On the back of significant potash, natural gas and phosphate resources, Congo wants to turn a geological advantage into an industrial fertiliser hub for Central Africa. Two major potash projects and the rise of LNG will be decisive.

The bet Brazzaville is making today is simple to state but complex to execute: turn a trio of resources – potash, natural gas and phosphates – into an integrated fertiliser industry capable of supplying Central Africa, beyond the Congolese market alone.

“We wish to produce fertilisers… The country has significant gas and potash reserves…” — Denis Sassou N’Guesso, president of the Republic of Congo, Adiac Congo

This ambition was reiterated on the sidelines of the African Development Bank (AfDB) Annual Meetings held in late May 2026 in Brazzaville, where the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) publicly encouraged the creation of a Congolese fertiliser value chain.

A rare geological advantage in Central Africa

Talks between the Congolese presidency and UNECA’s subregional office highlight an unusual fact on the continent: within a single territory, Congo holds natural gas, potash and phosphates, the three basic inputs of an NPK (nitrogen-phosphorus-potassium) fertiliser industry. The Ministry of Finance likewise stresses that the country’s soils are “full, at the same time and in the same places, of potash, phosphates and natural gas”, which would make the Republic of Congo an “exceptional global player” in fertilisers if these resources were fully developed.

Several analyses note that this abundance contrasts with the absence, so far, of any significant industrial production of potash or phosphates in Congo, even though the country already has a deep-water port in Pointe-Noire and cheap gas-fired power, two major logistical assets. Industry presentations also insist on this logistical edge: all identified potash deposits lie within roughly a hundred kilometres of Pointe-Noire, sharply reducing transport costs to African and global markets. This alignment of natural and logistical factors underpins the idea of a regional fertiliser hub.

Kola and Mboukoumassi: two pillars of Congolese potash

The Kola potash project, developed by Kore Potash through its subsidiary Sintoukola Potash, is today the showcase for this strategy. An updated feasibility study published in February 2025 estimates the development cost of the future mine at around  $2.07 billion  for an average annual capacity of about 2.2 million tonnes of potash, i.e. close to  50 million  tonnes over a twenty‑three‑year mine life, based mainly on mineral reserves of around  152.4 million  tonnes of ore with an average grade of  32.5 %  potassium chloride.

Technical project sheets confirm that Kola is designed to produce up to 2.2 million tonnes per year of muriate of potash (MoP) over an initial life of around 31 years, which would place Congo among Africa’s leading export‑oriented potash producers.

A second pillar is the Mboukoumassi deposit, operated by Luyuan des Mines Congo, a subsidiary of China’s Shendong group. According to EITI Congo, the project is backed by nearly one billion tonnes of reserves, with an estimated  $1.3 billion  investment and an initial production capacity of around 2 million tonnes per year.

These two projects are complemented by other developments such as Kanga Potash, which has been granted a mining and production licence, confirming the authorities’ intention to multiply operators and create a true potash district in the south‑west of the country. The commitments embedded in the mining convention signed with Kore Potash, which became law in 2018, also illustrate a long‑term contractual approach designed to secure mining investment and the State’s equity share in the rent. Taken together, these projects form the mining backbone of a future fertiliser offering geared toward exports.

Natural gas and phosphates: the other legs of the value chain

UNECA stresses that potash is only one part of the equation. In its view, deeper valorisation and processing of oil and gas must provide the nitrogen-based compounds needed for fertilisers, while phosphate resources and the existing industrial base offer a platform for phosphatic inputs.

The Finance Ministry underscores how rare it is to have potash, phosphates and gas together and on the same sites, opening the way for local production of complete fertilisers rather than simple exports of raw materials.

The authorities are already capitalising on gas through the Congo LNG project developed with Eni, presented as a major diversification move that should supply both the domestic power market and exportable volumes of liquefied natural gas. Earlier industrial studies had already identified Congo, alongside a few East African states, as one of the countries in the region with both potash deposits and sufficient gas resources to support regional potash‑based fertiliser production. Today’s ambition therefore fits into a longer trend rather than a purely opportunistic shift.

An African fertiliser market in flux

At the African scale, Congo is a latecomer to a fertiliser market dominated by a few champions: Morocco via OCP, a global phosphate giant, Nigeria with gas‑based urea complexes, and Russian players that are heavily involved in supplying the continent. OCP has structured its African footprint through its OCP Africa subsidiary, which deploys a network of local entities and logistics platforms in many countries from Senegal to Ethiopia, with a strategy that integrates production, blending and distribution of fertilisers tailored to local soils. For a newcomer such as Congo, the key question is whether it can plug into these existing value chains rather than competing head‑on.

Observers also note that most Central African countries remain heavily dependent on imported fertilisers, which pushes up agricultural production costs and exposes rural economies to international price shocks. The Senegalese experience, where a professional body leader notes that “everything is imported except phosphate”, illustrates how fragile farming models can be when essential inputs rely on long international supply chains. In this context, a regional supply of Congolese potash and, eventually, NPK fertilisers could reshape pricing and security of supply in Central Africa.

Positive signals, but the risk of a “headline illusion”

UNECA nonetheless warns against a common bias in resource‑rich economies: without a coherent industrial policy, a patchwork of standalone mining projects does not automatically translate into an integrated fertiliser value chain, let alone a regional export platform. Local analyses recall that, despite repeated announcements on potash and phosphates, production has yet to truly start, pointing to financing delays, the complexity of infrastructure projects and the fiscal trade‑offs facing a highly indebted State. The credibility of Congo’s project therefore rests less on speeches than on its ability to bring a handful of mining projects to commercial production and then organise downstream chemical processing and logistics.

Private operators such as Kanga Potash nonetheless argue that the combination of resources, port proximity and rising African demand opens a strategic window to position Congo as the first African producer of exportable muriate of potash. Other operators’ presentations stress potential cost and logistics advantages over Baltic or Canadian suppliers, which could make a Congolese export corridor competitive to African markets and to Brazil. If these industrial bets materialise, they would give the country a new export pillar that is less volatile than oil and more directly linked to regional food security.

Key takeaways

• Congo holds a rare combination in Central Africa: potash, natural gas and phosphates concentrated around Pointe‑Noire.
• Two flagship projects, Kola and Mboukoumassi, are shaping a potash district with cumulative investments in the billions of dollars and multi‑million‑tonne annual capacities.
• The strategy aims for an integrated NPK fertiliser value chain, not just exports of raw minerals, leveraging the rise of Congolese gas.
• Competition from established players such as OCP and persistent delays in local projects show that industrial execution, not resource abundance, will be decisive.
• Congo’s credibility as a future regional fertiliser supplier will hinge on actually commissioning potash mines and organising chemical transformation and distribution to African farming systems.

To watch: the signing of project finance facilities for Kola and Mboukoumassi, the effective commissioning of first production lines, and the creation of a dedicated fertiliser special economic zone around Pointe‑Noire will be key indicators of whether Congo’s ambition to become an African fertiliser hub turns into reality or remains confined to speeches.