At a briefing on Tuesday, February 18, 2025, Minister of Mines Kizito Pakabomba reaffirmed the Congolese government's commitment to strengthening mineral
copperbeltkatangamining.com
DRC STRENGTHENS MINERAL TRACEABILITY AMID RISING CONFLICT IN THE EAST
FEBRUARY 23, 2025 CONSTANCE
At a briefing on Tuesday, February 18, 2025,
Minister of Mines Kizito Pakabomba reaffirmed the Congolese government’s commitment to strengthening mineral traceability in response to ongoing conflict in the East, exacerbated by Rwanda’s support for the M23 rebel group.
Pakabomba highlighted that the DRC has undertaken significant measures to ensure its minerals meet international certification standards, particularly for the U.S. and European markets.
“
With the United States, we are engaged in the Mineral Security Partnership (MSP) to certify DRC’s minerals, ensuring their traceability and preventing conflict minerals from entering supply chains,” he stated. “This initiative guarantees that our resources are responsibly sourced, upholding human rights and ethical mining practices.”
As part of this initiative, the DRC has developed a roadmap with the MSP’s 14 member countries and the European Union to facilitate direct partnerships for responsible mineral supply chains.
Pakabomba also recalled that in 2022, the DRC signed a memorandum of understanding with the European Union for the supply of critical minerals.
In December 2024, a roadmap for mineral exports to Western markets was validated by the EU. These efforts aim to secure direct partnerships with the DRC, preventing illicit mineral flows through Rwanda.
Despite these efforts, the European Union and companies like Apple continue to source minerals from Rwanda, indirectly fueling the conflict in eastern DRC.
A 2024 UN report revealed that 150 tonnes of coltan are illegally mined in Rubaya, eastern DRC, and smuggled into Rwanda before being resold under a strategic minerals agreement signed with the EU in February 2024.
Pakabomba emphasized that these illicit trade networks undermine DRC’s sovereignty and perpetuate instability in the region. The government remains committed to working with international partners to ensure that DRC’s minerals reach global markets transparently and ethically.”
- - - - -
However, Jean Pierre Okenda (a rights lawyer and Senior Analyst in the field of extractive industries governance) in a recent interview with Mongabay, says the DRC hasn’t really addressed mineral traceability with China, just the western countries. (The full interview below is worth reading).
On Jan. 28, the Rwanda-backed rebel group M23 captured Goma, capital city of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s mineral-rich North Kivu province. The fall of Goma marks a shocking chapter in a long-running conflict in the eastern DRC that has claimed millions of lives since it began in 1996...
news.mongabay.com
“Mongabay: To go back, it sounds like China is the primary buyer of these minerals from Rwanda. Has the DRC government tried to raise this issue with them?
Jean-Pierre Okenda: I don’t know if they’ve done anything to discuss this with them. One of the recommendations I have for the government is to declare all the mining sites controlled by M23 as illegal. If you do that it would be a key starting point to start disconnecting some companies from buying those minerals. There are small Chinese companies that work on both sides, in Rwanda and in the Congo. The Chinese investments are not responsible, we know that, so we need them to make their supply chains transparent”
“
Mongabay: It seems very surprising to me that the DRC hasn’t raised this seriously with its Chinese partners. This is a major crisis, it’s losing territory.
Jean-Pierre Okenda: That’s a very good question.
No one wants the supply chain to become transparent, including Congolese authorities. That’s very important to highlight.
Mongabay: Why would that be?
Jean-Pierre Okenda: Because you have a huge involvement of Congolese authorities in the artisanal mining sector. They are getting a lot of money. That’s really important. No one really has an interest in making the supply train transparent, not the authorities in Rwanda or in Congo, the middlemen, or Chinese and other companies. We’ve been struggling to formalize artisanal mining across the country, and the authorities are one of the reasons why. Now I think that the war is coming, and I’m sure there’s a fear that they can lose power, they’re doing what they can do to limit it. But previously no one had an interest in normalizing things.
From my perspective, you have so much populist speech here in the DRC that Western countries are supporting Rwanda, providing budget and aid to it.
But I don’t understand why the government doesn’t like to discuss China. I think they prefer to focus on the Western countries and pay less attention on the fact that the buyers of these minerals are Chinese. From what I understand from the Ministry of Mines, they are reflecting on how they can sit down with China, but nothing has been done yet. They didn’t even enforce the mining code before. Even myself, I don’t understand this.”
“
Mongabay: Without being able to put leverage on China, it sounds like it’s going to be very difficult to shut these supply chains down.
Jean-Pierre Okenda: The impact will be limited. If we want to get the maximum impact, it will mean engaging Western companies to stop, but at the same time we have to leverage the Chinese. That would put pressure on Rwanda, because their budget is dependent on the mining sector. China is the big question mark.”
