Global Witness, an organization specializing in the fight against the looting of natural resources in developing countries, accuses Rwanda of using, for a good part of its exports, minerals from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
The NGO bluntly claims that 90% of the quantities of coltan, tin and tungsten, three minerals better known as “3T minerals”, exported by this East African country, are illegally introduced from its neighbor the DRC.
This is the conclusion of a survey she conducted on the ground, in more than ten mining areas in the DRC, combining interviews with more than 90 members of the government, the mining sector, civil society and academia, and dozens of videos filmed by local researchers.
“The Rwandan government is fully aware that production volumes are artificially inflated by smuggling,” says the NGO.
Its report, titled “The ITSCI Laundromat: How a Due Diligence System Appears to Launder Conflict Minerals,” implicates the Tin Supply Chain Initiative (ITSCI), among other issues.
In the DRC, this mechanism supposed to provide a reliable chain of custody of 3T minerals, would allow the smuggling and laundering of minerals extracted in the country. “With its limited staff and the insufficiency of its controls, the ITSCI does not deter the laundering of minerals carried out by operators and traders”, deplores the NGO.
Among its sources of information, Global Witness mentions two players in the mining industry who indicate that they have “warned on several occasions, since 2013, delegations from international companies, including Apple and Intel, that 3T ores from the smuggled accounted for up to 90% of the minerals exported from Rwanda, providing them with evidence”.
The same sources are said to have “alert the groups Motorola, Samsung, KYOCERA AVX Components and Kemet Corporation to the high risk of receiving contraband minerals from the DRC when sourcing from Rwanda”.
The NGO notes that the metals resulting from the fusion of 3T ores are very widely used in electronic equipment such as mobile phones, computers and automotive or aeronautical systems.
By OMA Newsletter N° 773 of 08/07/2022
Article published under the direction of Dr. Najib Kettani
The OMA, NGO with an Intercontinental vocation
For the development of cultural exchanges
Valuing human potential
The promotion and consolidation of Africa’s development, and
Inter-African integration
