Organisers of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)-Africa Battery Metals Forum have launched a new event to the flagship annual gathering in Kolwezi, named the DRC Critical Minerals & Industrialisation Forum.
The DRC Critical Minerals & Industrialisation Forum, held on 7-9 October 2026, will bring together mining companies, refiners, downstream manufacturers, investors, financers, logistics, energy, telecommunications, infrastructure and government to expedite DRC’s journey from mineral extraction to fully integrated industrial value chains.
VUKA Group event director Samukelo Madlabane says the organisation received “incredible” engagement and collaboration from private and public sectors, and this reinforced the forum’s mission to accelerate industrialisation of the DRC.
“The event was truly transformative with leaders from mining houses, government, investors, and industry at large coming together with one shared vision; the forum concluded with a clear call to turn dialogue into action and partnerships into long-term impact,” Madlabane says.
“We are heeding this call by launching the DRC Critical Minerals & Industrialisation Forum, providing that much-needed momentum to take this vision to the next level and to reality.”
The DRC produces more than 60% of the world’s cobalt and ranks third in the global copper production. Centred in the southern Katanga copper belt, the nation’s mining industry extracts gold, tantalum, tin, and diamonds.
In 2021 alone, the DRC increased its production of mining resources from 10,000 tonnes to nearly one million, as reported by the International Trade Administration.
Write to Aaliyah Rogan at Mining.com.au
Images: VUKA Group
