The vast majority of Africa’s cobalt comes from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), which accounts for roughly 72% of global cobalt output. But cobalt deposits stretch across several other African countries too, from Morocco in the north to Madagascar off the southeast coast. Understanding where these deposits sit, and why, starts with a geological belt that runs through the heart of the continent.
The Central African Copperbelt
The single most important cobalt-producing region on Earth is the Central African Copperbelt, a geological formation that stretches across the DRC’s southern provinces and into northern Zambia. This belt is roughly 700 kilometers long and more than 150 kilometers wide, arcing from Kolwezi in the northwest down to the Zambian mining towns in the southeast. It contains an estimated 6 million metric tons of cobalt in known reserves, along with 140 million metric tons of copper. Cobalt here is almost always extracted alongside copper rather than mined on its own.
The deposits formed roughly 800 million years ago when mineral-rich fluids migrated through ancient sedimentary rocks, concentrating copper and cobalt in layers of dolomite and shale. Geologists call this a “sediment-hosted stratiform” deposit, which essentially means the metals sit in flat, predictable layers within sedimentary rock, making them relatively efficient to mine at scale. The belt includes several world-class deposits: Kolwezi, Tenke-Fungurume, Konkola, Nchanga, Nkana, and Mufulira, each containing enormous quantities of both metals.
An important geological detail: the DRC side of the Copperbelt is significantly richer in cobalt than the Zambian side. Deposits in the DRC’s dolomite-heavy rocks have a cobalt-to-copper ratio averaging about 1:13, while the Zambian deposits, hosted in different rock types, average around 1:57. Some deposits along the southern edge of the belt in the DRC reach cobalt-to-copper ratios as high as 3:1, making them unusually cobalt-dense.
DRC’s Key Mining Provinces
Within the DRC, cobalt mining is concentrated in two southern provinces: Haut-Katanga and Lualaba. These were a single province called Katanga until a 2015 administrative split divided the country into 21 provinces. Lubumbashi, the capital of Haut-Katanga, serves as the region’s commercial hub. Kolwezi, capital of Lualaba province, sits directly atop some of the richest cobalt deposits on the planet. The city of Likasi, between the two, is another major mining center.
DRC cobalt production has grown enormously over the past two decades, rising from about 11,000 metric tons in 2000 to 98,000 metric tons by 2020. Most of this comes from large-scale industrial mines operated by multinational companies. Artisanal and small-scale mining (often called ASM) also contributes, though its share is smaller than many people assume. Artisanal production grew from roughly 1,000 to 2,000 metric tons in 2000 to between 9,000 and 11,000 metric tons by 2020. It peaked at 17,000 to 21,000 metric tons in 2018 before declining. These small-scale operations, where miners dig by hand with minimal equipment, have drawn international attention for dangerous working conditions and child labor concerns.
Morocco’s Bou Azzer Mine
Morocco is home to one of the most geologically unusual cobalt deposits in the world. The Bou Azzer mine, located in the Anti-Atlas mountain chain in central Morocco, is one of the only mines on Earth where cobalt is the primary product rather than a byproduct of copper or nickel mining. The cobalt here is associated with an ancient oceanic rock formation called an ophiolite complex, where mineral-rich fluids deposited cobalt alongside arsenic, gold, and copper.
Bou Azzer has been mined for decades and remains active. Recent exploration using airborne magnetic surveys and geochemical sampling has identified five additional zones nearby with potential for new cobalt discoveries, with mineral sources detected at depths ranging from 60 meters to nearly 6,000 meters below the surface. Morocco’s cobalt output is modest compared to the DRC, but the deposit’s geology makes it scientifically significant and commercially distinctive.
Madagascar’s Ambatovy Mine
Off Africa’s southeast coast, Madagascar hosts a large nickel-cobalt operation at Ambatovy, near the eastern port city of Tamatave. Unlike the Copperbelt’s sediment-hosted deposits, Ambatovy’s cobalt comes from laterite deposits, a type of ore formed when tropical weathering of ancient volcanic rocks concentrates metals near the surface over millions of years.
The Ambatovy operation includes both a mine and a refinery. In 2019, the refinery produced about 2,900 metric tons of refined cobalt, with a total annual refining capacity of 5,600 metric tons. Madagascar holds an estimated 100,000 metric tons of cobalt reserves. The operation is run by a joint venture of Japanese, Korean, and Canadian companies, and it represents one of the few places in Africa where cobalt is not only mined but also processed into a refined product on the continent.
Zambia and Emerging Exploration
Zambia sits on the southeastern end of the Central African Copperbelt and produces cobalt as a byproduct of its extensive copper mining. While its deposits are less cobalt-rich than those across the border in the DRC, Zambia is positioning itself as a processing hub. A facility described as Africa’s first cobalt sulphate refinery is being commissioned by Kobaloni Energy, expected to be operational by the end of 2025. Cobalt sulphate is a key ingredient in lithium-ion battery manufacturing, and this refinery would be one of only a few outside China capable of producing it. A second company, US-based Terra Metals, is also relaunching a copper-cobalt processing plant in Zambia’s Kabompo Dome area.
Beyond these established producers, exploration is expanding elsewhere on the continent. In Botswana, exploration by Tsodilo Resources identified cobalt alongside copper, nickel, vanadium, and silver at two drilling targets in relatively shallow deposits, between 20 and 50 meters below the surface. The company plans extensive drilling in 2026 to determine whether the find is commercially viable. Shallow deposits like these could be cheaper to extract if they prove large enough.
Why Africa Dominates Global Cobalt
Africa’s cobalt dominance comes down to geology. The Central African Copperbelt alone contains more than half of the world’s mineable cobalt. The deposits are large, relatively accessible, and high-grade compared to cobalt sources elsewhere. Four types of geological settings produce economically viable cobalt globally: hydrothermal deposits, magmatic deposits, laterites, and chemical precipitates. Africa hosts significant examples of at least three of these, from the Copperbelt’s hydrothermal sediment-hosted ores to Madagascar’s laterites to Morocco’s ophiolite-associated deposits.
The concentration of so much cobalt in a single region carries real consequences for global supply chains. Cobalt is essential for rechargeable batteries used in electric vehicles and electronics, and the DRC’s 72% share of global production means any disruption there ripples worldwide. Indonesia, the second-largest producer, accounts for about 15% of global output. This imbalance is driving both new exploration across Africa and efforts to diversify cobalt sourcing to other continents, but the geology of the Copperbelt remains unmatched in scale.