The mining sector is a strategic and vital market for the Democratic Republic of Congo. Indeed, the country boasts unparalleled mineral resources: it is the leading African producer of copper and the world’s leading producer of cobalt. Today, the economic benefits of mining contribute to more than 25% of GDP. Over the years, numerous multinational companies have established themselves in the DRC and contributed to the development of veritable value chains.

While extractive industry value chains are gradually linking the mining sector to other sectors, their development is also dependent on the ability of stakeholders to access the necessary local financing. Faced with exponentially growing demand for minerals used in battery manufacturing, the financing needs of companies active in both exploration and development are increasing accordingly.

Rawbank’s strategy for supporting the mining sector is based not only on in-depth knowledge and expertise of the specific challenges of the sector, but also on a relationship of trust with its long-standing clients, whom it has supported since their inception in Congo. Thanks to these two factors, the bank provides genuine support to the sector’s entire value chain by ensuring it has significant credit capacity to provide medium- and short-term financing to mining operators. In addition to this, it offers access to cash management with an electronic dimension (digital banking) and free transfers between Rawbank clients.

Rawbank places the digitalization and modernization of mining account management as a strategic element of its banking offering. Indeed, the bank’s digital offering significantly simplifies financial transactions and benefits the entire mining ecosystem. This is the case with interfaces such as Optimus, Rawbank Online, and SIOP. The latter, for example, allows mining companies to manage and automate their transactions directly from their IT systems without any intervention from the bank. This represents a real time-saver, and therefore a cost-saver, for mining companies that have centralized treasury outside the DRC.
 

A sector that is not immune to compliance issues 

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) achieved a high overall score (85.5 points) in 2022 for its implementation of the 2019 EITI Standard. The overall score is an average of the scores for the three components: stakeholder engagement, transparency, and results and impact. Regarding transparency, the DRC achieved an average score (78 points). Recognizing that significant progress remains to be made in the transparent management of the extractive sector in many aspects ranging from the signing of contracts in complete opacity, undisclosed transactions and the lack of legal proceedings, Rawbank has implemented an uncompromising compliance policy. This requirement is essential to supervise financial activities related to the mining sector in the most transparent manner.  

Transparency and compliance are not only key to the bank’s reputation, but also for the country, which is extremely committed and, in 2022, published nearly 200 contracts and documents signed with Chinese companies for the exploitation of Congolese resources.  

As the leading development partner for mining stakeholders in the DRC, Rawbank will be present at the 2023 edition of the Mining Indaba Forum in Cape Town.

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