KINSHASA/DAKAR - Democratic Republic of Congo is preparing a one-stop agency for major mining investments as part of reforms linked to its minerals partnership with the US, aiming to cut red tape and attract more Western capital into a sector dominated by Chinese companies, four sources told Reuters.

Congo, the world's largest cobalt producer and second-largest copper producer, is at the centre of competition among global powers seeking supplies of critical minerals vital to the energy transition and advanced manufacturing. 

China, the US and the European Union have all signed minerals agreements with Kinshasa to secure access to its vast resources.

The US deal has already ​delivered a Washington-backed mining investment through Virtus Minerals and helped boost Congolese copper sales to US and Europe.

ONE-STOP AGENCY
The planned agency would be open to Chinese and other foreign investors as well as US and European firms, according to two government officials, a diplomat and a mining analyst.

The sources declined to be named because they were not authorised to speak publicly.

Congo's mines and finance ministries did not respond to requests for comment.

The reform, led by the finance and economy ministries, would centralise company registration, licensing, taxation and compliance for major mining investments, reducing approval processes that can currently take months, said the government sources and the analyst.

One government official said the agency would initially focus on joint-venture projects worth more than $1-billion that operate under special fiscal regimes, citing the Chinese-controlled Sicomines copper and cobalt venture as an example.

The official added that legislation establishing the agency still requires promulgation.

"The one-stop shop is intended to cut through the bureaucratic silos that have long complicated mining investment in Congo," said Eric Ndeh, international director of civil society group Afrewatch. The agency is meant to be operational this year, Ndeh added.

Congo has repeatedly said its drive to attract more Western investment is not intended to replace China but to diversify sources of funding and export markets.

"The paradox is that a reform partly driven by the US-DRC minerals partnership could ultimately make it easier for Chinese, European and American investors alike to do business," Ndeh said.