C4D's story is a search: years of failed sites before Tombolo. The phases below trace it, from the feasibility study to a pilot now at its final investment decision.
Amnesty International's exposé on child labour in cobalt supply chains triggers an industry response.
BMW commissions a GIZ feasibility study. A fact-finding mission assesses three artisanal sites and their communities, identifying three core risks: health and safety, environmental pollution, and the worst forms of child labour.
C4D launches with BMW, BASF, Samsung Electronics and Samsung SDI. EGC is established and granted the monopoly on buying artisanal cobalt; the ZEA Kisote site is announced as the first candidate pilot.
Drilling confirms Kisote's cobalt is too deep for artisanal mining and the pilot is abandoned. C4D pivots to a mobile training-and-coaching model delivered directly at informal sites with SAEMAPE. Volkswagen joins; its release also names Google among the funders, the one source to do so. Site assessments follow at Kisanfu, UCK-Dran and Kawama.
The search moves to an industrial concession, with a first assessment of a large-scale miner's site in 2021. Partners travel to the region in 2022, but the large-scale-miner pilot stalls on unresolved legal questions.
Phase 2 launches, funded by BMW Group, Volkswagen, Samsung SDI, BASF and a new partner, Stihl. The concession pilot fails: the Mining Code bars an industrial miner from leasing squares to a cooperative without risking its land rights. C4D shifts to national-level engagement; EGC revives under a new director, and a fifth training module on deep-pit safety is co-created with SAEMAPE.
Gécamines subleases the Tombolo and Kanunka sites to EGC, creating the legal basis for a pilot. C4D signs a collaboration agreement with EGC and pauses cooperative coaching to support it. Geological studies confirm both sites; Tombolo is selected. Renault joins, according to C4D's paper alone.
The Tombolo study and mine design are finalised and the pilot reaches the point of a final investment decision, which is pending. The European Commission joins via the EU Global Gateway. USAID's 2025 no-funding decision on a Fair Cobalt Alliance application that C4D had supported, taken amid USAID's dismantling, leaves a gap in engagement. C4D's paper reports a decree recognising the EGC pilot as a priority, without a date; its text has not been found. C4D publishes its Lessons Learned Paper.
C4D can sustain technical assistance until early 2028: consolidate Tombolo after the investment decision, scale to other sites, and disseminate its blueprints (checklists, SOPs, training modules) while pushing for market incentives for legal artisanal cobalt.
SAEMAPE and GIZ sign a memorandum in Lubumbashi on formalising artisanal mining; SAEMAPE says the two will train artisanal miners and support mining cooperatives “dans le cadre du projet Cobalt Development”.
The Tombolo geological study and mine design are finalised, and the pilot has been brought to the point of a final investment decision. If taken, it would open the first legal artisanal cobalt mine under the 2018 Mining Code.
Funding has shifted. The European Commission joined C4D in 2025, co-funding it through the EU Global Gateway; USAID's 2025 decision not to fund a Fair Cobalt Alliance application that C4D had supported left what C4D calls a gap in engagement. C4D expects to sustain technical assistance until early 2028, consolidating Tombolo, disseminating its blueprints, and pushing for the market incentives that would make legal artisanal cobalt viable.
Dated, oldest first. Each entry says whose account it is.
A fact-finding mission, followed by a feasibility study GIZ ran with BMW Group, preceded the project. At three sites where a large miner reportedly bought artisanal material, it found tunnels to about 90 metres, no shaft lining, pregnant women in washing ponds, no protective equipment, and the worst forms of child labour.
In January 2019, the companies BASF, BMW, Samsung Electronics and Samsung SDI commissioned the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH
The project is implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) on behalf of and with funding from the participating companies.
C4D launched with BMW Group, BASF SE, Samsung SDI and Samsung Electronics as funders, and assessed Kisote, Kamilombe, Mwilu, Shabara and Tilwezembe as candidate pilot sites.
The project is implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) on behalf of and with funding from the participating companies.
The funding companies commissioned GIZ to implement the project.
The initiative intends to train more than 1,500 artisanal cobalt miners by mid-2021.
Community work began in Kisote and neighbouring villages with Good Shepherd International Foundation / Bon Pasteur.
The project is implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) on behalf of and with funding from the participating companies.
The official launch was held at the Lualaba provincial government building in Kolwezi.
le lancement officiel dudit projet a eu lieu dans la salle de conférence de l'hôtel du gouvernement provincial du Lualaba
Volkswagen joined the project’s funders. After Kisote, C4D assessed Kisanfu, UCK-Dran and Kawama as candidate sites; attention shifted to Tilwezembe, whose legal due diligence failed, while Kamilombe and Kisanfu lacked legal viability.
to implement this fully privately financed cross-industry initiative. In 2020, Volkswagen joined
The project is implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) on behalf of and with funding from the participating companies.
Training began for twelve artisanal mining cooperatives; the funders’ joint release said the initiative intended to train more than 1,500 miners by mid-2021, and that 36 artisanal mines had been screened. From October 2020 C4D coached cooperatives with a mobile model, after assessing training needs at 40 artisanal locations.
The initiative intends to train more than 1,500 artisanal cobalt miners by mid-2021.
The project is implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) on behalf of and with funding from the participating companies.
A seven-classroom school was inaugurated in Kisote.
The initiative intends to train more than 1,500 artisanal cobalt miners by mid-2021.
C4D made a first assessment of an active artisanal operation inside an industrial concession as a pilot site; the concession holder later took the site off the table.
The project is implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) on behalf of and with funding from the participating companies.
C4D pledged, for the International Year for the Elimination of Child Labour, to support at least three artisanal mining cooperatives in implementing zero-child-labour policies.
This Action Pledge will support at least three artisanal mining cooperatives in implementing zero child labour policies
C4D II began, funded by BMW Group, Volkswagen, Samsung SDI and BASF, with STIHL as a new funder. C4D visited Likasi and Kilamusembo and assessed Tondo and Kisele. With USAID and the EU delegation it held a workshop with Congolese authorities, which set out two formalisation paths: new artisanal zones (ZEA), or an amodiation from Gécamines to EGC.
The project is implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) on behalf of and with funding from the participating companies.
C4D assessed the geology of Tombolo and Kanunka, two sites Gécamines had amodiated to EGC, and Tombolo was chosen as the pilot. EGC and C4D signed a collaboration agreement, and C4D paused its cooperative coaching, partly because of low cobalt prices and limited activity.
The project is implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) on behalf of and with funding from the participating companies.
At the OECD Forum on Responsible Mineral Supply Chains, GIZ, as C4D’s implementer, and Resource Matters organised the session “Finding pathways for responsible artisanal and industrial cobalt mining”. Its speakers included C4D’s project director, EGC’s director general, the Cobalt Institute and a spokesperson for the coalition Le Congo n’est pas à vendre.
Organised by GIZ as implementer of C4D and Resource Matters
EGC and C4D announced a memorandum of understanding for the pilot, under which C4D provides geological expertise in the field and staff support to EGC.
EGC a signé un Mémorandum d’Entente avec le projet Cobalt for Development (C4D) pour le développement du pilote.
A continuation was approved: BMW Group, BASF and STIHL remained partners and Renault joined, on this single source.
The project is implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) on behalf of and with funding from the participating companies.
An independent field study reports that C4D trained about a hundred artisanal miners in first aid.
C4D a, pour sa part, formé une centaine d’exploitants miniers artisanaux dans le domaine du secourisme.
GIZ published C4D’s five training modules and their compendium, all in French.
Constitué de cinq modules rédigés en français et accompagnés d’exemples concrets
At DRC Mining Week the EU announced European funding for C4D’s pilot sites, to be implemented by GIZ and, on the Congolese side, by EGC.
l'annonce du financement européen du projet Cobalt for Development qui sera mis en œuvre, pour les sites pilotes, par la coopération allemande (GIZ), côté européen
At the Global Gateway Forum the European Commission listed €2 million for C4D among the initiatives it would announce.
Cooperation on Critical Raw Materials, including €2 million for Cobalt4Development and €11.8 million to strengthen the Ministry of Mines and promote sustainable value chains.
C4D’s Lessons Learned Paper reports that the geological study and mine design for Tombolo were finalised in 2025, and that C4D brought EGC to the point of a final investment decision on Tombolo, with the decision pending.
The project is implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) on behalf of and with funding from the participating companies.
Volkswagen’s Responsible Raw Materials Report 2025 said that, after a thorough evaluation, the group had decided to withdraw from C4D, having completed a five-year engagement.
following thorough evaluation, the Volkswagen Group has decided to withdraw from C4D.
Cobalt for Development is one of dozens of programmes in the ASM-cobalt space. Browse the full registry, or tell us what we have missed.