In a UN speech Wednesday, Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Judith Suminwa, alerted to disparities between mineral-producing nations that facilitate AI and renewable energy growth and the nations that implement these technologies.“It would be both unjust and dangerous for added value, jobs, know-how, and technologies to remain concentrated far away from the communities that are making these changes possible,” Suminwa said. “[The DRC] rejects the old model that limits producer countries to crude extraction while processing, research, technology, and the bulk of the profits are concentrated elsewhere.”The DRC is the world’s largest cobalt producer, accounting for roughly half of global cobalt reserves. Cobalt is a highly valued mineral resource, used particularly in electric car, computer, and cell phone batteries. In 2024, the DRC reportedly supplied 76 percent of the global cobalt market.A major facilitator of emerging technologies, the DRC has not experienced economic benefits that other nations—mainly western nations and China—have from the research, development, and market implementation of electric vehicles and other emerging technologies. African thinkers and leaders have discussed ways to bring electric car and battery manufacturing, research, development, and marketing to the DRC, which would require coaxing private industry to invest in such infrastructure.However, conflict in the country—often centered around control of mineral…

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