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
Mapping interests in conflict areas: Katanga (August 2007)
August 23, 2007Revised version August 2007. ‘Mapping interests in conflict areas: Katanga’ reports on the presence of (ex-) combatants in the Congolese province of Katanga. It focuses on two broad categories: the ‘Forces Armées de la République Démocratique du Congo’ (FARDC) and the Mayi-Mayi militias. There is no significant presence of other armed groups in the region. After the surrender of the warlord Gédéon
Netwerk rond generaal Nkunda dient onderzocht
July 10, 2007Eind deze maand loopt het mandaat van de VN-Expertengroep voor Congo af. De groep komt eerstdaags met haar eindrapport. IPIS, de International Peace Information Service in Antwerpen, kon het rapport al inkijken. Het rapport bevat een aantal specifieke gegevens die ook voor België relevant zijn. Zo is ons land de belangrijkste bestemming voor tin-erts vanuit Goma. Een bewoner van de gemeente Tessen
Natural Resource Sector Reform in the DRC
January 5, 2007The All Party Parliamentary Group on the Great Lakes Region of Africa convened a meeting on December 6, 2006 to discuss the agenda for reform of the natural resource sector in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). One of the principle aims of the meeting was to contribute to the work of the United Nations Group of Experts by discussing suggestions for action raised in the course of their work so
Greed and guns. Uganda’s Role in the Rape of the Congo
July 22, 2006This report deals specifically with the recent Ugandan involvement in the military, political and economic affairs of its giant western neighbour, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which has contributed to a pattern of serious human rights abuses of the Congolese people. To corroborate evidence and gather additional information on Uganda’s involvement in the Congolese conflict the authors of t
The State versus the people? Governance, Mining and the Transitional Regime in the Democratic Republic of Congo: the Case of Katanga
June 5, 2006Resource Extraction and Transparency, in: OPENSPACE Vol. 1, no. 4, Open society initiative for Southern Africa, June 2006. Download in pdf or open with issuu reader. http://issuu.com/ipisresearch/docs/juli_2006_artikel_osisa
De Congolese politiek als sleutel tot een rationeel beheer van natuurlijke rijkdommen
May 5, 2006De bodem van de Democratische Republiek Congo (DRC) herbergt een fabelachtige schat aan natuurlijke rijkdommen. In de regio van Ituri vind je enorme goudafzettingen, de Kivus bevatten grote concentraties columbo-tantaliet (‘coltan’) en cassiteriet, diamant wordt gedolven in de Kasaï provincies, en doorheen het zuiden van Katanga loopt de Centraal- Afrikaanse ‘copper belt’ die respectievelijk 34 en
The State vs. the People. Governance, mining and the transitional regime in the Democratic Republic of Congo
March 27, 200627/03/2006 PRESS RELEASE Netherlands Institute for Southern Africa – Fatal Transactions Fatal Transactions publishes DR Congo report – The State versus The People Fair distribution of DRC natural wealth undermined by poor administration and corruption in transitional government Three years of transitional government in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has led to anything but stability and ec
Democratic Republic of Congo: arming the east
July 2, 2005Amnesty International is concerned that, during the peace process in the DRC, military aid has been provided from agents close to the Rwanda, Uganda and the DRC governments to armed groups and militia in eastern DRC who have committed grave human rights abuses. This document presents only a partial picture of the trade in arms because this trade is characterized by extreme stealth. Peace in the Gr
Arms flows in Eastern Congo: a report pursuant to Security Council Resolution 1533
December 2, 2004The All Parliamentary Group on the Great Lakes Region and Genocide Prevention has been closely monitoring events in the Great Lakes Region since 1998. In seeking to promote conflict resolution, APPG delegations have travelled on fact-finding missions to Burundi (2000); Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), (2001, 2003, 2004); Rwanda (2000, 2002,2004); Uganda (2004), and a series of reports have been
