The Democratic Republic of the Congo has about 113 million people, the largest cobalt supply in the world and one of the largest copper industries, almost all of it in the southern copperbelt around Lubumbashi and Kolwezi. That is why investors come, and why a guide matters: the same country has a war in the Kivus, an Ebola outbreak in the north-east and mining rules that change several times a year. The franc has strengthened, inflation is under 9% and the IMF programme is on track. Here is what the data says, where the openings are, and what to check before you commit.
This guide is for companies setting up or expanding in DR Congo. For the wider economy see DR Congo's economy in figures.
It depends on where and in what. The money is in the Katanga copperbelt, where mines run normally, copper prices are high and the state is courting foreign capital, and in Kinshasa. The war is in the east, in North and South Kivu, where the M23 rebels have held Goma since January 2025 and Bukavu since February 2025, and fighting around Uvira and Rutshuru continued in October 2026. Ebola is in the north-east. Rules for the mining sector are the bigger day to day risk for most investors: cobalt went from an export ban to quotas, and copper and cobalt concentrates were banned from export in mid 2026. Investors who want mining exposure, can handle rule changes and stay out of the east are mostly pressing ahead.
IMF programme and the fall of Goma. A new IMF programme began, with an Extended Credit Facility and a Resilience and Sustainability Facility. In the same weeks the M23 rebels took Goma, and Bukavu followed in February.
Cobalt export ban. The government suspended cobalt exports to cut supply and lift prices. The ban was extended in the middle of the year.
Quotas replace the ban. Exports restarted under annual quotas set by the mining regulator ARECOMS. The franc also strengthened sharply that month, which pulled inflation down.
Peace deals and a minerals pact. Kinshasa and the rebels signed the Doha Framework on 15 November. Presidents Tshisekedi and Kagame signed the Washington Accords on 4 December, and the US and DR Congo signed a strategic minerals partnership the same month.
Glencore and Orion. Glencore signed a non-binding agreement to sell 40% of its Kamoto and Mutanda mines to the US-backed Orion Critical Mineral Consortium, a deal worth about $9 billion. It was still unsigned in October.
Ebola emergency. The WHO declared the Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak in the north-east a public health emergency of international concern after cases reached Kampala.
Concentrate export ban. An order dated 29 June banned exports of copper and cobalt concentrates, with one year waivers at the mines minister's discretion. Reuters reported it on 6 August. A referendum law also passed parliament in June.
Lobito rail concession. On 26 August the government awarded a 30 year concession to Mota-Engil to rebuild and run the DR Congo section of the Lobito rail line. Kinshasa and the rebels agreed a peace roadmap in Switzerland.
Grey list exit, new fighting, IMF deal. Fighting flared in South Kivu after former president Joseph Kabila and M23 leaders launched the FRN in Goma on 12 October, a political and military front that replaces the AFC and M23 alliance. The US sanctioned Rwanda's defence ministry on 28 October. The FATF took DR Congo off its grey list on 30 October, and IMF staff agreed the fourth programme review on 4 November. Compare inflation across Africa.
What could the fighting in the east, the next change to the cobalt quota and the 2028 election mean for your sector and your province?
We track security, prices and consumer sentiment from official releases, field contacts and our own polling. The exposure depends on what you sell, where and to whom, so we answer it on a call.
A very young, fast growing and mostly poor market. DR Congo has about 113 million people, nearly half are under 15, and 45% live in towns and cities. Households spent about $48 billion in 2025. Fewer than four in ten adults have an account, about one in five people use the internet and only about 22% have electricity, so buying is mostly cash and face to face. The labour force is about 39 million. Unemployment is reported at 4.4%, which says more about how many people work in informal jobs than about how easy it is to find a good one.
Mining and mine services pay far more than most jobs, and around Kolwezi and Lubumbashi skilled technicians, engineers and drivers are scarce and expensive. See minimum wage in DR Congo. Higher education is small, and employers train most of their own staff. See education in DR Congo.
French is the official language and the language of business and law. Lingala, Swahili, Kikongo and Tshiluba are the main national languages, and Swahili dominates in the south-east.
Outside mining, the market is large in numbers and poor per head. Kinshasa holds most of the spending power, with Lubumbashi and Kolwezi next because mining wages sit there. Mobile phones are the main way people reach services: there were about 58 mobile subscriptions per 100 people in 2024, and account ownership rose from 27% in 2022 to 39% in 2024. The winning products are cheap, basic and sold in small amounts.
Who exactly buys in your category, in which cities and provinces, and at what price?
We answer this with our own survey panel and field interviews across DR Congo's provinces.
UNCTAD counted about $1.9 billion of inflows in 2025, down 40% from about $3.1 billion in 2024, and still the largest in Central Africa. Almost all of it is mining, and the swings follow copper and cobalt prices, export rules and the state of the big mines. The fall in 2025 came with the cobalt export ban and the suspension of Kamoa-Kakula after flooding and a seismic event in May 2025.
China is by far the largest investor in the data, through CMOC, Zijin and the Sicomines joint venture. Netherlands and Belgium appear mostly as holding company and trading bases. South Africa supplies mining services and contractors. See who invests in Africa.
The survey understates the Western miners. Glencore runs the Kamoto and Mutanda mines, Ivanhoe of Canada co-owns Kamoa-Kakula, and the US-backed Orion consortium is negotiating a stake in the Glencore mines. Their capital often passes through holding companies in other countries, so it shows up under other names.
Which foreign operators are already active in your part of the value chain, and who has entered or left in the last two years?
We map competitors, recent entrants and exits by sector and province. That list is part of every market-entry brief.
The standard corporate tax rate is 30%, including for mining companies, with a minimum tax of 1% of turnover. VAT is 16%. Approved projects can get a tax holiday and duty-free capital goods under the 2002 Investment Code, and special economic zones offer longer holidays. The code is being revised. Mining has its own rule book, the 2018 Mining Code, with a 3.5% royalty on copper and 10% on cobalt, which the code classes as a strategic substance.
| Programme | What it offers | Who runs it |
|---|---|---|
| Investment Code, law 004/2002 | For approved projects, an income tax holiday of about 3 to 5 years depending on sector and location, duty-free import of project equipment, protection against expropriation without fair compensation and access to arbitration. A secondary source puts the entry threshold at about $200,000. ANAPI began consulting on a revised code in 2025. | ANAPI, the national investment promotion agency |
| Special economic zones, law 14/022 of 2014 | A decree of March 2020 gives zone developers a ten year exemption from tax on profits, renewable once, and zone companies five years of exemption with a 50% rate cut from year eleven, plus relief from import duties on capital goods. | Special Economic Zones Agency (AZES) |
| Mining Code of 2018 | Rules for mining titles, royalties, state participation and local subcontracting. Royalty is 3.5% on copper and 10% on cobalt. Check current regulations before modelling a project, because the regime has been changing and reform proposals are open. | Ministry of Mines and the Mining Cadastre (CAMI) |
| Cobalt export quotas | Not an incentive, but the rule that decides what a cobalt project can sell: 96,600 tonnes a year for 2026 and 2027, with 87,000 tonnes shared among producers and 9,600 tonnes held back by the regulator. | ARECOMS, the strategic minerals regulator |
| US minerals partnership | A December 2025 agreement meant to channel US capital and offtake into DR Congo's minerals. The government set up a task force on 11 September 2026 to speed it up, seven months late. | Ministry of Mines and the presidency |
| Business law and market access | DR Congo applies the OHADA business law, which gives a common company and security law, and belongs to COMESA and the Southern African Development Community. | Ministry of Justice and the regional bodies |
| Zone or hub | Where | Best known for |
|---|---|---|
| Maluku Special Economic Zone | East of Kinshasa | The pilot zone. The exemption decree was signed in 2020, and ANAPI said in 2025 that construction was about to start. |
| Kinshasa | Capital, west | Head offices, banks, the main consumer market and the Atlantic gateway for goods |
| Lubumbashi | Haut-Katanga, south-east | The commercial base of the copperbelt, with mining services, trading and the road to Zambia |
| Kolwezi | Lualaba, south-east | The hub for CMOC, Glencore and Kamoa-Kakula. The central bank held its October 2026 policy meeting here. |
| Kipushi and Likasi | Haut-Katanga | Ivanhoe's Kipushi zinc mine and smelting and processing sites |
| Matadi and Banana | Kongo Central, Atlantic coast | The country's seaport and the planned Banana deep water port, the other route out for Katanga minerals |
Which incentive route fits your project, how long is the holiday, and what is the package worth over ten years?
The answer depends on your sector, location, export share and how you bring in capital. We run the numbers with you before you choose a structure.
No. It is one of the harder places in Africa to operate, and the people who do it well say so. Conflict, shifting mining rules, weak legal certainty and difficult logistics are the usual problems. But the major mines run, new money keeps arriving and the government has been signing reforms with the IMF. The World Bank stopped its old Doing Business ranking in 2021, so there is no current single score. In practice these are the problems investors raise most, and what they do about them.
| Roadblock | How serious | What it looks like | What investors do |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conflict in the east | High | The M23 rebels, now organised politically as the FRN under former president Joseph Kabila, hold Goma and Bukavu, and fighting continued in October 2026 around Uvira, Walungu, Rutshuru and Masisi. Peace talks continue in Doha and Switzerland but only two of eight Doha protocols had been signed by September. Compare safety across Africa. | Base operations in the Katanga copperbelt or Kinshasa, avoid the Kivus and Ituri entirely, and insure against political risk. |
| Mining rules that change | High | A cobalt export ban in February 2025, quotas from October 2025, a ban on copper and cobalt concentrate exports in June 2026 and royalty reform proposals. Unused quota is taken back. Waivers depend on the minister. | Build contract terms and financing around regulatory change, secure export waivers or local processing early, and take local legal advice. |
| Corruption and legal certainty | High | Licences, contracts and tax assessments can be disputed or reopened, there are many provincial taxes and fees, and some prominent partners are on US sanctions lists. The country left the FATF grey list on 30 October 2026, which helps banking. | Vet every partner against the US Treasury and EU lists, use OHADA arbitration clauses, and keep a Congolese accountant and lawyer on retainer. |
| Logistics and power | Medium | The copperbelt is far from the sea. Copper and cobalt still travel long distances by road to ports in South Africa, Tanzania and Mozambique, only about 22% of people have electricity and the Lobito rail line is not yet running at scale. | Plan for long lead times and high freight costs, secure power before you build, and watch the Lobito concession. |
| Ebola | Medium | The Bundibugyo outbreak, centred on Ituri, had 7,672 confirmed cases and 3,699 deaths by 19 September 2026, according to ECDC, and peaked in August. The IMF says it is starting to weigh on growth. The provinces listed in the latest breakdown did not include Haut-Katanga or Lualaba. | Keep staff travel to the north-east to a minimum, follow WHO and Ministry of Health notices, and plan for supply disruption. |
| Currency and prices | Medium | Inflation fell to 2.5% in April 2026 after the franc strengthened, then climbed to 8.9% by October on higher fuel and food prices. The IMF expects about 9% by December. The economy is partly dollarised. | Price and pay in dollars where the law allows, hold working capital in dollars and keep a close eye on the central bank. |
Which province, city and site suit a project like yours, and how exposed are they to the conflict, Ebola and the rule changes?
Provinces differ sharply in security, power, land and labour. We compare shortlisted options side by side for your sector and update the risk picture as it changes.
Most foreign investors follow the same sequence. The company registration is straightforward through the one-stop shop; mining titles, land, work permits and getting money in and out take longer, and local advisers are normal.
Most sectors are open to foreign ownership. Mining has its own rules, and some activities, including some subcontracting and small trade, are reserved for Congolese firms. Check the current list before you commit.
Most foreign investors set up a private limited company (SARL) or a public limited company (SA) under OHADA law. A joint venture with a local partner is common, and often practical.
Register through the one-stop shop for company creation (Guichet Unique de Création d'Entreprise, GUCE), which handles the trade register (RCCM), the national identification number and the tax number in one process.
Apply to ANAPI for approval under the Investment Code if you want the tax holiday and duty exemptions. Approval comes with conditions on jobs, reporting and use of the equipment.
Get a tax number from the General Directorate of Taxes (DGI), and register for corporate tax at 30% and VAT at 16%. Bring in capital through a commercial bank and keep the paperwork.
Foreign employees need a work permit from the Ministry of Labour and a visa and residence card from the migration service (DGM). Allow time, and plan for training Congolese staff.
All land belongs to the state, so you lease or hold a concession. Mining titles come from the Ministry of Mines and the Mining Cadastre. Agree your power connection early, and apply to ARECOMS if you will export cobalt.
Head offices, ministries, banks and the largest consumer market. The Maluku special economic zone is east of the city.
The commercial capital of the copperbelt, with mining services, trading houses and the road to Zambia, in Haut-Katanga province.
The centre of the big copper and cobalt mines in Lualaba province, including CMOC, Glencore and the processing for Kamoa-Kakula.
Zinc, copper and processing sites south of Lubumbashi and between Lubumbashi and Kolwezi, with good road and rail links.
The Atlantic seaport of Kongo Central and the planned Banana deep water port, the western route for goods and minerals.
North and South Kivu and Ituri have active conflict, and Ituri is the centre of the Ebola outbreak. Most investors avoid them completely until a lasting peace holds.
How long does each step take in practice, what does it cost, and which steps can run at the same time?
Timelines depend on the sector, the province and how you bring in capital. We give you a realistic plan for yours.
The strongest cases build on minerals, the new push to process them at home, and the transport and power needed to move and run them. These six stand out in the data.
DR Congo is the world's largest source of cobalt and has some of the biggest copper mines. Entry is through the majors, joint ventures, offtake and services. See the deep dive below.
Held back: which projects, offtakes and partners are realistic for your size, and what quota or licence each needs.
The government wants more processing at home. The country smelts only the equivalent of about 174,000 tonnes of copper concentrate, so there is room for new capacity, with waivers in the meantime.
Held back: which smelter and refinery projects have feedstock, power and financing, and where equipment suppliers are needed.
Mota-Engil won a 30 year concession for the DR Congo section of the Lobito rail line, reported at about $1.26 billion. Kamoa-Kakula began shipping copper through the corridor in early 2026.
Held back: which parts of the corridor, border and port build-out need partners, and when.
Mines, smelters and cities all need more reliable power. Hydropower is the base, and solar and storage for mines are growing.
Held back: which projects have power purchase agreements and financing, and where contractors are needed.
Mobile subscriptions reached about 58 per 100 people in 2024, and most Congolese adults are still outside banks. The FATF exit should ease correspondent banking.
Held back: which licences, partners and agent networks work, and what a customer is worth in each city.
DR Congo has huge farmland and imports a lot of food. Processing near Kinshasa and Lubumbashi serves growing cities, though roads and power raise costs.
Held back: which crops, locations and offtake buyers have margins, and what logistics costs look like.
DR Congo supplies the large majority of the world's mined cobalt and is among the top copper producers. CMOC, the Chinese group that owns Tenke Fungurume and Kisanfu, mined 387,961 tonnes of copper and 65,305 tonnes of cobalt in the first half of 2026 and targets 760,000 to 820,000 tonnes of copper for the year. Kamoa-Kakula, owned by Ivanhoe Mines and Zijin Mining with the state, cut its 2026 forecast to about 330,000 tonnes after flooding and a seismic event, and plans more than 500,000 tonnes a year from 2028. Glencore is shifting its Kamoto and Mutanda mines toward copper.
The export ban of February 2025 ended in October with quotas, and the cobalt price has since fallen back: cobalt metal traded near $39,000 a tonne in mid-October 2026, about 8% lower than a year earlier, and Benchmark says hydroxide prices fell 31% in the third quarter as DRC exports rose. For a newcomer the openings are in processing and smelting, power, equipment and services, offtake and project finance, and in the US-backed Orion consortium and the Lobito corridor, rather than in buying a mine.
Works: a partner with a licence and a quota or waiver, a processing project that sells into the government's local-value push, dollar revenues and offtake with a large buyer, and enough capital to ride out a bad quarter.
Sinks it: rules that change faster than a financing closes. Cobalt exports were banned, then limited to quotas, and concentrate exports were banned in June 2026. Glencore's own cobalt output fell 52% in the first nine months of 2026 because of quotas. Add the disruption at Kamoa-Kakula and one other large mine that the IMF flagged, long and costly logistics, partners with a sanctions history, and a US pact that has been slow to deliver.
Which project, partner or quota route gets you in fastest, and what is it worth?
We map licence holders, likely sellers, smelter capacity and partners, and size the market in your segment. That is the core of a sector brief.
China is the largest investor in the data and the main buyer of Congolese copper and cobalt. CMOC runs Tenke Fungurume and Kisanfu, and its copper output rose 9.7% to 387,961 tonnes in the first half of 2026. Zijin Mining co-owns Kamoa-Kakula and reported about $6 billion of cumulative investment in DR Congo in September 2026, which is spending to date, not a new pledge. Zijin also built a lithium processing plant at Manono, reported to have started in May 2026. In March 2026 the two governments signed a mining cooperation agreement on data sharing, investment protection and local processing, which is a framework and not money spent. The Sicomines joint venture, with Chinese partners holding 68%, ties copper output to infrastructure. Washington's minerals partnership and the Glencore and Orion talks now compete with that position.
What Chinese investors ask us most is practical: how the quota and concentrate ban affect a specific shipment, how to pay for inputs and get dollars home, which provinces are safe, how Washington's partnership changes their position, and which Congolese partners can be trusted. These are the questions our research team answers.
Is there room for your project, at your price, and who should you partner with?
We size the market, test prices with real buyers through our survey panel, and vet local partners before you sign anything.
Yes, in most sectors. Foreign investors usually set up a private limited company (SARL) or a public limited company (SA) under OHADA law. Projects above about $200,000 can apply to ANAPI for Investment Code benefits, according to a secondary source, and some activities are reserved for Congolese firms. Mining carries extra state participation and local content rules.
For mining, yes, with eyes open. Copper and cobalt output is large, the IMF programme is on track, inflation is 8.9% and the country left the FATF grey list in October 2026. The risks are the war in the Kivus, Ebola in the north-east, a cobalt quota of 96,600 tonnes a year, a ban on concentrate exports and an election dispute ahead of 2028. Location and rules matter more than in most countries.
Kinshasa and the Katanga copperbelt, including Lubumbashi and Kolwezi, are where most foreign companies operate. North Kivu, South Kivu and Ituri have active conflict, and the M23 rebels hold Goma and Bukavu. Ituri is also the centre of the Ebola outbreak. Investors check security advice for each trip, keep staff out of the east and insure against political risk.
The corporate income tax rate is 30%, including for mining companies. There is a minimum tax of 1% of turnover, and VAT is 16%. Approved projects can get a tax holiday of about 3 to 5 years under the Investment Code, and companies in special economic zones get five years of exemption, then a 50% rate cut.
Yes, through commercial banks, with the paperwork in order. The economy is partly dollarised and the gap between the official and parallel franc rates is small. In practice investors agree the payment process with their bank in advance, hold funds in dollars and use OHADA arbitration clauses in contracts.
DR Congo banned cobalt exports in February 2025 and replaced the ban in October 2025 with quotas run by ARECOMS. The quota is 96,600 tonnes a year for 2026 and 2027, of which 87,000 tonnes are shared among producers and 9,600 tonnes held back. Unused monthly quota is taken back. Cobalt metal traded near $39,000 a tonne in mid-October 2026.
Under the 2018 Mining Code the royalty is 3.5% on copper and 10% on cobalt, which the code treats as a strategic substance. Reform proposals include higher royalties and extra export levies, but no change was confirmed in force at the time of writing, so check current regulations before you model a project.
They are created under law 14/022 of 2014. The pilot is Maluku, east of Kinshasa. A decree of 2020 gives developers a ten year exemption from tax on profits and gives zone companies five years of exemption, then a 50% rate cut. Kinshasa, Lubumbashi and Kolwezi are the main business hubs, though they are not special economic zones.
Yes. China is the largest investor in the data. CMOC owns Tenke Fungurume and Kisanfu, Zijin co-owns Kamoa-Kakula with Ivanhoe and reported about $6 billion of cumulative investment in September 2026, and Chinese partners hold 68% of the Sicomines joint venture.
The strongest cases are copper and cobalt, local processing and smelting, rail and logistics on the Lobito corridor, power, telecoms and mobile money, and food processing. In August 2026 Mota-Engil won a 30 year concession for the DR Congo section of the Lobito rail line.
Public data gets you to a shortlist. The decision needs answers specific to your product, your budget and your timeline. These are the questions we answer for investors on a first call:
Prefer email? Write to investors@pollsafrica.com.
Every figure on this page comes from an official statistics office, an international body, or a report that cites one. Dates show when each figure was published or last updated. The security and mining rules in DR Congo change quickly, so check current advice before you travel or commit. This page is general information about DR Congo's economy and is not investment, legal, tax or security advice.