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Summary
The political economy of
mining in the Democratic
Republic of the Congo (DRC) is
central to sustaining the
conflict in the east of the
country. Transforming it is a
priority in order to alleviate the
conflict and suffering that it
fuels. In an attempt to ensure
that conflict minerals—
minerals sourced from militia-controlled
mines—do not enter
the legal supply chain,
industrial actors, the Congolese
Government and outside
donors have established
schemes to trace minerals such
as cassiterite and coltan back to
the mines of origin.
However, there are still a
number of problems that must
be overcome before mineral
traceability schemes can have
an effect on a larger scale.
Mines that are considered
‘conflict free’ need to be
completely demilitarized,
which means removing both
rebels and regular soldiers.
Unfortunately, there is little
political will to address these
issues. The government wants
to keep a large army, which
continues to prey on local
resource-based economies.
Fearing that army commanders
will drop out of the army
integration process, it declines
to hold its military to account.
The United Nations and other
donors may not be in a position
to force the government to
undertake the reforms they see
as necessary, but can and must
use their support for army
reform and demobilization to
enable the demilitarization of
mines. This will be critical for
the successful implementation
of traceability schemes.
About the author
Ruben de Koning (the
Netherlands) is a Researcher
with the SIPRI Armed Conflict
and Conflict Management
Programme.
Publisher: SIPRI
8 pp.
July 2010
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