The US department of state released a signed Memorandum of Understanding with the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia on electric vehicle battery value chains. The document was signed on December 13, 2022, during the Africa Leaders Summit and states DRC and Zambia’s involvement in the production of Electric Vehicle batteries.

DRC currently holds a majority of the world’s cobalt reserves at around 70% with Zambia coming in second in Africa. Zambia is also the world’s 6th largest copper producer. The MOU is stated to be entrusting the 2 African countries to work on a value chain that covers mining all the way to assembly.

These projects will be operational within Africa and there is mention of enabling the private sector to also be invited to participate in each step of this venture. The US really needs this as it got left far behind in the EV race. China is producing 56% of the world’s supply of EV batteries with Korea coming in second at 26% and Japan with 10%. That’s 92% of the world’s supply of EV batteries coming from Asia alone.

Read more: TechZim