The state’s monopoly on artisanal cobalt.
Created in 2019 as a Gécamines subsidiary, EGC holds the legal monopoly to buy, process and market all artisanal cobalt in the DRC, channelling it through safe, traceable, state-controlled zones. The mandate is sweeping; delivery has lagged it by years.
Visit egcobalt.cdOne legal channel for all artisanal cobalt.
Entreprise Générale du Cobalt is a subsidiary of the DRC state miner Gécamines, created by decree in 2019 and launched in 2020. By law it holds the exclusive right to purchase, process and market all cobalt produced by artisanal and small-scale miners in the country: in principle, no artisanal cobalt may legally be bought, transported or exported outside the EGC channel.
The stated purpose is to route the large, informal and dangerous artisanal sector through safe, supervised, traceable zones, removing child labour and fraud. EGC is specifically the buyer, marketer and standard-setter for artisanal cobalt. It should not be confused with ARECOMS, the regulator that sets export quotas, or SAEMAPE, the artisanal-mining technical service.
To build the model, EGC partnered with the trader Trafigura (offtake and financing) and the NGO Pact (its Responsible Sourcing Standard and on-site implementation), with quarterly independent assurance by Kumi Consulting.
A wide gap, slowly closing.
For years after 2019 EGC bought essentially no cobalt, amid inter-ministerial friction and Gécamines leadership turnover. First traceable production (around 1,000 tonnes) came in November 2025; first shipments to Trafigura and Mercuria followed in February 2026, with volumes undisclosed. EGC sits outside the pro-rata formula applied to industrial miners: it was granted a 5,640-tonne allocation for 2026 within the national 96,600-tonne cap, a discretionary carve-out its director general has called insufficient.
Operational, but small and contested.
EGC is now operational: it has first traceable production, first export shipments to two major traders, and fresh agreements. In May 2026 it went further, signing a tripartite MoU with EVelution Energy and Trafigura to explore a direct US–DRC cobalt supply chain, pulling EGC into the US–DRC critical-minerals alignment. But it works inside a tightened policy environment, after a 2025 export suspension gave way to a quota system, and it received a special allocation despite only beginning formal production at the end of 2025.
It remains contested. Critics warn that a single state buyer removes the price competition healthy formalisation needs; that Gécamines’ track record raises governance and transparency concerns; and that routing all artisanal cobalt through one state entity and a couple of traders concentrates control. After six years, EGC has moved from zero to a sub-1% trickle: a state-backed pilot whose credibility now rests on whether it can scale beyond Kasulo.
How the monopoly sits in the system.
EGC is easy to confuse with the regulators and services around it. They are distinct bodies.
How it is meant to work.
Controlled zones
Designate fenced, supervised artisanal zones where registered miners dig under safety and environmental rules, starting with a pilot at Kasulo.
Buying stations
Install purchasing stations at controlled sites where output is bought at declared prices, weighed and logged.
Traceability
Track ore from the controlled pit through the purchasing station to cobalt hydroxide and export, aligned with OECD guidance.
A sourcing standard
Apply the 2021 EGC Responsible Sourcing Standard across all sites, with quarterly independent assurance.
A long road to first cobalt.
- 2019
EGC is created by decree and granted the monopoly on artisanal cobalt.
- 2020
EGC is officially launched; Trafigura signs an offtake and financing agreement.
- 2021
The EGC Responsible Sourcing Standard is released, with Kumi Consulting engaged for quarterly assurance.
- 2022
Implementation stalls; EGC has bought no cobalt, and the Mines Minister reportedly seeks to revisit the monopoly.
- 2025
EGC produces its first roughly 1,000 tonnes of traceable artisanal cobalt (November). In October, ARECOMS replaces the 2025 export ban with a quota regime running through 2027 (national cap 96,600t/yr).
- 2026
First shipments to Trafigura via the Lobito railway and to Mercuria (February, volumes undisclosed); ASM-formalisation MoUs with ERG Africa (Mining Indaba, February) and Mercuria for Kasulo (March); and a tripartite EGC–EVelution Energy–Trafigura MoU for a direct US–DRC cobalt supply chain (May).
A state entity, with traders and an NGO.
A Gécamines subsidiary backed by the DRC state, with Trafigura as founding offtaker and financier, Pact as standard and implementation partner, and newer trader and development partners since 2025.
Gécamines
Trafigura
Pact
ERG
GIZOwnership is officially 100% Gécamines, though one report cited a 95% / 5% Gécamines-state split. Eric Kalala has led EGC as Directeur Général since 2023. GIZ engages chiefly through the Cobalt for Development (C4D) programme as technical partner.
More initiatives, mapped and tracked.
EGC is one of dozens of programmes and bodies shaping ASM cobalt. Browse the full register, or tell us what is missing.