Kenya’s role in the trade of gold from eastern DRC
August 5, 2011On 11 September 2010, the Congolese Ministry of Mines put out a statement in which it announced President Kabila’s decision to suspend all exploitation and export of minerals from the provinces of North Kivu, South Kivu and Maniema until further notice. The statement explained that the ban was intended to put a stop to the illegal exploitation of natural resources in eastern DRC. In the decree est
Guide to Current Mining Reform Initiatives in Eastern DRC
April 17, 2011US legislation has brought on a variety of initiatives aiming at mining reform in EDRC. This paper describes the basic elements of these initiatives, their genesis, the current state of affairs, the inkages between the initiatives and the main challenges they face. Further, the paper briefly evaluates the initiatives while focussing on the steps ahead. Download in pdf or open with issuu reader. ht
The complexity of resource governance in a context of state fragility: The case of eastern DRC
April 4, 2011A host of publications over the last decade have highlighted the important role played by artisanal and small-scale mining of coltan, gold and cassiterite in the ongoing conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), yet there is still little awareness of the modus operandi of the various actors involved in the exploitation and trade of these minerals. It is vitally important that initiatives
The impact of the global financial crisis on mining in Katanga
July 17, 2009This report examines the impact of the global financial crisis on the mining sector in Katanga, the southeast province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. As far as the industrial mining sector is concerned, it is shown that the crisis exacerbated the uncertainty of mining companies that were waiting for the results of the review of the mining contracts and that were often in the middle of st
Culprits or scapegoats? Revisiting the role of Belgian mineral traders in eastern DRC
May 17, 2009Ever since the eruption of the second Congo war in August 1998, the mining sector in eastern DRC has been under scrutiny of UN Sanctions Committees, academics, NGOs, and local and international media, who have been worried and disturbed by the links between natural resource exploitation and armed conflict in the region. It has been argued that both state and non-state armed actors are deriving ben
European companies and the coltan trade: An update
September 10, 2002Coltan and Congo: the implication of the private sector Coltan is a rare metal ore used for the production of capacitors and other high-tech applications. It is mined in several countries in Africa, Asia and the U.S. and later refined by a small number of processing companies in Germany, the U.S., Kazakhstan and the Far East (see frame: coltan, the black gold). For the high-tech industry, coltan p
Supporting the War Economy in the DRC: European Companies and the Coltan Trade
January 16, 2002Since the outbreak of the second Congolese war in August 1998, the people of the Democratic Republic of Congo have been caught up in a fight over their country’s vast natural resources. Six neighbouring states and several rebel groups compete to extract maximum commercial and material benefits at an exorbitant human cost for millions of Congolese. The private sector plays a vital role in the conti
