Cover and article “Bloody batteries” story, by Luca Catalano Gonzaga, in the Italian monthly magazine “Africa”.
A new form of colonialism is threatening the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). More than half of the world’s cobalt is mined in the Katanga region, in the Southeastern region of the country. Cobalt and other strategic minerals, such as lithium and nickel, are present in the new rechargeable lithium ion batteries that power a new generation of electric cars, but also  smartphones, tablets and computers that we use every day. The cobalt mining industry uses heavy machinery and is mainly controlled by foreign companies.