Europe Struggles to Secure Sustainable Cobalt Supply Amid China’s Dominance – Africa.com
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) remains key to global cobalt supplies, with two-thirds of the world’s cobalt coming from the central African country’s mines. However, most of the DRC’s cobalt production is exported to China, which controls 75% of the global cobalt processing industry. Cobalt is a key material in making batteries and is key to Europe’s energy transition goals. Europe must therefore rely on China to meet its cobalt needs, even though it disagrees with China’s mining methods. European policymakers such as MEP Marie-Pierre Vedreine emphasize sustainable extraction practices to combat child labor and exploitation, but China’s dominance in refining and value addition limits Europe’s influence. Efforts such as the EU’s Global Gateway Initiative and the Lobito Corridor infrastructure project aim to increase Europe’s influence, but China’s long-standing partnership and control of exports from the Democratic Republic of the Congo maintains its lead.
source: data warehouse
