On July 17, 2025, the Democratic Republic of Congo and the American company KoBold Metals announced a comprehensive cooperation agreement to develop the Congolese mining sector. A key aspect of this initiative is the digitization of the country's geological and mining data, aiming to facilitate access to this crucial information for investors.The digitization of geoscience data related to the mining sector is not a new trend in Africa. Several countries on the continent have already embarked on this path. Namibia launched its Earth Data Namibia   in 2003, a customized software that allows for the public dissemination of mining exploration data in an open format.South Africa also distinguished itself in this regard as early as 2011 with SAMRAD, a digital portal that provides mapping of the country's mineral wealth. In Tanzania, the Geological and Mineral Information System was launched in 2015 with the same objective. Botswana's Botswana Geological Portal and Malawi's GDMIS project were added to the list in 2016 and 2018, respectively.Recently, Nigeria has joined the trend with the Nigerian Mineral Resources Decision Support System Launched in May 2024, this application aims to provide free access to mining data, enabling investors to analyze the location of deposits. Similar to the Democratic Republic of Congo's project announced with KoBold Metals, the Central African Republic  has announced reforms this year to make its mining data more accessible.Specifically, the Central African Republic plans to develop a digital geological information system, accompanied by an electronic mining cadastre integrating a Geographic Information System .These projects have already received support from the World Bank, which allocated $6.4 million in funding in May.This initiative aims to promote transparency, accessibility, and investment in the mining sector, aligning with the growing trend of African countries leveraging digital technologies to enhance their mineral resources management.The World Bank goes further, presenting the consolidation of mining data on digital platforms as a competitiveness lever for countries. According to the institution, this should enable local stakeholders to strengthen their understanding of national mineral resources, in order to better negotiate mining contracts with investors who sometimes have more information on the country's mining prospects than the government.These are concerning realities in a context where Africa still captures only 10% of global mining exploration spending, despite its vast range of mineral resources. While the initiatives mentioned above demonstrate a growing awareness among African countries of the need to digitize their data, their concrete implementation is still lagging behind

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