2017 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo explained

The following lists events in the year 2017 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Incumbents

• President: Joseph Kabila
• Prime Minister: Samy Badibanga, Bruno Tshibala

Events

• 2017: Morgan Stanley projects 1 billion electric vehicles in use globally by 2050 and 800% increase in demand for cobalt, used in electric car batteries, by 2026.^[1]
• February 2017 - Glencore agreed to pay Dan Gertler $534m (£407m) for his share of their joint mining interests in DR Congo.
• 14 February 2017 – The UN reveals that Congolese soldiers had killed 101 people including 30 women while fighting the Kamwina Nsapu rebels in Kasaï-Central.^[2]
• 23 March 2017 – 2017 Congolese police decapitation attacks
• 22 April 2017 to 1 July 2017 – 2017 Democratic Republic of the Congo Ebola virus outbreak
• July 2017 - United Nations has documented 80 mass graves in Kasai unrest that began in August 2016^[3]
• 7 August 2017 -Congolese soldiers forces killed at least 14 Bundu dia Kongo (BDK) rebels in clashes in the capital Kinshasa and southwestern city of Matadi.A policeman also died.^[4]
• 16 August 2017 – 2017 DR Congo landslide
• 26 August 2017 – The Democratic Republic of the Congo gubernatorial elections, 2017, are held in 11 provinces.
• 29 August 2017 – Three provinces have a second round of voting as part of the gubernatorial elections.
• 6 November 2017 - details emerge in Paradise Papers reporting of a loan from Glencore to Dan Gertler in 2008 when it needed to renegotiate its agreement with state mining company Gécamines for its Katanga mine.^[5]
• 7 December 2017 – 2017 Semuliki attack
• 21 December 2017 – Delayed gubernatorial elections are held in three provinces (Kasaï-Central, Mongala, and Equateur).

2017 trends

• 2017: the price of cobalt increased 127% over the course of 2017.^[6]
• 2017: Congo DR produced 64,000 metric tons of cobalt.^[7]

Deaths

• 1 February  - Étienne Tshisekedi, politician (b. 1932).^[8]

Notes and References

1. News: Electric vehicles' future relies on cobalt. It's often mined by children and is soaring in price . Los Angeles Times . ROB NIKOLEWSKI . February 22, 2018.
2. Web site: UN: Soldiers kill 101 in clashes with Kamwina Nsapu.
3. News: Keeping watch in Kasai in Congo . Caritas . ReliefWeb. 8 November 2017.
4. News: Congo security forces kill at least 14 in rebel clashes: Clashes followed attack by BDK members on Kinshasa's main prison and protests by other members against President Kabila.. Al-Jazeera.
5. News: Paradise Papers documents raise questions over African mining deal. BBC Panorama . 6 November 2017 . BBC.
6. Cobalt: A Metal Poised to Peak . Stratfor . January 8, 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180301210640/https://worldview.stratfor.com/article/cobalt-metal-poised-peak . March 1, 2018.
7. News: The electric vehicle revolution has a cobalt problem . March 1, 2018 . San Diego Union-Tribune. Rob Nikolewski.
8. News: Congo's main opposition leader, Etienne Tshisekedi, dies at 84 . Aaron . Ross . 2 February 2017 . 5 February 2017. .