Research Program: Natural Resources
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
The Kimberley Process and the UN: Lessons Learned
February 14, 2008The United Nations, mainly through the UNSC and the UNGA, has played an important role in the genesis and development of the KPCS, an international control regime aimed at preventing conflict diamonds to enter into the legitimate trade. The earliest forerunner of the KPCS stems from an embargo imposed by the UNSC in June 1998 on unofficial diamonds from Angola. UNSC Resolution 1173 prohibited all
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
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
Mijnbouw in Peru
January 2, 2007Metalen en mineralen worden massaal ontgonnen. De mijnbouwindustrie uit het Noorden vaart er bijzonder goed bij, terwijl de exploitatie in het Zuiden vaak ten koste van lokale gemeenschappen gaat. Het Zuiden telt dan ook tal van mijnbouwconflicten en Peru, een traditioneel mijnbouwland, ontsnapt daar niet aan. De argumenten van de lokale gemeenschappen in Peru zijn als volgt samen te vatten: mijnb
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
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
Network War. An Introduction to Congo’s Privatised War Economy
June 16, 2002This report provides a preliminary analysis into the conflict economy of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Gradually, the scope of the war in DRC (1998-today) has shifted from political to economic motivations. Today, six states and many other rebel movements are fighting each other to gain control over Congo’s precious resources: diamonds, gold, coltan and others. Millions of Congolese have d
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
Have African-based Diamond Monopolies Been Effective?
June 16, 2001Allegations of links between certain monopoly members and illicit activity will be assessed, with several cases highlighted to provide a more complete picture of the dynamics within the monopolies. Above all, this article seeks objectivity in attempting to separate fact from fiction, and in citing the possible sources, and reasons behind, numerous rumours in circulation – and how these rumours may
Mineral Exports by RCD-Goma in 2000
June 6, 2001The following is a summary of gold, colombo-tantalite (coltan) and diamond exports in 2000 from territory controlled by the Rassemblement Congolais pour la Démocratie-(RCD-Goma) rebels in Eastern Congo. These figures were obtained from the RCD Department des Terres, Mines et Énergie in Goma, March 2001, with copies of the documents in the possession of IPIS. The data supplied below is an abridged