![]() ![]() “China, Inc., has realized how important cobalt is. In 2016, China purchased controlling stakes in one of the largest copper-and-cobalt mines, one of which was purchased from a U.S. Most of the industrial mines in Congo are owned by Chinese companies. China has been accused of engaging in “a new form of colonialism.” This haunting comparison gains even more traction in the mines, where there has been a dramatic decline in worker safety with the transition to Chinese ownership. In fact, Chinese companies have invested so heavily in copper mines that it is suspected that Chinese money influences DRC elections. The relationship has consistently taken roughly the same form: China helps DRC with their infrastructure and makes other investments, and in return they are given minerals or mineral rights. China and Congo’s reciprocal relationship began during King Leopold’s reign. One country, however, had a particular advantage. It is unsurprising that countries rush to secure an interest, if not all the rights, to these mines given that DRC has the world’s largest known cobalt deposits, diamond deposits, and gold deposits, as well as the second richest copper region in the world. Today, the need for coltan, cobalt, and manganese has skyrocketed with technological advancement, pushing DRC into a neo-imperialistic era.ĭRC’s government utilizes competitive bidding (open or restricted) for both mining and quarry rights to “any deposit studied, documented and potentially worked on by the government through its services.” This system is intended to improve the economy, increase revenue, create safer environments by halting hasty mining, and capitalize on the abundant resources. Despite DRC’s independence, the scars of its colonial past remain. This resource curse - also called the “paradox of the plenty” and “resource trap” - is the paradox of economic underperformance in a country that has lots of valuable natural resources. The Congo has been utterly cursed by its natural wealth. ![]() That would interfere - as the Kongolese had threatened to interfere before - with the easy extraction of the nation's resources. This was not through any innate fault of the Congolese, but because it has been in the interests of the powerful to destroy, suppress and prevent any strong, stable, legitimate government. ĭevelopment has been stifled, government has been weak and the rule of law non-existent. Mobutu eventually went into exile, leaving in his wake a broken and tumultuous country that would soon break out in a series of wars. While the West tried to support DRC’s economic stability, DRC’s tyrannical leader, Mobutu, bled the country of hundreds of millions of dollars while the West turned a blind eye to ensure resources did not fall into the wrong hands. Throughout the Cold War, DRC was prized for its cobalt deposits. Additionally, the uranium used in the atomic bombs dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima during World War II was from DRC. During World War I, Congolese minerals were used to fuel explosives. “In a move supposed to end the brutality, Belgium eventually annexed the Congo outright, but the problems in its former colony remained.” Īs the industrial revolution boomed in Europe and the United States, Congolese mines exploded and workers endured appalling conditions. He claimed the country as his “private property” and forced Congolese men to harvest rubber, murdered tribal leaders, destroyed society, and denied education. “By the 1600s, the once-mighty kingdom had disintegrated into a leaderless, anarchy of mini-states locked in endemic civil war.” In the 1800s, King Leopold of Belgium grew interested in the vast supply of rubber in Congolese rainforests. Rebels were armed, kings slaughtered, and succession encouraged. However, the arrival of Portuguese traders in the late 1400s brought with it the destruction of political force and order. Instead it is the world's most hopeless.” ĭRC was once a country with sophisticated aristocracy and impressive civil service. “eneath the soil abundant deposits of copper, gold, diamonds, cobalt, uranium, coltan and oil are just some of the minerals that should make it one of the world's richest countries. It also has significant arable land with rich soil and a benign climate. It is home to both the world’s second-largest rainforest and the second-largest river, the Congo. The Democratic Republic of Congo (“DRC”) is one of the most resource-rich and biodiverse countries on the planet. ![]()
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