Democratic Republic of the Congo
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
Simplified maps illustrating the link between natural resources and armed conflict in the DR Congo (2011)
January 17, 2011Simplified maps illustrating the link between natural resources and armed conflict in the DR Congo (in French) (January 2011) At the request of different users of the IPIS web maps, and with the support of the Belgian Development Cooperation (DGD), IPIS has produced a series of six simplified and printable PDF maps illustrating the link between mineral resources and armed conflict in the Democrati
The complexity of resource governance in a context of state fragility: An analysis of the mining sector in the Kivu hinterlands (2010)
November 30, 2010The report ‘Mining activity and mineral trade in the Kivu hinterland’ was commissioned by the Directorate General for Development (DG DEV) of the European Commission and aims to fill an information gap by identifying the principal mining sites and analysing the trade networks of the ‘eastern hinterland’ of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), located in Maniema, North Katanga and Orientale
Mining Concessions in the DR Congo (2010)
August 17, 2010Mining Concessions in the DR Congo (August 2010) IPIS has produced an interactive web map of all mining concessions in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The current map follows a concession map we published in August 2009 (as an addition to our Interactive Map of Militarised Mining Areas in the Kivus – MiMiKi), which shows concession areas in the Kivu provinces. The idea for an extended and up
Mapping Conflict Motives: ‘Province Orientale’ (DRC) (2010)
March 22, 2010The districts of Ituri, Haut-Uele, Bas-Uele and the territory of Bafwasende continue to suffer from armed groups. Generally speaking, the strength of the armed groups throughout Orientale is limited and their effectives are few. Moreover, there is a considerable presence of the Congolese army. The Uele districts are the two most northern districts of Orientale bordering the Central African Republi
Accompanying note on the interactive map of militarised mining areas in the Kivus (2009)
August 16, 2009The MiMiKi map is a snapshot of the situation as it was in the period May-July 2009. All the armed groups deployed in the region profit directly from the mining activities. Armed groups have positions at more than half of the sites listed on the MiMiKi map where they obtain an (extra) income. The FARDC control some of the most important mining sites and do not restrain themselves from intervening
Le plan STAREC du gouvernement congolais: une analyse préliminaire
August 8, 2009Début juillet le gouvernement congolais a établi un plan de stabilisation pour l’Est de la RDC. L’initiative est restée sans écho dans les médias et le plan même n’a pas été rendu public. Néanmoins, après quelques recherches, IPIS à pu obtenir le document. Nous avons jugé que, dans le cadre des efforts congolais et internationaux pour résoudre la crise dans l’Est, il serait utile de résumer les po
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
Rechercher la problématique des ressources naturelles dans la République Démocratique du Congo. Syllabus sur le cadre juridique
February 2, 2009Ce syllabus a été rédigé dans le cadre du projet ‘Renforcement de capacité d’ONG congolaises qui travaillent autour les ressources naturelles : méthodologies de recherche et rédaction de dossiers de haute qualité servant de base aux activités de campagne et de lobbying’. Ce projet est éxécuté par l’ONG belge International Peace Information Service (IPIS) et a pour objectif spécifique que les ONG c
Heeft Congo iets aan zijn mijnen?
June 24, 2008IPIS-MO. Congo beschikt over rijke reserves van erg gegeerde mineralen. Maar ondanks een florerende internationale markt plukt het land daar nauwelijks de vruchten van. Sinds het voorjaar van 2007 werkt Congo op verscheidene fronten tegelijk om die situatie te keren. Het onderhandelt met China over een ruil van Congolese grondstoffen voor Chinese investeringen in het (spoor-)wegennet. Verder overw
Mapping Conflict Motives: Katanga. (Update December 2007 – May 2008)
June 8, 2008This report is the second in a series of updates following an initial report on conflict motives in the Congolese province of Katanga. It analyses the most important security developments from December 2007 until May 2008. Download in pdf or open with issuu reader. http://issuu.com/ipisresearch/docs/mapping_conflict_motives-_katanga_u December 2007-May 2008 This report is the second in a se
Democratic Republic of the Congo, mining contracts – state of affairs. The Congo wants to raise the profits of its mining sector.
April 24, 2008IPIS, Antwerp March 25, 2008, On Thursday 20 March the Congolese government published the final report of the Interministerial Commission for the Revisitation of Mining Contracts (the “Revisitation Commission”). The publication had been announced two days earlier in a press release from the Ministry of Mines. With the publication, a first phase is completed. The next stage should be that the gover
Mapping Conflict Motives: Eastern DRC (March 2008)
March 4, 2008The eastern DRC is still plagued by violent conflict. The centre of the conflict is the ‘Petit Nord’ region where two large armed groups, a coalition of smaller bands of armed men and the government army are all involved in a persisting battle causing enormous human suffering. In the neighbouring regions of the ‘Grand Nord’ and northern South-Kivu open warfare no longer takes place, but there is s
Risky Business. The Lundin Group’s involvement in the Tenke Fungurume Mining project in the Democratic Republic of Congo
February 28, 2008A SwedWatch/Diakonia/IPIS report. After a decade of war and political turmoil, the tide seems to be turning for the DR Congo. The country is now engaged in reconstructing a society that was destroyed by decades of dictatorship and a global power play. Activities are taking off in the mining sector as well. The DR Congo belongs to the category of resource rich countries, with a number of important
Mapping interests in conflict areas: Katanga. (Update September-November 2007)
January 23, 2008The International Peace Information Service (IPIS), a Belgium based research NGO, is a member of the Fatal Transactions consortium, which carries out the action ‘From Fatal to Fair Transactions’ with co-funding from the EU. IPIS’ contribution to this action is to develop a tool for the analysis of conflict drivers. Making use of GIS (Geographic Information Systems) software, we visualise possible
World Bank and DRCongo, Mining Session, Paris November 30, 2007
December 28, 2007On November 29 and 30, 2007, a Consultative Group Meeting on the Democratic Republic of Congo took place at the World Bank’s offices in Paris. Download in pdf or open with issuu reader. http://issuu.com/ipisresearch/docs/world_bank_and_drc
Congo blijft onder buitenlandse druk
October 28, 2007Dat president Kabila zijn bezoek aan Brussel inkortte, had één verifieerbare reden: Kabila verbleef vier dagen in Noord-Kivu waar in augustus opnieuw zware gevechten uitbraken tussen het regeringsleger en de rebellerende ex-generaal Laurent Nkunda. Maar Nkunda is niet Kabila’s enige kopzorg, hij ondervindt van meerdere kanten druk. Congolese waarnemers zien daarin de hand van het Westen. Download