Illegal exploitation and exportation of mining resources is the main driver of armed violence in Congo DRC with the Kigali regime destabilising DRC in order to plunder the country’s mineral resources. This practise must be stopped, writes Dr Denis Mukwege.
On January 20, Dr Denis Mukwege, founder of Panzi Hospital in Congo DRC and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, took part in a seminar in Stockholm. During his introductory speech he highlighted the Rwandese exploitation of Kongo DRC’s minerals and national resources. Since then, Rwandese troupes together with the Rwandan backet rebel group M23 has sized control of the city of Goma and the humanitarian situation in Eastern Congo has deteriorated even further.
Below, you can find his introductory speech.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Before getting to the heart of the matter, allow me to shed light on the security and humanitarian situation prevailing in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and particularly in the east of the country, where Panzi Hospital and Foundation are located.
Eastern Congo has been ravaged by war since 1996. At some point, the country was occupied by 9 foreign armies, and a multitude of Congolese and foreign armed groups have committed countless international crimes with almost total impunity.
Indeed, this is the deadliest conflict since the 2nd World War, with over 6 million dead, and one of the most serious humanitarian catastrophes in the modern world, with almost 7 million displaced and 25 million people suffering from hunger.
This is no longer a humanitarian crisis. It is a crisis of our humanity. Yet this crisis remains largely neglected, and there is an urgent need to launch a global mobilization to put an end to the suffering of the Congolese people.
This is why we are advocating for tackling a main driver of armed violence: the illegal exploitation and exportation of mining resources.
This is the topic I’d like to develop with you this afternoon: the connection between the Congo’s immense natural wealth and the ongoing conflict.
The Congo is often described as a mining Eldorado. Studies by the United Nations and civil society have clearly shown how the illegal extraction and illicit trade of these minerals fuels war and widespread human rights violations.
Let me go back in time for a moment to show you how closely the history of globalization and the history of the Congo have been intertwined since the 16th century.
The slave trade was closely linked to the sugar cane and cotton trade, which contributed to an international economic boom. During the rule of Leopold II, the Belgian King’s aim was to do business and make maximum profit from the Congo’s natural resources. The dogma of growth led to the worst atrocities.
The Congo’s minerals also played a pivotal role in supporting the arms industry during both World Wars. It should be recalled that it was thanks to the uranium of Congo that the atomic bombs were made 80 years ago.
In the last 30 years, Rwanda and Uganda have been instrumentalized as proxies for the great powers and certain multinationals to set up a war economy aimed at controlling the extraction and trade of Congolese mineral resources and their transport to the rest of the world.
Indeed, the globalized economic system is largely based on the mining resources that abound in the DRC, and these minerals have become indispensable for the new information and communication technologies, with the rise of computers, smartphones, tablets, and other devices that have become part of our daily lives with the advent of the digital age.
In complicity with a greedy and corrupt Congolese politico-military elite, which sells off Congo’s mineral wealth, the regime in Kigali has become a hub for illegal trafficking of strategic minerals, despite having very little of its own.
Thus, we can acknowledge that DRC remains a constant focal point in major geostrategic conflicts and challenges, but meanwhile, the Congolese population continues to suffer in extreme poverty.
Most recently, the Group of Experts on the DRC, mandated by the UN Security Council, reported that the coalition of M23 and the Rwandan army, which occupies large part of North Kivu in a war of aggression, had a monopoly on the fraudulent extraction, trade and illegal export to Rwanda of minerals from Rubaya. This area in North Kivu is rich in mining sites, which is said to supply over 15% of the world’s tantalum production.
This has caused the most significant contamination recorded in the supply chains of “3Ts” minerals (tin, tantalum and tungsten) in the Great Lakes region in the last ten years.
In fact, according to UN experts, over 120 tons of coltan are transported every month between the DRC and Rwanda, and these minerals are then laundered in Rwandan production before being exported to the world market.
As a result, strategic Congolese minerals either go directly to China – which operates in Africa as a neo-colonial force – or transit to Rwanda before being re-exported to processing and consuming regions such as Europe and the USA. In both cases, the supply chain is frequently compromised, failing to meet ethical, social, and environmental standards.
There is an urgent need to change course. The DRC is the subject of renewed interest, due to the resurgence of armed violence, but also because of the growing need for strategic minerals essential to so-called clean technologies as part of the energy transition to combat climate change.
As governments in economically advanced countries seek to move away from fossil fuels, and global competition for access to critical minerals intensifies, political decision-makers and major corporations are paying greater attention to securing the supply chains of minerals essential to the transition.
The issue of access to Congolese minerals, with their vast potential for extraction, is becoming increasingly significant amidst global competition for critical minerals. This competition is driven by strategic rivalries between the Western world and China to secure supplies of metals essential not only for the new technology industry but also the energy transition.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates that demand for minerals essential to the energy transition will triple by 2030 and quadruple by 2040.
The pressure on the DRC, the world’s leading producer of cobalt (with 80% of the planet’s reserves), second largest producer of copper, holder of the world’s largest reserves of coltan, and with enormous potential in lithium and other rare earths, will dramatically increase.
Therefore, every nation is making effort to secure its “strategic autonomy,” following the example of the European Union’s “Global Gateway” strategy and the construction of the Lobito corridor in Angola to facilitate the transport of minerals from the DRC and Zambia across the Atlantic to Europe and the US.
At a time when the main raw materials on which the developed world relies to move towards the energy transition are found in abundance in the DRC, we must seize this opportunity to change the paradigm and avoid the humanitarian and ecological disaster brought about by the communication and digital revolutions.
Sweden is an example to follow, for it has built its prosperity on the sustainable management of natural resources and innovation while insisting on the crucial role of transparency and good governance in building trust and attracting investment.
Sweden and the DRC share similar natural resources, and while the DRC is in the process of adopting a “national strategy for energy transition minerals and fostering inclusive development”, a strategic partnership with Sweden can lead the DRC towards a sustainable future anchored on peace, job creation and meeting the basic rights and needs of its population.
Furthermore, while Sweden said yes to the European Union (EU) 30 years ago, it also has a role to play at European level, not least in its relations with the African Great Lakes region.
Over the past decade, the EU has progressively developed a substantial legislative framework, including the Conflict Minerals Regulation, the Critical Raw Materials Act, and the new Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive, that will become effective only in a few years from now.
This proliferation of European legislative initiatives, whose spirit is partly based on human rights and the environment, following consumer outrage campaigns and civil society advocacy, seems to be paving the way for a more responsible and sustainable global business ethic.
Nevertheless, it must be remembered that entire sectors of industry cannot function without minerals: for example, demand for coltan is driven not only by the electronics industry, but also by the chemical, military and even space industries.
Secondly, the only legislation whose effects we can already assess, that on conflict minerals, has unfortunately not had the expected impact, nor has its implementation been effective: the illicit mineral trade continues to fuel conflicts in Eastern Congo.
Finally, the EU has signed in February 2024 a partnership agreement with Rwanda to foster the development of “sustainable” and “resilient” value chains for raw materials, while it is widely documented that the Kigali regime destabilizes the DRC to plunder these minerals, cynically illustrating a total contradiction with the principle of coherence and the EU’s core values, notably the promotion of peace and human rights.
We therefore call on Sweden to ensure EU foreign policy remains in line with its values and to demand that the EU assess the effectiveness of the Conflict Minerals Regulation.
Faced with the failure of security and diplomatic initiatives to silence the guns in the DRC, and the difficulty of legally regulating an opaque and mafia-like trade, we now expect the private sector and the business world to assume their responsibilities and be part of the solution.
Over the past twenty years, efforts have been made in the field of corporate social responsibility, notably with the adoption of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. These efforts are largely based on the “do no harm” principle, e.g. not to use child labour or not to dump chemicals in rivers.
While corporate power is constantly growing, it remains largely unchecked, and it is becoming urgent to redefine the relationship between business, society, and the planet. It’s time to move from a “do no harm” approach to a “do good” one.
This is the purpose of the “Business For Peace” campaign in the DRC that we are initiating. There is an alternative to sourcing minerals responsibly. Without going through the Kigali regime, which kills and displaces civilians to plunder the minerals of Eastern Congo. Without going through the Chinese, who don’t bother to protect human rights or nature. All this is criminal business!
We are convinced that, thanks to the “Business for peace” approach, global high-tech companies, some of which source, directly or indirectly, minerals from those who plunder the DRC’s natural resources, would do well to get involved and use their leverage in promoting sustainable peacebuilding in the DRC to gain direct access to these same resources in a profitable, sustainable, secure, and ethical manner.
A win-win partnership would enable companies to pursue the digital and energy revolution, and the DRC to contribute to the needs of economic globalization in a just manner.
The future lies in ensuring that the prosperity of companies is in step with the prosperity of Nations, their populations, and the planet.
I thank you for the efforts you will make to achieve this.
Denis Mukwege
Background
The speech was part of the seminar Business for peace, jointly organised by Friends of Panzi Hospital and Fuf. Other participants included:
- Staffan Lindberg Awarded journalist, Aftonbladet
- Henric Råsbrant Ambassador of Sweden to DRC 2019-2024
- Nyamko Sabuni CEO, Sabuni & Partners
- Henrik Hallgren, Director Operations Sustainability in Mining, International Council of Swedish Industry (NIR)
- Alice Blondel Director, Swedwatch
- Joakim Wohlfeil Diakonia’s representative in the European Partnership for Responsible Minerals (EPRM)
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