the cobalt series, part six: who needs zambia and why
17.1 million electric vehicles sold globally in 2024. projected 40 million by 2030 — an increase of 133 percent in six years. every vehicle contains a battery. every battery using NMC cathode chemistry contains cobalt. the EV makers building factories and supply chains to produce 40 million vehicles per year by 2030 are, right now, in the middle of the most consequential procurement exercise in the history of the automotive industry.
they are signing long-term offtake agreements for cobalt. the question of where that cobalt comes from is being answered today — in boardrooms in seoul and tokyo and detroit and munich and wolfsburg and shanghai.
volkswagen group — committed to producing only electric vehicles in europe by 2033 — has been among the most vocal advocates for battery supply chain transparency and ethical sourcing. its procurement team is actively seeking cobalt from documented, auditable, non-DRC artisanal sources. zambian cobalt — industrial, regulated, full chain-of-custody documentation — is exactly what volkswagen's ethical procurement requirements describe.
LG energy solution — the world's second largest EV battery manufacturer, producing batteries for hyundai, GM, honda, and stellantis — is building gigafactories in europe and the united states. its cobalt procurement team is actively looking for african supply chains meeting its ethical sourcing and quality standards.
general motors — whose ultium battery platform powers the chevrolet silverado EV, GMC sierra EV, cadillac lyriq, and multiple other models — has committed to all-electric passenger vehicles by 2035. it is signing direct offtake agreements with cobalt producers — bypassing commodity trading intermediaries — specifically to secure documented, traceable, ethical material.
ford signed a memorandum of understanding with the governments of the DRC and zambia in 2023, specifically citing both countries' cobalt and copper endowments as critical to its EV supply chain.
tesla has a publicly stated commitment to sourcing cobalt only from producers meeting its responsible sourcing standards — and has been one of the loudest voices on the child labour issue in DRC artisanal cobalt.
every one of these companies has a procurement requirement that zambian cobalt meets and that a significant portion of current DRC cobalt supply structurally cannot meet.
the customers exist. the ethical advantage exists. the documented supply chain exists.
what remains is zambia making the strategic decision to position itself — actively, commercially, with government backing and industry partnership — as the ethical cobalt supplier of choice for the global EV industry.
the cobalt series continues. 🔵
