Overnight World Report · October 8, 2026, 5:40 AM CDT
Key Facts
- World’s largest cobalt producer spends billions on diesel. A $300 million project in Congo could save them $1 billion a year (via Business Insider Africa)
World’s largest cobalt producer spends billions on diesel. A $300 million project in Congo could save them $1 billion a year.
– A $300 million transmission project aims to save Congo’s Copperbelt miners $1 billion annually by switching from costly diesel to imported electricity.
– Persistent power shortages have restricted mining growth in Congo and Zambia, both global leaders in copper and cobalt production. – Backed by Gridworks Development Partners and Trafigura, the project will link Congo’s mining region to the Southern African Power Pool, enabling cross-border electricity trading.
– A 200 km transmission line between Zambia and Congo will deliver up to 550 MW to a mining hub currently facing a huge power deficit.
Read Also The project comes as persistent power shortages continue to constrain mining expansion, processing and investment in Congo and neighbouring Zambia. Congo is the world’s largest cobalt producer and second-largest copper producer, while Zambia ranks second in Africa for copper production.
Britain-backed investor Gridworks Development Partners and Singapore-based commodities trader Trafigura are backing the project, which will connect Congo’s Copperbelt to the Southern African Power Pool. This regional electricity market links national grids across southern Africa and enables cross-border electricity trading, according to Reuters.[1]
How to Verify This Yourself
Read the original reporting directly at Business Insider Africa — that page is the primary source for everything above.
References
- Business Insider Africa. World’s largest cobalt producer spends billions on diesel. A $300 million project in Congo could save them $1 billion a year. ↩
Investigative methodology: this update was produced by scripts/topic_news_roundup.py from real Business Insider Africa reporting — not a language model. The quoted text above is verbatim from the source, cited; no analysis or interpretation is added.
File photo: Europe (MODIS 2018-08-06) — MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC, 2018. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. This image is illustrative and does not depict the people or events in this report.
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