Country profile – Democratic Republic of the Congo

The Democratic Republic of the Congo's economy is heavily reliant on mining, particularly copper and cobalt, which generate over 90% of mining revenues. While the country possesses vast hydropower potential, electricity access remains limited to 19% of the population. The sector is characterized by a mix of large-scale mining and significant artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM), the latter of which is linked to conflict minerals (3TG) in the east. Infrastructure development is currently focused on strategic corridors like the Lobito Corridor and the TAZARA rehabilitation to improve export logistics.

• The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has established a strategic mineral framework, with a June 2026 adopted list including lithium, tantalum, niobium, tungsten, uranium, and rare earth elements, adding to previous designations of cobalt, germanium, and colombo-tantalite.
• Mining is a critical economic pillar for the DRC, contributing approximately 26% of the GDP, with copper and cobalt together accounting for more than 90% of the sector's revenues.
• The DRC's energy supply is dominated by hydropower, which provides about 95% of total supply, yet only 2.5% of the country's technically feasible hydropower potential of nearly 774 TWh per year has been developed.
• Artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) is a major source of global tantalum, with approximately 60% of global production derived from ASM, including sites in eastern DRC and Tanganyika Province.
• The DRC government has used trade restrictions to manage cobalt exports, including a total export ban in February 2025, which was replaced in October 2025 by a quota system limiting exports to 44% of 2024 production levels.
• Strategic transport infrastructure is being developed through competing international initiatives: the U.S.- and G7-backed Lobito Corridor linking Angola's Lobito port to the DRC and Zambia, and a Chinese-led rehabilitation of the TAZARA corridor toward Dar es Salaam.
• Gender disparities persist in the mining workforce; women make up over 10% of the large-scale mining (LSM) workforce but only approximately 1% of policy and government decision-makers.

APA

Hamisi, J., Rezola, O. A., Lang, B., Adams, C., Bellois, G., & Ramdoo, I. (2026). Country profile – Democratic Republic of the Congo. International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2026-06/country-profile-democratic-republic-congo_0.pdf

Chicago

Hamisi, Jonathan, Ottavia Austin Rezola, Bertram Lang, Catherine Adams, Grégoire Bellois, and Isabelle Ramdoo. Country profile – Democratic Republic of the Congo. International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2026. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2026-06/country-profile-democratic-republic-congo_0.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Hamisi |first1=Jonathan |last2=Rezola |first2=Ottavia Austin |last3=Lang |first3=Bertram |last4=Adams |first4=Catherine |last5=Bellois |first5=Grégoire |last6=Ramdoo |first6=Isabelle |title=Country profile – Democratic Republic of the Congo |publisher=International Institute for Sustainable Development |date=June 2026 |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2026-06/country-profile-democratic-republic-congo_0.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{hamisi2026country, author = {Hamisi, Jonathan and Rezola, Ottavia Austin and Lang, Bertram and Adams, Catherine and Bellois, Grégoire and Ramdoo, Isabelle}, title = {{Country profile – Democratic Republic of the Congo}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2026}, month = jun, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2026-06/country-profile-democratic-republic-congo_0.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }