Running discussion on SP, page-76667

“AVZ has been invited by the DRC government to execute this agreement”

AVZ Minerals and DATHCOM from the genesis of the creation of the DR Congo Battery Council (DBC)?

February 26, 2023
Kiki Kienge

By Kiki Kienge

In November 2021, AVZ Minerals represented by Nigel Ferguson General Manager of AVZ, Balthazar Tshiseke Deputy General Manager and Director of Dathcom, in particular Serge Ngandu General Affairs Director of AVZ's Dathcom Mining subsidiary, was a stakeholder in Africa Business Forum. It was notably in the presence of HE the Head of State, Felix Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo and his Zambian counterpart, HE Hakainde Hichilema .
The forum was led by the Minister of Industry, Julien Paluku in the presence of other members of the Congolese and Zambian government, in particular Mrs. Ève Bazaiba Masudi Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of the Environment and Sustainable Development, Madame Antoinette Nsamba Kalambayi Minister of Mines.

The objective of the forum was to foster the development of an industrial value chain and market for batteries, in the DRC in particular and in Africa in general.
Here is the statement of Nigel Ferguson General Manager of AVZ Minerals during this Forum in Kinshasa:

“The signing of this pledge provides a solid platform for the development of a battery minerals industry in the DRC, which AVZ wholeheartedly supports, and is also an incredibly significant development as we enter the final stages of obtaining the mining license and permits for the Manono project. The DRC and Africa are strategically positioned to play a central role in the global transition to clean energy and de-carbonization and the Manono project will go a long way towards improving the lot of the Congolese people, which AVZ Minerals wholeheartedly supports. . »

At the end of this forum, the Congolese government as well as the technical and financial partners; CEA, AFC and BADEA have signed an agreement for the development of a battery industry in the DRC.
Subsequently, AVZ was invited by the Congolese government to execute this agreement signed at the Africa Business Forum:
"We are delighted to be the only up-and-coming mining company to have been invited to join the new Battery Council of DRC, which will be chaired by the President of the DRC and the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, as well as a myriad of other important organizations. Said Nigel Ferguson CEO of AVZ Minerals.

A roadmap in particular was agreed at the Africa Business Forum, which will consist of a public and private partnership to support the Congolese government for the implementation of the Manono lithium battery industrial value chain.
The Forum's main objective was to plan for the creation of a Battery Council in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DBC) and the construction of a SEZ (Special Economic Zone) between Greater Katanga and Zambia for the realization of an industrial supply chain of sustainable lithium-based mineral batteries from Manono.

The members and composition of the DRC Battery Council (DBC) are as follows: Steering Committee: The President of the DRC and the Executive Secretary of the ECA, as well as prominent businessmen.
Members: Afreximbank, AFC, AfDB, BADEA, ALSF, UN Global Compact, selected NGOs.
Audience: Ministers of Industry, Mines, economy, environment, science and technology of the DRC.
Private: Chairman of the Board of Directors of Gecamines; AVZ Minerals ; Federation of Congo Enterprises (FEC ); African Association of Automobile Manufacturers; Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund; Bosch.
University: Steinbeis University-Berlin; University of Lubumbashi (Polytechnic); University of Zambia (UNZA); University of the Witwatersrand (SA); University of Mines and Technology (Ghana).