When foreign powers expand their grip on Africa’s critical minerals, the spotlight usually falls on mega-railways like the Western-backed Lobito Corridor. But earlier this summer, a convoy of heavy trucks quietly left the town of Manono in the southeastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), carrying a cargo that signals a massive geopolitical shift: the country’s first-ever commercial export of lithium ore. The trucks traveled 440 kilometers overland to the lakeside port of Kalemie, where the spodumene concentrate was loaded onto vessels to cross Lake Tanganyika to Tanzania. From there, it moved along the Central Corridor directly to the port of Dar es Salaam, bound for ocean-going ships headed to Chinese refineries. The DRC, already the world’s undisputed king of cobalt, has officially entered the global lithium race.
The operational force behind this project is the Chinese conglomerate Zijin Mining Group, executing the venture through its overseas subsidiary, Jinxiang Lithium Limited. They hold a 54.9% controlling stake in the Manono Lithium joint venture, working alongside the DRC's state miner Cominière, which retains 35.1%, and the Congolese government, which holds the remaining 10%. Remarkably, the venture’s processing plant fired up production a full month ahead of schedule—a rare feat in an industry where multi-year delays are the norm. The initial export numbers are modest, serving as a trial run. Zijin targets about 30,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent for the year, with plans to eventually scale up to a massive 130,000 tonnes annually. Once fully operational, Manono will rank among the largest single-source lithium mines on the planet. But what makes this move brilliant is the timing. Global lithium prices have crashed by roughly 80% from their late-2022 peak due to a temporary oversupply and cooling global demand for electric vehicles. To an outsider, launching a massive new mining project right now looks like terrible business. In reality, it is a masterclass in long-term strategy. By pushing Manono into production during a market trough, Zijin faces virtually no competition. While Western mining companies—more cautious in a downturn—are freezing capital and sitting on the sidelines, China is comfortably consolidating its ownership of the next generation of battery supply chains. Beijing played this exact same hand years ago with Congolese cobalt and copper; now, they are doing it with lithium.
However, this rapid success is unfolding right next door to a massive legal minefield. It is vital to separate the geography here: Zijin is exporting from the northern sector of the deposit, known as Manono NE. Meanwhile, the main, historical section of the mine remains frozen in an ugly international lawsuit. The Congolese government previously stripped an Australian junior miner, AVZ Minerals, of its rights to that central section, sparking an ongoing international arbitration battle. To add to the tension, the American-backed tech-mining venture KoBold Metals holds the license right adjacent to these fields. This sets up a fascinating, high-stakes standoff: an elite US-backed exploration firm is working literally next door to a functioning Chinese state-linked powerhouse, at the exact moment Washington and Beijing are competing for Africa’s energy future. For the DRC, adding lithium to its portfolio gives the government massive new diplomatic leverage. Kinshasa has already shown it isn't afraid to use its resource dominance as a foreign policy weapon, previously threatening export quotas on cobalt to force international firms to build local factories.
The trucks are moving, and the ships are being loaded in Dar es Salaam. But as with every mineral boom in Congo’s history, the ultimate question remains: will the wealth generated by this new energy transition actually trickle down to the people of Manono, or will it simply fly out of the country on ocean-going ships?
