clean energy company Tesla has become a member of the Fair Cobalt Alliance ( FCA ) to improve the artisanal mining sector in the Democratic Republic of the Congo ( DRC ). The FCA is a recently founded organisation which will help to boost the appeal of cobalt produced in the DRC . It aims to end the use of child labour at mining sites and improve working conditions in the country . This is according to an updated list of members on the group ’ s website .

Mining company Glencore announced its membership of the FCA on 24 August this year . In a press statement , Glencore stated : “ Glencore , through our support of the FCA , will support legitimate ASM cooperatives in their endeavours to transform their practices and align with international human rights practices , especially in the prevention of child labour .” Other FCA members include Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt , Sono Motors and the Responsible Cobalt Initiative ( RCI ). In June , Tesla and commodities trader and miner Glencore signed a deal , pursuant to which Tesla will buy cobalt from Glencore . The cobalt will be supplied from the DRC , where the commodities miner has been operating a copper mine in the Katanga region since 2008 . In January 2019 , automobile manufacturer Ford , technology major IBM , cathode manufacturer LG Chem and China-based Huayou Cobalt teamed up to launch a blockchain project to track cobalt supplies from the DRC .

September 25 , stated the country would not take on new external commercial loans in 2021 and limit existing projects in an attempt reduce spiraling debt .

The country ’ s public debt increased by 4.3 % in the first 6 months of 2020 , reaching US $ 11.97 billion in June . According to the African Development Bank ( AfDB ), the debt already represented around 80 % of gross domestic product by the end of 2019 .

“ Further contraction of new commercial external debt has been stopped ,” he added .

Ng ’ andu said US $ 1.1 billion in pending loans had been cancelled and another US $ 280 million saved through project changes . He reiterated that the government plans to apply for a G20 initiative to suspend debt servicing and said similar relief was being sought from external commercial creditors .

Earlier this week , the government asked for a 6-month debt repayment holiday on 3 Eurobonds due to the economic impact of coronavirus restrictions .

Global giant Glencore – one of Zambia ’ s largest miners – announced earlier this year that it would cut capital expenditure by as much as a quarter during 2020 due to disruption to supply chains caused by the coronavirus and falling commodity prices .

The government has since proposed to up its 10 % shareholding in Glencore subsidiary Mopani Copper Mines ( MCM ) to save jobs . Ng ’ andu said the government had “ offered to acquire additional shares ” in MCM and “ terms of purchase ” were being negotiated with Glencore .

www . fmdrc-Zambia . com 3