has recorded its first official exports of artisanal gold, according to 2025 mining statistics released on Feb. 3.
The data, described as “provisional and partial,” show that Tshopo exported 125.26 kilograms of gold over five months. The figures may reflect the launch of DRC Gold Trading’s operations in the province. The state-owned company, which channels and exports Congolese artisanal gold, now lists Kisangani, the provincial capital, among its operational locations, though it has not disclosed when the branch opened.
Governor Paulin Lendongolia Lebabonga announced plans for the office as early as June 2025, saying it would help tighten oversight of gold trading, curb fraud and secure revenue for the province. Provincial authorities said transactions should go through licensed trading houses and be integrated into the formal banking system.
Mining Data
The move comes amid wider regulatory problems in the province’s mining sector. In January 2025, the provincial government suspended mining activities to compel companies to register with the authorities. Of 142 companies identified as operating in the province, the provincial mines minister said only one was compliant at the time, with the others accused of operating outside legal requirements.
Actualité.cd reported in February 2025 that civil society groups across several territories had flagged the presence of foreign nationals operating illegally and partnering with local cooperatives.
According to the Ministry of Mines, Tshopo has four active artisanal gold cooperatives, two of which are officially listed as “in production.” Despite being listed as active, the province had not appeared in national mining statistics before 2025.
Some buying houses reported monthly volumes of around 10 grams, figures considered too low to cover their operating costs. Provincial authorities suspect that part of the gold output is bypassing formal channels and being smuggled to Uganda, a country frequently cited as a transit hub in regional gold trafficking networks.
Timothée Manoke
The Democratic Republic of Congo has ordered an audit of the civil service payroll, according to the minutes of a Council of Ministers meeting held on Feb. 20, 2026.
The government said the audit is intended to safeguard public finances and ensure it can continue funding its priorities, including the regular and timely payment of salaries. The aim is to secure long-term payroll stability and prevent delays that could undermine social stability.
A Rapidly Expanding Wage Bill
The public wage bill has risen sharply in recent years. In a January 2026 report, the International Monetary Fund said salaries for military and police personnel were doubled at the start of 2025, alongside the recruitment of new security forces. Additional spending pressures came from the education and health sectors, as well as the hiring of 2,500 magistrates later in the year.
As a result, the wage bill is estimated to have exceeded its budgeted level by around 19% in 2025. Between 2021 and 2025, it more than doubled in nominal terms and rose 46% in real terms, now accounting for more than 50% of tax revenues.
To curb the increase, the Ministry of Public Service said in August 2025 it was preparing a biometric registration of employees under the central government’s supplementary budget, aimed at tightening control over staffing levels and payroll costs.
On Dec. 18, 2025, Public Service Minister Jean-Pierre Lihau announced the retirement of 2,000 eligible employees. He said that from January 2026, at least 30,000 employees would be retired each year.
Wage Bill Targets and Pay Reform
In the original 2025 budget, the government allocated $3.4 billion for salaries. Following the doubling of military and police pay, the wage bill is now expected to reach $4 billion, equivalent to 23.3% of total expenditure and 4.8% of GDP. The government aims to keep the wage bill below 5% of GDP over the medium term.
To support that target, it announced plans in December 2025 to adopt a new pay policy, developed in consultation with unions, to improve equity and efficiency in public sector remuneration, reduce unjustified disparities and limit hiring to essential positions.
The minutes of the Feb. 20 meeting state that the payroll audit is part of a broader effort to strengthen fiscal consolidation and budget discipline, rather than a short-term response.
The Prime Minister will coordinate the audit, with support from the General Inspectorate of Finance and other oversight bodies. The Deputy Prime Minister in charge of the Budget will ensure staffing levels on the payroll match those approved in the budget. Results are expected within 30 days.
Boaz Kabeya
The Sovereign Gold Reserve Token (SGRT) is already in pre-sale on the WinstantGold platform, Bankable observed on Feb. 22, 2026. Its official launch is scheduled later this year in Kinshasa.
The SGRT is a gold-backed crypto asset issued by the Fonds social de la République démocratique du Congo (FSRDC), a public institution under the presidency responsible for reconstruction, poverty reduction and improving living standards.
To achieve those goals, the FSRDC, coordinated by Philippe Ngwala Malemba, a social development expert who spent 10 years at the African Development Bank, is relying on the AXIS program (Asset-eXchange-Impact-Sovereign) to fund sustainable local development. The program aims to convert local resources, such as artisanal gold or forest carbon, into digital assets that can be sold to investors to raise funds without resorting to conventional borrowing.
The SGRT is the first in a planned series of crypto assets. According to the promoters, each SGRT purchased corresponds to one gram of gold yet to be produced. The token would be guaranteed by the state, with four grams of "sovereign underground gold" pledged as collateral, based on the principle that unextracted gold remains state property under the country's laws. How that commitment would be legally structured remains unclear.
Legal tender?
Although the token's value is tied to that of gold, its sale price has not been disclosed at this stage. The acquisition cost will, however, include a government issuance tax equivalent to 3% of the SGRT purchase price, as set out in the AXIS program white paper published last December. For the pre-sale, promoters are promising discounts of "up to 35% below intrinsic value."
According to promotional materials, purchasing an SGRT also entitles the buyer to a bonus token: the FCRT (Forest Carbon Reserve Token), which purportedly represents "carbon credits generated by ethical gold extraction and sustainable practices in the DRC." A promotional video states that "FCRT holders receive a share of revenues generated by the sale of carbon credits, creating a potential income stream," with a promised annual return of 20% to 50%. That promise, however, assumes the promoters can overcome the difficulties of accessing carbon credit markets, which African countries have repeatedly flagged as a persistent obstacle.
The AXIS program's website also states that "the SGRT and FCRT are both recognized as legal tender by the Democratic Republic of Congo." No confirmation of that legal status from the Central Bank of Congo (BCC) has been identified. The white paper, which assigns the BCC a central supervisory role, recommends the adoption of "a specific directive" to govern the convertibility, circulation and interoperability of the SGRT with the banking system and electronic currencies.
Liquidity challenge
According to the white paper, SGRT issuance is capped at 50 million tokens and is expected to unfold over five years. From the sixth year, a second crypto asset would be issued, backed by extracted, refined and certified gold: the SGCT (Secured GoldConnect Token). The SGRT tokens would then be progressively converted into SGCT at a rate of 10% of the total stock per year over a 10-year period. The project is designed to run for 15 years, which is also the duration of the public-private partnership underpinning it.
That PPP, announced on June 28, 2025, links the FSRDC to Phoenix Capital. Based in Sint Maarten, Netherlands, Phoenix Capital describes itself as a company specializing in the tokenization of natural assets, without disclosing any prior track record. Chaired by Alain Lemieux, it signed a partnership with Winstant Ltd for the development of WinstantGold, the platform for issuing and managing the AXIS program's crypto assets. Led by Hervé Lacorne, Winstant Ltd describes itself as a Hong Kong-based startup incubator specializing in financial technology, regulatory technology and biotechnology solutions.
Under the proposed structure, the funds raised through the sale of the initial tokens are intended to finance the production of gold and community carbon certificates, which would in turn serve as backing for the SGCT and FCRT tokens respectively. The arrangement raises questions about liquidity, particularly as no clear buyback mechanism is outlined. To recoup an investment, token holders would need to resell their tokens to third parties or use them for payments. Phoenix Capital says it has made millions of dollars’ worth of international purchases using SGRT.
Custodian undisclosed
Gold would be produced through the Goldconnect initiative, which is intended to organize, trace and formalize artisanal gold in Congo. The initiative would draw on more than 300 gold mining cooperatives supervised by the Service d'assistance et d'encadrement des mines artisanales et de petite échelle (SAEMAPE) under the partnership between the FSRDC and Phoenix Capital. Operations would take place in artisanal mining zones made available by the state. A framework agreement was signed on Feb. 19 between the Ministry of Mines and the FSRDC.
Backing a single token would require the production of four grams of gold. "According to Goldconnect's ethical extraction cost model, producing one gram of gold requires approximately three grams of underground reserves," the white paper states. Over 15 years, the Goldconnect initiative would therefore need to produce at least 200 metric tons of gold, equivalent to more than 13.5 metric tons per year, compared with a peak of five metric tons in official artisanal production to date.
After extraction, the gold intended for backing would need to be refined to a purity level consistent with international market standards, cast into bars, and then stored with a custodian based in Dubai whose name has not been disclosed.
Pierre Mukoko
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Air Congo has taken delivery of a third Boeing 737-800, expanding the national carrier’s fleet to three aircraft as it moves to scale up operations and launch regional services.
An official reception was held on Feb. 19, 2026, at N’djili International Airport in the presence of Transport Minister Jean-Pierre Bemba.
Chief Executive Weldegeorgis Mesfin said the additional aircraft would improve on-time performance, increase frequencies on certain routes and enhance overall operational efficiency.
“We are welcoming our third aircraft of the same type today, a symbol of our growth and our commitment to providing modern, safe and reliable air transport,” he said.
When the second aircraft was delivered in December 2024, Mesfin said the airline aimed to expand its fleet to between six and eight aircraft to support its medium-term growth strategy.
Air Congo, which is 51% owned by the Congolese state and 49% by Ethiopian Airlines, plans to gradually launch regional services across Central, Southern and West Africa. Destinations targeted this year include Johannesburg; Cotonou; Douala; N’Djamena; Nairobi; and Dar es Salaam.
Mesfin said the expansion is designed to tap growing domestic and regional demand while strengthening the Democratic Republic of Congo’s connectivity with major African hubs.
The airline also expects to take delivery next month of an ATR 72-600 to reinforce its domestic network. The turboprop will serve Beni, Bunia, Isiro, Gbadolite, Mbandaka and Kalemie.
Mesfin said the strategy forms part of a broader ambition to develop a coherent air transport network capable of supporting the country’s economic and social development.
Founded in 2024, Air Congo has so far focused on domestic routes, including Goma, Lubumbashi, Kisangani, Mbujimayi, Kananga, Kindu, Kolwezi and Bukavu.
Ronsard Luabeya
Two years after tensions that led to a settlement agreement with the Democratic Republic of Congo's private-sector subcontracting regulator, Kibali Gold Mine is once again under scrutiny. In a decision signed on Feb. 17, 2026, Director General Miguel Kashal of the Autorité de régulation de la sous-traitance dans le secteur privé (ARSP) ordered the cancellation of several subcontracting agreements between Kibali, the DRC's top gold producer, and three service providers: KMS SAU, Boart Longyear SAU and TAI Services SAS. Kibali operates the Kibali gold mine in Haut-Uélé province.
The ARSP contends that KMS SAU and Boart Longyear SAU are not majority Congolese-owned companies and therefore do not meet the eligibility requirements set out in Article 6 of the Feb. 8, 2017 subcontracting law. Little information is publicly available on KMS, but Boart Longyear is an Australian mining group specializing in exploration and production drilling, as well as geotechnical services and drilling equipment and technologies.
According to the regulator, Boart Longyear, which operates in Australia, Africa and the Americas, was granted a waiver in September 2024. However, the ARSP said the conditions attached to that waiver, notably those related to technology transfer, were not complied with.
The situation regarding TAI Services SAS is different. The ARSP argues that the contract for the purchasing center positioned the company as a "commercial intermediary" between Kibali and Congolese contractors, a situation that sparked tensions among local communities in Watsa territory, where the mine is located. The decision states that such an arrangement, including the collection of a percentage-based commission on contracts awarded to local subcontractors, "runs counter to local content requirements." The regulator added that the contractual relationship must be direct between the principal company and the eligible subcontractor.
Earlier dispute
The Feb. 17 decision follows an earlier episode in January 2024, when the ARSP threatened to shut the mine and announced legal proceedings against a subcontracting company, TCFF, which it accused of capturing the bulk of contracts and collecting commissions. A settlement agreement between the ARSP and Kibali was ultimately signed after those discussions.
At the time, the regulator said more than 390 contracts had been opened to eligible subcontractors and highlighted a restructuring of the contractual framework. Mine operator Barrick Mining said in a statement published on March 1, 2024, that it was working "with the ARSP on a series of local content initiatives." That collaboration did not result in full compliance with the law, as the latest decision indicates.
The violations cited in the latest ruling are nonetheless less serious than those raised in 2024. At that time, Kibali was accused of setting up a front company to carry out subcontracting work linked to its own production activities. "We conclude unequivocally that TCFF is none other than Kibali Gold in disguise," Kashal said then. The 2026 decision does not allege a systemic scheme to capture subcontracting contracts but instead cites a limited number of instances of non-compliance.
A strategic mine
The Feb. 17 decision is based on findings from an inspection mission conducted in November 2025. During that visit, Kibali Gold's director general committed to implementing the recommendations. "We have an inspection mission currently at Kibali (...). Where improvements are needed, we will work with the ARSP and the provincial authorities to address them, and where progress has already been made, we will look at how to build on it," Cyrille Mutombo said.
To prevent any abrupt disruption to operations, the ARSP has provided for a transition period to allow new tenders to be launched in compliance with the law.
As the only industrial enterprise in Haut-Uélé province, Kibali is a key driver of economic activity for both the province and the country. In July 2025, Barrick said in a press release that $3.1 billion had been paid to local contractors and partners since 2009. The group said it supports more than 700 Congolese companies and noted that Kibali's tenders are published jointly with the ARSP. Barrick had already stated in March 2024 that 95% of the mine's more than 6,500 employees were Congolese nationals.
Kibali is also a key earnings contributor for its shareholders: Barrick Mining holds 45%, AngloGold Ashanti 45% and state-owned Sokimo 10%. The mine posted revenue of $2.3 billion in 2025, up 40% from 2024. That growth lifted Kibali's contribution to Barrick's results by 67%, from $316 million in 2024 to $527 million in 2025, despite a 13% increase in costs.
Pierre Mukoko & Timothée Manoke
The Democratic Republic of Congo and the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) have advanced their partnership. On Feb. 18, 2026, in Kinshasa, the Ministry of Infrastructure and Public Works (ITP) and UNOPS signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU).
The document was signed by ITP Minister John Banza and UNOPS Country Director for the DRC Mouna El-Jaouhari. Presented as a key step in the country’s infrastructure reconstruction, the memorandum aims to transform the country’s infrastructure while strengthening local capacities.
The agreement is structured around four main components. The first covers infrastructure development and rehabilitation, including the construction of new facilities and the restoration of existing infrastructure nationwide. The second focuses on skills transfer, notably strengthening the capacity of Congolese institutions and improving construction standards and methods. The third promotes strategic cooperation, positioning infrastructure as a driver of economic growth. The fourth addresses social impact and progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), through improved connectivity, poverty reduction and better access to basic services, particularly via road projects.
The MOU is described as a flexible framework agreement, with monitoring mechanisms designed to allow adjustments and reinforce cooperation as implementation advances. It does not specify priority projects, funding amounts or a timeline. Instead, it establishes a strategic framework to be implemented through project-specific agreements.
UNOPS specializes in project implementation. It supports states, U.N. agencies, donors and other partners by providing project management, procurement and infrastructure services, operating under a self-financing model based on fees charged to projects. The organization has been active in the DRC for several years. According to its public data, UNOPS carried out more than 53 projects in the country in 2024, with a total value of about $61.2 million and 26 partners. Its portfolio includes transport infrastructure, health, water, vocational training and stabilization programs in the east.
The agency says it has contributed to the construction or rehabilitation of 132 health centers, 27 vaccine depots and 16 regional drug distribution centers. It also reports water infrastructure projects benefiting 45,000 people in rural areas, as well as road rehabilitation and bridge construction operations.
By formalizing their cooperation through this agreement, Kinshasa and UNOPS are placing these activities within a structured framework under the ITP ministry. The key challenge now is to turn this partnership into funded, planned and implemented projects.
Boaz Kabeya
Belgium, the Democratic Republic of Congo and U.S. company KoBold Metals are at odds over access to colonial-era geological records held at the Royal Museum for Central Africa (AfricaMuseum) in Tervuren. Belgian authorities are refusing to allow KoBold to digitize the archival collection under the terms agreed in Kinshasa, according to several Belgian media reports. The archives are considered strategically significant for mineral exploration.
A deal signed between the DRC and KoBold in Kinshasa on July 17, 2025, explicitly aims to provide free public access to historical geoscientific data via the National Geological Service of Congo (SGNC). The agreement also stipulated that KoBold would deploy a team to the DRC's geological archives held at the Royal Museum for Central Africa to begin digitizing documents before July 31, 2025.
Seven months later, that digitization has yet to begin. Belgian authorities have blocked KoBold's team from accessing the archives, arguing that federal public archives cannot be entrusted to a foreign private company that has no direct contractual relationship with the Belgian state. "We cannot delegate full responsibility for managing our archives to a private company," outside the Belgian and European legal framework, AfricaMuseum Director Bart Ouvry said.
Belgium has also pointed to an existing digitization program already underway, funded by the European Union. The project provides for gradual digitization of the archives over several years, with copies to be transferred in stages to Congolese authorities. Museum officials said the program would span four to five years, with completion expected around 2031. The data would then be made accessible under a framework agreed between the relevant institutions, including the SGNC.
Control of geological data
The Tervuren archives are described as a vast collection of maps, reports and technical surveys covering nearly 500 linear meters of documents. For KoBold, which specializes in artificial intelligence-assisted exploration, the historical data represents essential raw material for the "large-scale mineral exploration" program outlined in its agreement with the DRC. Rapid access to the historical records would reduce geological risk and help guide investment decisions.
The agreement ties this effort to a broader strategy of American exploration and investment in the DRC. It cites a desire to "attract more investment from the American private sector, particularly in the critical minerals sector," and refers to "secure supply chains to the United States" in the context of regional initiatives such as the Lobito Corridor. That approach was reinforced by a strategic partnership concluded between Kinshasa and Washington last December.
Belgium has officially cited the public status of the archives and the absence of a direct contractual framework with the Belgian state. By promoting the existing European program and declining to allow KoBold direct access, Belgium has effectively retained control over the pace and conditions under which data described as strategically significant is made available.
In a context of intensifying international competition over critical minerals, the dispute over the colonial archives goes beyond a straightforward administrative matter. It underscores a broader shift: control of geological data has become central to the power dynamics surrounding the DRC's critical resources.
Pierre Mukoko & Boaz Kabeya