How much hydropower does the DRC have?

The country has the potential to generate over 100,000 MW of hydropower, which is more than half of Africa’s total hydropower potential. Oil and gas discoveries in the east of the country give the DRC the second largest crude oil reserves in Central and Southern Africa.

What are the major industries in the DRC?

Major lithium mines in the DRC include Manono, which holds approximately 6,640,000 tons of lithium - according to September 2022 estimates. Telecommunications is a largely privatized and growing industry. Energy is another sector with huge potential for renewable energy, including hydropower and solar.

Why is lithium important in the DRC?

The DRC is home to globally significant deposits of hard-rock lithium. The mineral is considered critical to renewable energy technologies as a key component of batteries. It is estimated that global demand for lithium could increase up to 40-fold by 2040, driven by richer nations’ efforts to decarbonize their economies.

What is a major issue in the Congo?

The Congo faces a major issue of corruption. That's what allows so much of this abuse to persist. Imagine the Congo. It's a war-torn, deeply impoverished nation that has been subjected to generations of pillage and ransacking going all the way back, now centuries, to the slave trade.

Why is corruption a problem in the Congo?

Corruption is a big part of the problem in the Congo. That's what allows so much of the abuse and pillage to persist. The Congo is a war-torn, deeply impoverished nation that has been subjected to generations of exploitation going all the way back to the slave trade.

Is the DRC's cobalt supply chain 'clean'?

Kara, a fellow at Harvard's T.H. Chan School of Public Health and at the Kennedy School, has been researching modern-day slavery, human trafficking, and child labor for two decades. He says that although the DRC has more cobalt reserves than the rest of the planet combined, there's no such thing as a 'clean' supply chain of cobalt from the country.