The European Union is currently in negotiations with the Democratic Republic of Congo, and plans talks with other African countries, to boost the economic bloc’s supply of critical minerals for it’s energy transition.
“We expect, in the near future, to launch negotiations with other countries in the Great Lakes region, particularly Rwanda, Uganda, Zambia and perhaps Tanzania as well”
— Elisabetta Sartorel, the EU’s policy officer on critical raw materials
Europe’s trillion-dollar Green Deal Investment Plan aims to mobilize €1 trillion (US$1.1 billion) in spending to cut carbon emissions by 55% by 2030. In March, the EU issued its Critical Raw Materials Act (CRM) in March that aims increase the EU’s domestic production of critical raw materials, develop recycling technologies and build strategic partnerships.
The announcement was made in a virtual presentation to the Zimbabwe Chamber of Mines annual general meeting.
Zimbabwe holds some of the world’s largest hard rock lithium reserves and was the sixth largest lithium producer in the world in 2021, according to US Geological Survey data.
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