The Senegalese-American artist, Akon, signed an agreement on December 14, 2020, for the financing of a copper and cobalt mine in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in a joint venture with a state miner, according to a contract published by the Ministry of Mines.
Alioune Badara Thiam aka Akon decided to enter the mining sector. And it was the Democratic Republic of the Congo that he chose for his investment. Through his company White Waterfall LLC, of which he is the managing director, he signed an operating contract. It committed $2 million, or more than $1 billion, and funded a feasibility study of the Kimono reserve in Upper Katanga province.
White Waterfall is, according to the company’s website, a private equity fund that invests in mining companies that are not publicly traded. However, no investor or investment was mentioned.
R&B star Akon enters Congo mining sector in JV with state company https://t.co/q7Slvb9JwS pic.twitter.com/b7WWhunIq1
— Reuters Business (@ReutersBiz) January 6, 2021
The Democratic Republic of Congo is an African country rich in mineral resources. The DRC is the largest copper producer in Africa and the largest cobalt producer in the world.Cobalt is used in the manufacture of electric batteries, smartphones, tablets, electric cars, etc. Wealth that is also at the origin of many conflicts in its territory, for several decades.
It is also important to note that Senegalese-American singer and producer Alioune Badara Thiam has several investment projects in Africa, including the one called “Akon Lighting Africa”. A project launched in 2014 by the musician artist and two of his friends Samba Bathily and Thione Niang. It aims to provide electricity through solar energy in Africa. It also has another flagship project for Senegal.It is the construction of a futuristic and autonomous city “Akon City” in Mbodiene, a village located in the region of Thiès about a hundred kilometers from Dakar. It will be a kind of Hollywood with movie studios, hotels, a university, hospitals, business and leisure centers, among others.
