The Central African Republic (CAR) has established itself as an emerging player in Africa’s mining sector, with untapped deposits of cobalt, lithium, coltan, nickel, manganese, copper and rare earths. Ahead of Africa Mining Week 2026, Energy Capital & Power spoke with Rufin Benam Bertongou, Minister of Mines and Geology, about the country’s ongoing mining law reforms, efforts to industrialize the sector, and measures to create a stable and investor-friendly environment.
What opportunities do you offer to global investors?
Unfortunately, CAR is a little-known mining country, despite the presence of over 570 minerals confirmed to date. As the majority of our mining projects are artisanal projects, our mineral potential remains untapped. We conducted uranium exploration through the French company Areva (now Orano), but the project was canceled in view of the fall in uranium prices.
Our vast and undeveloped cobalt, lithium, coltan, nickel, manganese, copper and rare earth deposits have the potential to position us as a key partner in global markets in this era of energy transition. In addition to our mineral deposits, our attractive legal framework, including the Mining Law, which is currently being amended with support from the World Bank, provides a favorable operating environment for our investors and partners.
What incentives are you leveraging to position the country as an investment hub?
As we operate under the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa (CEMAC), our laws are similar to those of established mining and oil producing countries such as Cameroon, Congo, Chad, Gabon and Equatorial Guinea. From a political perspective, the Central African Republic is a democratic country, so we provide security and political stability to our partners.
There is freedom of trade and industry, and partners can invest to dispose of profits if they wish. We have an investment charter that provides additional benefits. The Charter provides additional benefits to investors wishing to establish themselves in the interior of the country, in addition to those provided by the Mining Law. Resilience in the energy sector to support mining operations is a unique service offered by CAR.
What future projects are you pursuing in the short to medium term?
We are working towards industrializing this sector, which requires high-quality mineral mapping, which we are currently working on with support from the World Bank. We are also working on digitizing the mine ledger with support from the World Bank.
We have a Geoscience Institute project, for which we have secured support from the World Bank during the design stage, but are looking for investment partners for full deployment. We also have large-scale exploration projects and have established a state unit dedicated to conducting ongoing exploration campaigns.
Why is the upcoming African Mining Week, to be held in Cape Town from 14th to 16th October, an attractive event for the Central African Republic?
For us, this is a big opportunity. CAR is primarily known only for gold and diamonds. Thanks to Africa Mining Week, we have the opportunity to introduce potential investors and participating institutional investors to the country’s potential, which has remained unexplored to date. Africa Mining Week is an opportunity for us to introduce our country to global investors.
