# DR Congo President Orders 30-Day Audit of Cobalt and Copper Mining Revenues
*April 29, 2026 — Kinshasa*
Democratic Republic of Congo President Félix Tshisekedi has ordered an exhaustive 30-day audit of all state mining assets and export revenues, in a direct challenge to the foreign mining companies and joint ventures that dominate the country’s vast copper and cobalt sector.
The presidential decree, signed on April 28, mandates a comprehensive review of all mining partnerships, export documentation, and revenue-sharing agreements. Officials say the audit is aimed at uncovering unpaid royalties, misvalued exports, and governance failures that have cost the DRC treasury billions of dollars in lost revenue over years.
The DRC holds roughly 70 percent of the world’s known cobalt reserves and is among the top five global producers of copper. Yet the country remains one of the poorest on the planet — a paradox widely attributed to opaque contracting, weak regulatory enforcement, and terms widely seen as deeply favorable to foreign investors. Critics have long argued that the country’s mining code, while revised in 2018, continues to allow massive profit outflows that do not translate into domestic development.
“Controls have been weak,” reads the decree. “The result has been enormous losses for the state. We will know in 30 days the full picture of what has been taken.”
The announcement sent ripples through mining circles. Several major cobalt-producing companies operating in the DRC declined to comment publicly, though industry analysts said the move could trigger renegotiation of existing deals or prompt some operators to pre-emptively disclose revenues owed to the state. The decree’s language, which references possible criminal referrals for non-compliance, has added to market jitters.
The audit will be overseen by the presidency directly, with results expected to be made public upon completion. Observers note the timing — weeks after a new mining code came under scrutiny — suggests the president is seeking to demonstrate fiscal accountability ahead of planned infrastructure investments funded partly by mining revenues.
The DRC’s mineral wealth has long been a source of both promise and controversy. Tshisekedi’s predecessor, Joseph Kabila, faced repeated accusations of selling the sector short to foreign interests — a charge his government consistently denied. Tshisekedi himself came to power partly on a platform of economic reform, though progress on mining governance has been slow.
Industry analysts are watching closely. If the audit reveals the scale of losses that anti-corruption groups have long alleged, it could trigger a broader reckoning across the sector — and potentially reshape how the DRC relates to the international mining companies that have operated with minimal oversight for decades.
*Featured image: Open-pit copper and cobalt mine near Kolwezi, DRC — CBERS4 satellite imagery / INPE, CC BY-SA 3.0 / Wikimedia Commons*