The Democratic Republic of the Congo is seeking financial and technical partners to develop 64 artisanal and small-scale mining zones. Presented in Cape Town on October 15, the appeal seeks to accelerate formalization of an activity that reportedly supports around two million people in the country. Authorities want legal areas, better oversight of cooperatives and improved mineral traceability. The program’s scale has been announced; financing, the full timetable and the number of already operational zones remain to be clarified.
Organized sites to regulate activity
The 64 planned artisanal mining zones (ZEA) are distributed across Lualaba and Haut-Katanga provinces. Announced in November 2025, the project seeks to reserve areas for artisanal operators where work can be regulated, rather than allowing activity to develop informally or conflict with industrial concessions.
At Kasulo in Lualaba, preparation of the pilot site began in July 2026. Authorities also clarified the framework for allocating mining cooperatives in April. These steps show institutional progress, but available information does not establish how many of the 64 zones are developed today, whether all have the necessary equipment or how many cooperatives actually work there.
Formally delineating a zone is insufficient to make mining safe and productive. Sites require access, safety rules, controls, technical support and options for storing or marketing ore. Cooperatives also need clear procedures for obtaining titles, allocating rights and preventing internal conflicts. Without these elements, moving operations to a designated site may remain administrative rather than operational.
Financing and expertise still to be mobilized
At African Mining Week, Marc Watum, an official at the Ministry of Mines, sought financing and technical partnerships to develop and modernize the zones. Counterparties included the Millennium Challenge Corporation, the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation and Africa50. Neither a total program funding requirement nor a donor commitment timetable was publicly announced.
Financing is decisive because costs extend beyond infrastructure construction. Areas must be mapped, suitable processing facilities established, controls organized, cooperatives trained and regular monitoring ensured. Appropriate equipment can improve mineral recovery and reduce some dangerous practices, but effectiveness depends on maintenance and access to qualified operators.
Financing discussions must also distinguish public expenditure, partner contributions and cooperative investments. If miners face high fees without access to better services or more remunerative markets, formalization may remain unattractive. Zone access conditions, service charges and mineral purchasing arrangements must therefore be defined clearly.
Formalizing without excluding operators
Formalization can improve mineral traceability, clarify responsibilities and facilitate oversight of working conditions. It may also help cooperatives access credit, equipment and compliant buyers. Success will nevertheless depend on institutions’ ability to involve operators in designing and implementing procedures.
Artisanal miners may face costs, administrative requirements and delays that push them to continue outside the legal framework. Effective regulation must therefore combine obligations with services: technical support, training, equipment access, weighing and control systems, and transparent marketing mechanisms. Women and the most vulnerable workers must also be able to join cooperatives and benefit from the intended protection.
Formalization does not automatically resolve safety risks, environmental damage or sometimes difficult relationships with industrial mines. Local coordination must clarify boundaries, responsibility for incidents and dispute-resolution mechanisms. Production statistics and worker data will help assess results, provided they are published regularly.
Assessing results at pilot sites
Kasulo can test procedures before expansion, but its experience will be useful only if results are documented. Indicators to monitor include officially established cooperatives, registered workers, traceable mineral volumes, safety incidents, authorization times and income actually received by producers.
For the state, the program may improve knowledge of artisanal production and governance of a sector important to employment and mineral supply. For investors and technical partners, visibility over ready sites, infrastructure needs and the management framework will be decisive before any financial commitment. Funding amounts and schedules remain to be established.
The Cape Town appeal therefore opens a search for partners; it does not mean all 64 zones are already developed. Progress will depend on publishing a detailed plan, mobilizing resources and pilot projects’ ability to offer cooperatives safer, traceable and economically viable activity.