The heavy price of the world's High-Tech

[NASSIR]

This is Congo, the chief source of world raw materials. Here are some statistics of Congo's raw materials and its global use for production which pales into insignificance with the country's abject socio-economic condition. The absence of system of representation and regulatory framework that entitles and enforces property rights such as certification, license, titles, etc of these critically significant raw materials reinforces the already unpalatable solution to the Congo crisis.

 

8% of the global production of Copper is exported from Congo

 

Cobalt, 73% of the global production

 

Uranium, 60% used by the west

 

Industrial Diamond, 80% used by the West

 

Gold, Zinc, Cadmium, Mangenese, Tantulum etc. Congo was the only country in Africa that declared independence unprepared, first recognized in 1960 by the Pan African movement. Belgium did little to prepare Congo for independence and it promoted, during her long colonial rule, paternalistic/tribal form of administration which has had a long term effect on the country's post-independence struggle for stability and unity. For instance, It was the initial conception of Washington to pursue a policy agenda that would portray Congo as socially backward and unprepared for independence. A policy of direct intervention was warranted to promote peace, build nationhood and retrain its people for self-rule, but this policy agenda by the U.S. and UN pitted them against Lamumba, (first PM of Zaire) who advocated for a unitary state and the independence of Congo from aggressive foreign intervention. Lumumba was finally overthrown, captured and transferred to the mineral-rich Katanga, which earlier sought a Belgium-backed secession from the rest of Congo. During his captivity, he was subjected to arbitrary torture, humiliation and was finally executed by by Katangan officers on orders from Belgium.

 

Before jumping to the aricle, read the a policy statement of U.S State Department in 1960

 

The African population of this area is poorly prepared for self-government. Despite the spectacular postwar quickening of economic activity in such places as the copper belt of Northern Rhodesia and the Belgian Congo, most Africans still live the primitive life of the hinterland.

Tribal loyalties and jealousies continue to play a major political role throughout the area, thereby handicapping the efforts of African leaders to develop unified political movements and provoking sometimes violent intertribal conflicts.

 

 

The heavy price of the world's High-Tech

 

By Khadija Sharife

 

June 12, 2008

 

The year is 2008, the world is highly militarised by virtue of surveillance equipment posing as national defence. There is a camera watching your every move. Airport scanners conduct scans on your underwear of choice, magnifying every pore.

 

And for every camera and mobile phone, every DVD machine and iPod, and that dancing Justin Timberlake doll with electrically-wired curls - there is a little bit of tantalum or refined coltan.

 

Nothing in our world today can survive without tantalum - the heat resistant derivative of coltan, the abbreviation of Columbo-Tantalite, an iridescent black mud that acts as capacitator, superconductor and transistor of every modern industry known to mankind, from the heat shields of Nasa rockets to the pivotal key components of nuclear reactors, processors and land turbines, and toasters, video machines and modems, flat screen TVs and satellite phones, etc, etc. The $275bn American "Big Brother Surveillance System", otherwise known as the Echelon, cannot do without tantalum or refined coltan.

 

The market for commercialised coltan products is guaranteed through aggressive multi-dimensional advertising, resulting in the pathology of egoism. In France, Telecom sales in 2007 increased by 52% to $9.25bn, fuelled by the mobile revenue growth. How many of these phones were necessary? How many superfluous? How many reached those in the "disconnects" of the world? More importantly, how many were purchased because of a new and improved ringtone or size by those who previously owned similar models?

 

In 2000, Sony "PlayStation 2" caused a stratospheric rise in the share price of coltan - $500 per kg. Sony sales and revenues between October and November 2007 rose sharply thanks to sales of the PlayStation 2. "Revenue increased by 9.6% and net profit rose 25.2% to $1.88bn (¥200.2bn)," according to Japanese media reports.

 

Yet, miners in DRCongo where the coltan is extracted are paid less than $1 per kilogram. Over 80% of the world's known coltan reserves are situated in eastern DRCongo. Coltan - or magic mud as the "miners" call it - is located very close to the surface, requiring only a pick, shovel and plastic bucket to slosh the moist, dense, and heavy mud until it sinks to the bottom.

 

Most of the miners' money is then taxed for food and other necessities. Most have probably never seen a PlayStation or mobile phone. Yet, they live their lives knee deep in mud.

 

The story of PlayStation 2 of 2000 signified the symbolic turning point of a Western world hindered and obstructed when lacking access to the developing world's resources.

 

"Although ethnic tensions in DRCongo existed prior to the 1996-2003 war, the heightened ethnic conflict and the dismantling of civil society currently underway are a by-product of international trade in this region," says Dena Montague, research associate for the Arms Trade Resource Project at the World Policy Institute.

 

No doubt, Sony acquired the coltan mined in DRCongo through various channels - just as likely, most consumers have never even heard of the resource.

 

"The conflict in DRCongo has created a population so ravaged that women in some villages have simply stopped taking their children to health centres because they no longer possess simple items of clothing to preserve their dignity," Dena Montague continues in a document entitled "Coltan and Conflict in the DRCongo".

 

"Coltan happened to be the most lucrative raw material, and, more than any other mineral resource, it attracted the invading forces and lured them into establishing fullfledged commercial operations," she says, and goes on to correctly state that coltan, unlike diamonds, is not registered and does not require a certification process to flag the country of origin in an attempt to discern whether such extracted minerals are fuelling or financing conflict.

 

As New African went to press, there were indications that a German-funded and G8-supported regulatory system was being considered to certify coltan so that all products that use the mineral would bear the certification stamp detailing the origin of the ore, and informing consumers of its source.

 

Press reports quoted DRCongo's mines minister, Victor Kasongo, saying: "We believe that in 2009, we should be able to enforce certification. Licensing, centralisation, certifications, control, more revenue for Congo and peace and stability are the things we are aiming for."

 

The reports said the German Federal Institute for Geoscience and Natural Resources - the primary geostrategic authority to the German government - will be conducting regional studies across DRCongo, mapping the areas with the highest yield and developing and isolating different and unique characteristics, that will allow for coltan to be recognisable.

 

Coltan, like most other conflict minerals and precious substances, is highly militarised. According to a 2002 UN report, "60-70% of the coltan exported from eastern DRCongo was mined 'under the direct surveillance' of the Rwandan army".

 

The UN confirms the above figure and estimates that coltan deposits in Canada, Brazil, Malaysia and China are less than 20% of global deposits; yet even though over 80% of coltan is located in Africa, with 82% of the African total situated in DRCongo - in a conflict region - the lifeline of the conflict is all but invisible.

 

What is visible are conservation areas that have been razed to the ground, the wood sold cheaply to purchasing agents, transported via airstrips controlled by the military and then onwards to foreign multinationals.

 

Whilst the forests are being razed in North and South Kivu, the wildlife is hunted down, shot and smoked, or tranquilised and transported out to zoos, private estates and collectors in foreign lands.

 

Gorillas and other large species make easy targets. They also present a substantial weight of meat and, of course, the forests have to be cleared out before the miners can get to work on the minerals.

 

There are over 700 licensed "hunters" operating in DRCongo, the surrealistic horror of the war-zone has been held in cognitive abeyance by hunters who prefer to perceive not the loss of life in its entirety but the value per shot.

 

As with the early pioneers of America, the idea is to make every bullet count; as with most mercenaries, hunters see conflict regions in Africa as prime opportunity.

 

Just before the 1996 invasion to overthrow President Mobutu Sese Seko, specialised US military forces trained in Rwandan bases.

 

Ninety days later, a missile attack destroyed the plane carrying the then Rwandan leadership. The Hutus expressed their belief that the Tutsis and the US were conspiring to wrest control of Rwanda.

 

This event detonated the socio-political, historical, economic, and ethnic tensions that precipitated the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, the spillover of which allowed the US-sponsored allies - Rwanda and Uganda - to enter the eastern DRCongo.

 

The control of coltan, amongst other resources obtained in exactly the same way and predominantly found in DRCongo - has allowed Rwanda to prosper economically.

 

It has also allowed Western multinationals to conjure and control the large masses of coltan supplies without capital intensive investment, and raking in the profits.

 

The UN states: "In 2002, the US was the principal destination of DRCongo's coltan exports. Congolese miners extracted the minerals and Rwandan brokers traded the ore ... It was highly organised and was coordinated centrally from an administrative entity known as the Congo Desk, located in Rwanda's Ministry of Defence."

 

Each day, more than $6m in resources leaves the eastern DRCongo, including coltan, diamonds and gold.

 

The UN says that between 2002 and 2005 over $197m was dished out to "smalltime" rebel militias and para-military groups. The deliberate and systematic destruction of natural resources, farms and other forms of agriculture in DRCongo has additionally led many farmers, schoo!children, the unemployed, and unskilled workers, to voluntarily sign up as "artisans" - enlisting themselves in one of many mining towns as labour-in-waiting. But who profits?

 

The extracted coltan resources are not recorded in eastern DRCongo. As they are located so close to the surface, there is no need for capital investment or other industrial constructs. It is the invisible trade.

 

For the most part, every atom that leaves African soil - in this case at least 70% of the coltan - has the same story to tell.

 

But with 2,800 languages in Central Africa alone, the words are lost in the din and clamour of hustlers and handlers.

 

The story of coitan is no different.

 

Blood cassiterite

 

Similarly, cassiterite is a pivotal constituent of the manufacturing industry, vital to the production of everything from integrated circuit boards, plumbing, rockets, electro-plating, electric components, to lesser known uses such as paper preservatives, shaving foam, ink cans, etc.

 

Its value has drastically increased since China, Western European, Japan and America modified regulations, substituting toxic lead with the more benign tin found in abundant quantities in DRCongo. Even toothpaste contains tin fluoride.

 

The UN states that between August 2002 and May 2004, the price per kilo of eassiterite tripled, and world consumption increased by 20,000 tons. The price has since been relatively stable, hovering between $7,500 and $9,000 per ton.

 

A special combination of cassiterice (tin) and niobium (a substance extracted from coltan) alloy has been found to act as a superconductor. These qualities, in parallel and concert, make eassiterite a very wanted resource on the world market.

 

Like coltan, cassiterite lacks identity of origin - once purchased and processed, there is very little evidence linking the resource to DRCongo.

 

The 2002 UN Expert Panel report, also stated that over 70% of DRCongo's cassiterite was mined under the direct surveillance of the Rwandan Patriotic Army (RPA).

 

At the time, Rwanda and Uganda had invaded and occupied large swathes of eastern DRCongo at the behest of Washington DC, as usual hiding behind the scenes (see "How America ran, and still runs, the Congo War, New African cover story, Sept 2001).

 

The UN report defined the conflict in Congo as "a war for resources". It said: "Illegal exploitation of the minerai and forest resources of DRCongo are taking place at an alarming rate ... Two phases can be distinguished: mass-scale looting and the systematic and systemic exploitation of natural resources."

 

The report stated matter-of-factly that the "primary agents", Rwanda and Uganda, were benefiting from the "massive availability of financial resources for the Rwandan Patriotic Army, and the individual enrichment of top Ugandan military commanders and civilians". Both countries have persistently and vehemently denied these allegations.

 

Today, Congo's South Kivu province is portrayed as being under the rule of Kinshasa. But in reality, the Congolese army operating in South Kivu has likewise militarised the mining towns and the minerais are transferred via Rwanda.

 

Cassiterite is not just in hot demand. It is also linked to coltan in its location and the method of extraction.

 

Both lie close to the surface and require only pick, shovel and a plastic bucket to slosh through the detritus. As with coltan, cassherite ore is channelled dirough identical trading networks.

 

Charles Chalondakwa, a researcher in Bukav, says: "When the soldiers arrived from Kinshasa, they asked 'where can we find the gold?' We had to wonder whether they were here for the war or for minerals."

 

On many occasions, the impoverished Congolese miners - young men and boys, sometimes naked and always unprotected, armed only with their bare hands and a chisel - have been filmed by news media hammering away at cassiterite rocks in deplorable conditions. Armed at every turn are soldiers acting as overseers. Boys as young as 10 years old are forced to crawl into the smallest crevices, the fissures are narrow gaps burrowing deep into the earth like worm trails. The clefts lack support, buttressed by air alone; the cells could collapse and sometimes do, killing those caught in the womb.

 

The miners are usually paid less than $ 1 for a kilogram of coltan or cassiterite. They transport the material in sacks on their backs, carrying 30-50kg by foot, sometimes the walk back to the mining towns and trading centres are 50km in length. Cassiterite, unlike coltan, is a very heavy substance.

 

The Kahuzi-Biega Park, rich in coltan and Cassiterite, previously housed over 350 elephant families, but the elephants have since been hunted down and stripped of their tusks. As is usual, the meat was smoked and fed to the miners. A similar situation prevails in the Virunga Park and the Okapi Reserve.

 

Although the UN report in 2002 defined the structure and methodology of the Congo "war" as "mass scale looting" and "systemic and systematic exploitation", there were 85 multinational (mainly Western) companies that acted as facilitator, purchaser, processor, and manufacturer.

 

Even though over 80% of the worlds coltan reserves and 59% of "accessible" cassiterite are located in DRCongo, high-end purchasers and other electronic, defence, arms and toy companies (mainly in the West and the Far East) are able to easily feign ignorance, yet are acutely aware of the lack of evidence linking the unregistered mineral resource to conflict-ridden DRCongo.

 

In fact, the historicity of resources in the Congo is suffused with political intrigue, corrupt politicians, smokescreens, calculated provocation, and media camouflage.

 

But who benefits and who pays the price? Despite its riches, Congo has a life expectancy of less than 45 years; over 51% of its biodiversity has been destroyed and 34% of the population is illiterate.

 

In 2004, a US-based NGO did a census in parts of Congo and reported that over 4.7 million Congolese had died, directly and indirectly, from the war between 1996 and 2003.

 

It is estimated that the majority of wildlife, specifically regarding indicator species, avians and other flora and fauna has been systemically destroyed for profit.

 

When will Africa ever learn?

 

 

 

Source: New African

[Som@li]

A good example of the exploitation in Africa.

 

Congo could have been one of the richest countries in the world if only it had the right people to lead.

[NASSIR]

Dabshid, I lay all the blame on the west, Particularly the United States and EU. They create, manipulate and exploit the crisis in Congo. For instance, the supply of low cost raw materials can give their corporations a competitive advantage and sustainable profit margin on their high-tech industries.

[AfricaOwn]

Originally posted by Caamir:

Dabshid, I lay all the blame on the west, Particularly the United States and EU. They create, manipulate and exploit the crisis in Congo.

Blame the the west for the troubles in the middle east as well with the exception of their support for the TFG?

[Peace Action]

Africa since you are die hard successionist why do you have problem if the West supports TFG?

 

This is an excellent article and it is about time new generation of Africans to rise up for the challenge of putting the interest of their nations above everything else.

[NASSIR]

^You're probably making a lopsided comparison. The west has been mainly investing in capital intensive projects in the Middle East and made UAE, Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuweit, although increasingly interdependent, shining stars. The unfulfilled high expectancy of the majority of the people in the Middle East of their resources is as a result of shortage of labor-intensive projects, poor management, and dictatorial forms of rule. This, according to regional experts, led to a rising public frustrations with government policies which they later took them on the streets and in the form of armed rebellion, particularly terrorist actions backed by "incontrovertible" fatwas to liberate the oil-rich countries from the yoke of neocolonialism.

 

DRC however has suffered from a long political instability and two major civil wars that had left a trail of destruction behind it with Rwanda-backed Tutsis and Uganda taking active and direct intervention in the Congo civil wars since 1996. The Second Congo civil war got the label of African World War killing at least 5.5 milllion people between 1998-2003.

 

Second Congo Civil War