Proceeds from the control of lucrative natural resources, from gold and coltan to charcoal and cows, remain a key driver of the insecurity in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
The report by the UN Group of Experts on Congo states that the main parties to the recent fighting — Hutu and Tutsi-aligned rebel groups as well as government forces — continue to earn vast sums from artisanal mines and captured farmland.
The FDLR, a Hutu force whose original members are linked to the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, relies on the illegal mineral trade to raise most of its funds. It earns profits ”possibly worth millions of dollars a year” through the trade of cassiterite and coltan, which are used in consumer electronics products and gold, and wolframite, which is used to make tungsten.
The rebels directly control the majority of the big artisanal mines in South Kivu, numerous gold pits in North Kivu, and are involved in trafficking the minerals by road.
Cassiterite, coltan and wolframite are exported through companies based mainly in Europe, including the United Kingdom, and in the Far East. Export firms in Burundi, Kenya and Uganda sell the Congolese gold mainly to traders in the United Arab Emirates.
The report states that the FARDC is also ”heavily” involved in the mineral trade, with the 85th brigade controlling the rich cassiterite mine in Bisie. The authors say the easy profits mean ”it is not in the interest” of certain army commanders to end the conflict in eastern DRC.
For Laurent Nkunda’s Tutsi rebel group, the CNDP, land and cows provide key revenue and external financing. Land records showed that six local businessmen with close links to the CNDP had recently purchased ranches in areas under its control. The rebels are paid protection money.
Grazing restrictions imposed by the Rwandan government have caused many cattle to be moved across the border into the DRC. Official agricultural documents show that, in just one small part of their territory, CNDP officers own more than 1 500 cows, worth about $740 000.
Nkunda’s rebels were also reported to have earned about $700 000 in the last year by controlling the Bunagana customs post on the Congo-Uganda border. – guardian.co.uk