Rampant Corruption Ongoing In The DRC

Why the DRC is a dangerous place to invest

The DRC government and mining sectors are rife with bribes, corruption and extortion. In the last two years alone, dozens of articles have been written on the corruption in the Congo by sources including NGOs, Civil Societies and mining and investment sites. These articles sound the alarm on the corruption in the DRC and its mining sector, including China's influence, mining fraud, money laundering, and extortion.

In April 2023 Media Congo released an article showing the Congo Study Group (GEC) and Ebuteli survey, with the Bureau d’études, de recherche et de consulting international found that the level of corruption has not changed. They found, in some cases the situation had got worse and that more than 77% of the public think that the country is affected by corruption.

In May 2023 the Frazer Institute ranked the DRC 82nd out of 83 countries for attractiveness to investors in the mining sector. Also in May 2023 four of the DRC's main opposition politicians wrote to the IMF, World Bank and African Development Bank, asking them to conduct an audit of their funds in the Congo because they suspected misuse.

In June 2023 the DRC's own National Business Climate Barometer (BNCA) involving 403 companies gave it a 37% success rating. Also in June 2023 the DRC was excluded from the list of investments of the French mining group ERAMET, sighting corruption in the DRC.

In July 2023 non-compliance and flagrant violations of the DRC Mining Code were reported and Congolese civil society organizations and platforms specializing in mining issues (Justicia Asbl, LICOCO, RND Asbl, POM, MDR, GANVE, CDH, ESPOIR ONG, RCEN, CERN / CENCO, TPRDC, MAX IMPACT) have all shown concern.

Also in July 2023 an article in the Africa Report on 4 July shows that a bill for sanctions against corruption in minerals trafficking in the DRC has been introduced in the US. With the appalling working conditions present in the DRC mining sector, and extremely opaque business climate that exists throughout the country, the bill aims to counter these abuses and calls for sanctions, including asset blocks on persons found to have facilitated child and forced labour in the DRC mining sector "including any official of the government of the DRC".

But the corruption is not just in the government and mining sectors, it's in other sectors such as the legal system, administration, police and infrastructure just to name a few. The DRC's own Inspector General of Finance recently stated over 145 thousand cases of civil servants and agents of the state had committed forgery and massive fraud.

Financial patrol: The IGF flushes out in industrial quantities duplicates, forgers and cheaters among civil servants and agents of the State! - Scoop DRC (scooprdc.net)

778 million $US per year embezzled from the salaries of agents and civil servants of the State according to the IGF - Kongo Presse
 
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Corruption in the DRC remains

International miners & investors are more aware of the corruption in the DRC business & mining sectors. Under China’s influence, the DRC invites companies to invest in mining projects & once developed, removes their rights and sells them to Chinese companies.

DRC state mining companies have continued to operate under the influence of China, and under the protection of the DRC government, which ignores and changes its own laws both legislative (mining code), and contract law (JV), and allows state companies like Cominiere to continue to commit illegal fraud and steal a foreign company's projects and licences from them.

The DRC lacks the expertise and finance to build projects yet wants a greater percentage in projects earnings on top of collecting tax and other revenue from them.

International Investors
1) Pay for exploration permits
2) Spend millions developing the projects
3) Create jobs for local workers
4) Build accomodation for local workers
5) Pay to build the mine and infrastructure
6) Negotiate off-take agreements
7) Arrange financing for construction
8) Incur the costs related to the above

Felix Tshisekedi has given state actors like Cominiere more power. He says he wants more wealth going to the DRC and talks about so called win-win contracts and the DRC controlling the entire production chain of minerals from the investment, production and processing, to the sale of the final product.

http://kongopress.com/2023/09/27/rd...-lithium-et-integrer-la-chaine-des-batteries/

Now he is asking other countries to invest $30 billion in the DRC's battery metals industry, suggesting it could be worth $7 trillion by 2040, and the DRC wants to capture between 30% - 40% of that value.

DRC Requires a Minimum of $30 Billion for Electric Battery Industry Development - Copperbelt Katanga Mining

Corruption in the mining sector hasn’t improved and was demonstrated by an outburst from Celestin Kibeya Kabemba (Managing Director of DRC Mining Company, Cominiere) at the 2023 DRC - AFRICA Battery Metals Forum.

Following the the 2023 DRC - AFRICA Battery Metals Forum, the most alarming feature to come out of the event was how much corruption there is in the DRC mining and investment sectors, a fact which has been highlighted in many reports following the forum.

The DRC is again asking other countries to trust investing $30 billion in its projects even when there are ongoing arbitration disputes involving the ICC and ICSID due to Cominiere’s illegal disillusion of its joint venture contract with AVZ Minerals, seizing of the Manono lithium project and illegal sale to China’s Zijin Mining

Financial patrol: The IGF flushes out in industrial quantities duplicates, forgers and cheaters among civil servants and agents of the State! - Scoop DRC (scooprdc.net)

778 million $US per year embezzled from the salaries of agents and civil servants of the State according to the IGF - Kongo Presse

DRC: 7 institutions including the Presidency, the Prime Minister and the National Assembly show budget overruns of more than 100% | Politico.cd

https://static1.squarespace.com/sta...f+DRC+Mining+Assets+by+COMINIERE+SA+-+ENG.pdf

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Dave Evans

Regular
AVZ spent $140 million developing the Manono project before Cominiere illegally took a bribe from Zijin and went about stealing the project, all under the watchful eyes of the Minister of Mines and the Mining Cadastre.

Cominiere continues to violate the ICC and ICSID interim orders. Follow the links below to see the evidence and read the facts 👇

1. The AVZ Minerals Story
2. Cominiere being bribed by Zijin Mining
3. The IGF Report detailing the corruption
4. First ICC Rulings against Cominiere
5. Second ICC Rulings against Cominiere
6. The ICSID Interim Orders against Cominiere
7. The ICC Ruling against Jin Cheng
8. The money Cominiere owes in penalty’s


https://static1.squarespace.com/sta...f+DRC+Mining+Assets+by+COMINIERE+SA+-+ENG.pdf

https://announcements.asx.com.au/asxpdf/20230508/pdf/05pgtwvs1482j9.pdf

https://announcements.asx.com.au/asxpdf/20231117/pdf/05xgd2s91x97y0.pdf

https://static1.squarespace.com/sta...+AVZ+Successful+in+ICSID+Interim+Measures.pdf

https://static1.squarespace.com/sta...s+Against+Jin+Cheng+ICC+Proceedings+-+Eng.pdf

DRC ICC Penalty Calculator 2.0

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Dave Evans

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13/04/2025

 
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Dave Evans

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13/04/2024

 
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