• QIA and Ivanhoe sign an MoU to expand cooperation on critical minerals.

• The deal follows QIA’s $500 million investment for a 4 % stake in Ivanhoe.

• Gulf states intensify investments to diversify beyond oil and secure supply chains.

Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund, the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), signaled its intention to strengthen its partnership with Ivanhoe Mines during the Emir of Qatar’s visit to Kinshasa. The two parties signed a memorandum of understanding to frame cooperation on future projects involving critical minerals, according to a statement issued on November 21, 2025.

The head of the QIA, Mohammed Saif Al-Sowaidi, said the agreement shows the fund’s commitment to building strategic partnerships with major suppliers of critical minerals to support global efforts to develop new energy infrastructure and power advanced technologies.

The move comes less than two months after the fund entered the Canadian company’s share capital. At the end of September 2025, Ivanhoe Mines completed the issuance of 57.5 million shares to the QIA, which now holds about 4 % of the company.

The transaction enabled Ivanhoe to raise nearly $570 million, including $500 million from the QIA and $70 million from Zijin Mining, which exercised its right to maintain a 12.2 % stake to avoid dilution. CITIC did not exercise this right.

No additional financing was announced, but the MoU clearly opens the door to potential financial support from the QIA for Ivanhoe’s projects. According to Ivanhoe Mines, the agreement sets a framework for cooperation in the exploration, development, and supply of critical minerals needed for the global energy transition and for advanced technologies. It also reflects QIA’s interest in Ivanhoe’s future projects, including in the Makoko district in the DRC.

The latest estimates published by Ivanhoe in May 2025 point to 8.38 million tons of inferred copper resources across the Makoko, West Makoko, and Kitoko deposits, which are still at the exploration stage. Ivanhoe describes this cluster as one of the highest-grade discoveries in the world and the fifth-largest copper discovery of the past decade.

The MoU also notes that the QIA could use its network of financial institutions to secure preferential financing for critical mineral projects in Africa and elsewhere. The planned cooperation also covers potential mergers and acquisitions, participation in mining-related infrastructure such as logistics, energy, and water, and the joint development of refining or downstream processing capacity.

Alongside its work in the DRC, Ivanhoe is carrying out exploration programs for new sedimentary copper discoveries in Angola, Kazakhstan, and Zambia.

This momentum comes as Gulf countries scale up investments in African strategic minerals, especially the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. These states aim to diversify portfolios traditionally centered on oil, prepare for the post-oil era, and secure supplies needed for battery and low-carbon technology value chains.

According to data from the Critical Minerals: Pivotal Outlook platform, reported by Energia-Africa, Gulf countries invested $2.2 billion in African critical mineral projects during the first half of 2025. Several initiatives are emerging. Al Mansour Holding, a Qatari conglomerate, announced more than $100 billion in investments in Africa, with around $21 billion potentially dedicated to the DRC in sectors including mining.

Meanwhile, the UAE is expanding its presence through International Resources Holding, a subsidiary of IHC, which signed an agreement in June to acquire 56 % of Alphamin, operator of the Bisie tin mine — the largest in the DRC — for an estimated $367 million.

Timothée Manoke