DRC Copper Ownership: Foreign Companies Keep $30 Billion While DRC Gets $3 Billion

The Democratic Republic of Congo is the 4th largest copper producer globally, mining 2.8 million tons in 2024. It's Africa's second-largest mineral exporter, shipping $50 billion worth of copper, cobalt, coltan, and gold annually. Mining accounts for 95% of DRC's exports and 46% of government revenue.

So why do 72% of Congolese live in extreme poverty, surviving on less than $2.15 per day?

Start with copper. DRC's copper exports were valued at $23 billion in 2024. The country captured only $3 billion.

The $20 Billion Gap

On paper, DRC should capture far more. With 20% equity ownership in major mines, the country should receive $4.6 billion in dividends. Add 3.5% royalties ($800 million) and 30% corporate tax on mining profits (roughly $2 billion), and DRC should be collecting around $7.4 billion, about 32% of the $23 billion export value.

Instead, DRC captures just $3 billion, or 13%.

The gap comes from how foreign companies structure their operations. They deduct operational costs before calculating profits. They use transfer pricing: selling concentrate to affiliated companies abroad at favorable rates. They carry forward losses, claim depreciation on equipment, and optimize tax structures across multiple jurisdictions. By the time dividends are calculated and taxes are paid, DRC's 20% equity stake and 30% tax rate deliver only 13% of the export value.

This isn't unique to DRC. A 2018 study by the Natural Resource Governance Institute found effective tax rates in DRC mining ranged from 6-21%, far below the nominal 30%. Between 2011-2014, the German Society for International Cooperation found that total state revenue from mining was just 6% of total mining sector revenue.

From Mine to Market: How $23 Billion in DRC Copper Gets Divided

Where the value goes:

• DRC captures: $3 billion (13%) through equity dividends, royalties, and taxes

• Foreign companies capture at mining: $20 billion (87%) through majority ownership

  
  

Then China adds value through processing:

• Refining copper concentrate to cathode: +$1 billion

• Manufacturing wire for cables and construction: +$2 billion

• Producing ultra-thin battery foil: +$5-7 billion

• Additional value captured by China: ~$8-10 billion

  
  

Total: DRC keeps $3 billion. Foreign companies and China keep $30 billion.

For every $1 DRC captures, foreign companies capture $10.

The DRC Copper Ownership Problem: Foreign Companies Control 75-85%

Look at who controls DRC's major copper mines:

• Kamoa-Kakula: 79.2% foreign (China Zijin 39.6% + Canada Ivanhoe 39.6%), 20.8% DRC

• Tenke Fungurume: 80% China CMOC, 20% DRC

• Katanga/Kamoto: 86% Switzerland Glencore, 14% DRC

• Sicomines: 68% China Railway, 32% DRC

  
  

When foreign companies own 75-85% of DRC's mines, they control everything. This DRC copper ownership by foreign companies, dominated by China, Canada, and Switzerland, means they decide what counts as "costs," where profits are recorded, and how transfer pricing works. That's why DRC captures only 13% of the $23 billion export value.

The DRC has both a processing problem and an ownership problem. But here's the critical insight: building refineries while foreigners own 80% of your mines just means you're hosting someone else's factory while 80% of profits still leave.

Processing creates jobs. Ownership creates wealth.

The African Alternative: Botswana's Diamond Strategy

Botswana discovered diamonds in 1967. Unlike the DRC, they negotiated 50-50 ownership with De Beers, not 20%. They moved diamond sorting and sales operations to Gaborone. They built local cutting and polishing capacity. Now they're negotiating for majority control.

The result? Diamonds represent 80% of Botswana's exports (similar to minerals for DRC), but Botswana has $5.4 billion in foreign reserves and one of Africa's highest GDP per capita rates. The DRC has 72% extreme poverty.

The difference? Ownership.

Zimbabwe banned lithium exports in 2023 without securing processing capacity first, it failed. Indonesia banned nickel ore exports in 2020 but demanded majority local ownership of processing facilities. Chinese companies accepted. Indonesia is now building a domestic battery industry it actually controls.

The Bottom Line

Sub-Saharan Africa will generate $1.9 trillion from battery mineral exports between 2024-2050. But if Africa captures only 15-20% while foreign companies take 80-85%, nothing changes.

Most countries needs local processing and ownership reform. 

Processing without ownership reform just means moving the extraction site from the mine to the refinery while profits still fly to Beijing, Zurich, and Toronto.

What's your take: Can African countries renegotiate these deals, or is the window closing?

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SOURCES:

• IMF Regional Economic Outlook: Sub-Saharan Africa (July 2024)

• U.S. Geological Survey Mineral Commodity Summaries (2024)

• DRC Mining Code (2018)

• Natural Resource Governance Institute (2018)

• Company reports: Ivanhoe Mines, China Molybdenum, Glencore

• London Metal Exchange copper pricing data