DRC reforms mining code in hope of higher tax receipts
Eight years after the mining code was promulgated, the government of the DRC is considering a new reform, with the state judging that mining revenue remains below the sector's potential even as output reached more than 3 million tonnes of copper and 220,000 tonnes of cobalt in 2025. Civil society organisations in Lubumbashi and Kolwezi recommend a reform that would allow the state to capture more mining revenue, and point to the roughly 60 taxes, duties and royalties that companies must pay. They also cite the exceptional tax regime of the mining company Sicomines, which the Ministry of Budget says costs the state nearly one billion dollars a year, and weak collection of the tax on excess profits.
Why it matters: The debate turns on fiscal policy: how far the state can convert rising mineral output into tax and royalty receipts.