The days of feel-good international meetings are over, affirms Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) Mines Minister Louis Watum Kabamba on Wednesday; “it’s time for results!” He was delivering a keynote address on the first day of the Africa Mining Week 2025 conference, being held at the Cape Town International Convention Centre.
“Africa is rising,” he highlighted. “We must, as a region, take control of our resources.”
This was necessary to achieve what he called the African Revolution. He pointed out that mining was not just about digging holes in the ground and extracting resources. It was also about infrastructure, development, and the benefitting of communities and countries.
“The end is to create wealth and share it equitably among stakeholders,” he stated. “The world needs us to stand up and do this correctly.”
To beneficiate minerals in Africa had benefits. It would be in proximity to the mineral resources, it would be able to tap into the young and dynamic population, and would benefit from the incentives being offered by new industrial development zones. “If you are interested in critical and essential minerals,” he said, “start developing value chains [in Africa].”
“Mining both starts and ends with exploration,” he pointed out. “Those who put exploration dollars into the ground today, find resources tomorrow.” And subsequently develop the mines of the future, and thereby create wealth.
He highlighted the value of AI to exploration. It was significantly accelerating the processing of data, including space-based data, to locate new mineral resources.
“If you want the world to go green, we’ll have to find, and then mine, more copper than has ever been mined in history before, over the next 25 years,” he reported. “That’s a $450-billion investment over 25 years.”
And other critical mineral resources, such as lithium and cobalt, would also have to be found and exploited. Africa would, however, have to understand what resources were critical for the continent and to focus on them. There was a willingness in Africa to come together, to develop the right policies and the right reforms, to develop the continent.
Naturally, he also focused on his own country.
“The DRC is a country with a mineral endowment second to none,” he stressed. “The DRC is an attractive investing destination, provided you do your homework.”
Without naming names, he decried the damage being done by wars and conflicts. He noted that his government sought to turn the DRC’s mineral resources into wealth, through beneficiation. And he pointed out that most of the country had still not been subjected to minerals exploration.
He observed that the Earth was like a spaceship, on which there were no passengers – everyone was a crew member. It was necessary to take care of our planet.
“We don’t only have rights, we have obligations,” he concluded. “The future is here, the future is now.”