$750million of Congo mining revenue goes missing

Over 20% of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s mining revenue has been lost due to corruption and mismanagement of its fund, a campaign group says.

According to a Global Witness report, the money is being distributed through corrupt networks linked to the President of Congo, Joseph Kabila.

At least $750million has gone missing over the past 36 months, it says, but the government has not commented but has previously denied allegations of corruption in its mining sector.

Democratic Republic Congo is the world’s largest supplier of cobalt used in batteries for electric cars and  Africa’s biggest producer of copper. It is also rich in golds, diamonds, and coltan, used in mobile phones, but its people remain among the poorest in the whole world following years of conflict and mismanagement of its fund.

Pete Jones a Global Witness senior campaigner said, “Congo’s mining revenues should be helping to lift its people out of poverty.”

According to the report, much of  the Democratic Republic Congo’s mining revenue goes missing after being paid to  Gécamines, the state-owned mining company.

The head of Gécamines, a close ally of President Kabila, has denied allegations of corruption and insisted that the company is transparent.

Other alleged culprits identified by the report are that the country’s tax agencies which are legally allowed to hold back a percentage of the taxes they impose.

This creates avenues for corrupt acts through inflating how much of the fines they can keep for themselves, Global Witness says.

The report says that if the money not reaching the state coffers through corruption, mismanagement and an ineffective tax system was collated, from 2013 to 2015, then the amount rises to $1.3billion.