Belgium, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and KoBold Metals are embroiled in a dispute over millions of geological archives from the colonial era stored at the Africa Museum in Tervuren, on the outskirts of Brussels.
Kinshasa and KoBold Metals, a US mining company specialising in AI-assisted exploration and backed by billionaire Bill Gates, want to digitise these archives to map the DRC’s vast reserves of copper, cobalt, and lithium.
Belgian authorities, however, refuse to grant KoBold exclusive access, arguing that the federal public archives cannot be handed over to a foreign private company without a formal contract with the Belgian state.
An alternative EU-funded digitisation project is already underway, according to Belgian officials. Digital copies are gradually being sent to Congolese authorities, who will then exercise sovereign control over their use.
The Tervuren museum clarified it is not part of the agreement between KoBold and the Congolese government. It also stated it cannot delegate the management of complete archives to a private company.
