KoBold Metals, a mining start-up backed by tech giants Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos, is expanding into the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo), betting on the country’s critical role in supplying minerals essential for the global energy transition. The company, which leverages artificial intelligence to identify untapped mineral deposits, is focusing on securing resources like lithium, copper, and cobalt — metals crucial for electric vehicle batteries and renewable energy technologies.
Benjamin Katabuka, KoBold’s newly appointed director-general in DR Congo, said the company was making a significant investment in the country. “We are looking to go big in this country in terms of investment, with plans to recruit local staff and apply for licenses to explore for key minerals,” he told the Financial Times. The company’s investment could potentially reach billions, he added.
This expansion comes at a time when DR Congo is negotiating a minerals deal with the United States as part of President Donald Trump’s efforts to reduce dependence on China for critical metals. Massad Boulos, Trump’s senior adviser for Africa, confirmed that the US and DR Congo are working on a minerals pact, aiming to foster private sector investment in the mining sector, with support from the US government.
DR Congo, the world’s largest supplier of cobalt, is strategically important to the global energy transition. However, the country is also grappling with an ongoing armed conflict, particularly in the eastern region, where the M23 rebel group controls significant mining areas. Despite these challenges, DR Congo remains a key player in the mineral market, especially in cobalt, which is vital for battery production.
KoBold, based in Berkeley, California, raised $537 million in its latest funding round in January, with major investors including Gates’s Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Bezos’s Amazon, and former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg. To date, the company has raised $1 billion. Katabuka acknowledged the challenges of doing business in DR Congo, particularly the high perception of corruption, but emphasized that KoBold is committed to maintaining high standards in its operations.
The company’s expansion is supported by the philanthropic foundations of its billionaire backers. For instance, the Bezos Earth Fund has pledged $110 million to protect the Congo Basin from environmental degradation, while the Gates Foundation is funding agricultural programs in the region.
KoBold is also eyeing a massive lithium deposit in DR Congo, which has become the center of a legal dispute between Australia’s AVZ Minerals and China’s Zijin Mining. In a letter to the DR Congo government, KoBold expressed interest in developing the deposit, calling it “the potential to become a large-scale, long-lived lithium mine.”
The mining landscape in DR Congo has long been dominated by Chinese firms, with no major American companies operating in the country since Freeport-McMoRan sold its stake in the Tenke Fungurume copper mine to China’s CMOC in 2016. Katabuka noted that the Congolese government is keen to attract Western investors to help balance China’s dominance in the sector.
However, DR Congo faces significant infrastructure challenges. While the government has expressed interest in increasing local metal processing, mining companies struggle with inadequate infrastructure, including unreliable power supplies. Katabuka emphasized that addressing these challenges would be essential to making the country a more attractive investment destination.
As KoBold Metals moves forward with its ambitious plans in DR Congo, it joins a growing number of companies looking to secure key resources for the energy transition, amid ongoing geopolitical and economic shifts in the global mining industry.
