A major step in the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s endeavor to extract more value from its enormous mineral endowment has been taken with the opening of its first gold refining factory. Congo joins an increasing number of African countries resisting decades of extraction-without-development trends with this effort, which departs from the conventional model of raw extraction. To increase manufacturing and refining capacity, governments throughout the continent are actively seeking international investment. This change occurs at a crucial moment when global powers, such as the US and China, are fighting for control over Africa’s resources. Africa won’t really profit from its mineral richness until it establishes the regional infrastructure and value chains required to transform it into shared prosperity, as one UN official pointed out. A significant, if early, move in that approach is Congo’s new refinery.
