Loading…
Loading…
President Tshisekedi issued the audit directive at the 87th ordinary session of the Council of Ministers on April 24, 2026. The mandate tasks a government task force with mapping the full revenue chain for DRC mineral exports — from shipment declaration through to the receipt of foreign-currency earnings in state accounts.
The audit covers all mineral export revenues but focuses principally on copper and cobalt, where the gap between declared export volumes and repatriated forex earnings has been largest. Findings are required no later than June 15, 2026.
FX repatriation enforcement is the central mechanism. Under the DRC Mining Code (Loi 18-001) and BSRDC (Banque Centrale du Congo) repatriation regulations, mining operators are required to repatriate a share of foreign-currency export earnings to the DRC banking system. The audit examines whether declared shipment values, invoicing practices (including intra-group transfer pricing), and forex-repatriation compliance records are consistent across the full chain.
A prior government audit covering 2018–2023 identified approximately $16.8 billion in underreported mineral export revenues across the DRC mining sector — a structural compliance gap attributable to:
Against that backdrop, 2025 registered record export volumes: approximately 3.4 million tonnes of copper and 220,000 tonnes of cobalt, making DRC the world's largest cobalt producer by far and a top-five copper jurisdiction. Yet state mining revenues have not scaled proportionally with those volumes — the tension that triggered the presidential directive.
The audit is particularly significant for the three largest vertically integrated copper/cobalt operators in the DRC:
significant intra-group concentrate offtake to Glencore's Rotterdam and Mopani processing operations creates transfer-pricing exposure.
the second-largest cobalt producer globally; rapid volume ramp since the 2016 Freeport buyout creates scrutiny on royalty and FX compliance at scale.
grade, is ramping to >500 ktpa; first full-scale export-volume cohort under the 87th CdM audit window.
Smaller operators (Kibali/AngloGold, ERG Africa formalisation entities, SAKIMA artisanal formalisation vehicles) are in scope but face lower individual audit exposure.
particularly Glencore's concentrate supply to its own trading book and CMOC's sales to Chinese state-linked off-takers.
arrangements, increasing on-shore DRC banking exposure and reducing FX flexibility.
systemic non-compliance, follow-on instruments (higher withholding taxes, stricter BSRDC repatriation ratios, enhanced CAMI export-permit conditions) are likely within Q3 2026.
is an enforcement/accountability instrument, not a production-cap or export-restriction; but both are part of the same Tshisekedi government effort to capture more mineral-sector value for the Congolese state.
penalty notices, export-permit suspension, Mining Code amendment, new FX-surrender requirements)
is it limited to large-scale industrial operators?
joint task force, or an independent court des comptes-style body?