DRC Mining Week 2026 Unveils Advisory Board Ahead of June Return to Lubumbashi

The award-winning expo and conference, now in its 21st year, assembles industry pioneers to shape policy, build investor confidence, and drive systemic change in the DRC’s mining sector

The organisers of DRC Mining Week have announced the advisory board for the 2026 edition of the continent’s premier mining investment platform, bringing together a cross-section of senior figures from across the DRC’s extractive industry value chain ahead of the event’s return to Lubumbashi from 17 to 19 June.

Organised by VUKA Group, DRC Mining Week was named Event of the Year at the Katanga Awards in November 2025, and celebrated its 20th anniversary with a record-breaking edition in June of the same year. The 2026 event will once again be held at the Pullman Grand Karavia Hotel in the heart of the Copperbelt.

An Advisory Board Built for Hard Conversations

VUKA Group Events Director for Mining, Samukelo Madlabane, framed the advisory board’s role in deliberately ambitious terms — not merely as a source of industry expertise, but as a force for asking uncomfortable questions and driving meaningful change.

“We must never be afraid to ask the hard, uncomfortable questions or address the rhetorical elephant in the room. It is the only way forward to create systemic change, shaping national policy, building international confidence, and advancing the DRC’s position in the global mining value chain,” he said.

The advisory board is structured across two categories. Knowledge partners include Prof. Dieudonné-Louis Tambwe of the Ministry of Mines, Guy Muswil of Kamoa Copper SA, John Kanyoni of Tembo Power, Parfait Nsenga Mirambo of Deloitte DRC, Popol Mabolia Yenga of Mining Cadaster DRC, and Patience Mpofu of Insight Mining Experts in Australia.

Resource partners comprise Bakomeka Kelina Adolphe, Technical Advisor to the Chamber of Mines; Bernadette Mpundu Mpia, Vice-President of the Chamber of Mines in charge of mining entrepreneurship; Cyrille Mutombo, Country Director of Barrick DRC and Managing Director of Kibali Gold Mines; and Eric Monga, Chief Executive of Kipay Investments.

A Platform by the Industry, for the Industry

Now entering its third decade, DRC Mining Week has established itself as the definitive gathering point for mining investment, project development, and economic policy dialogue in the Democratic Republic of Congo — a country that sits at the centre of global demand for copper, cobalt, and other critical minerals essential to the energy transition.

With an advisory board spanning government, major mining operations, financial services, and independent expertise from both within the DRC and internationally, the 2026 edition is positioned to build on its record-breaking predecessor and deepen its role as a catalyst for responsible and transformative mining development across the country.