The DRC authorities are pleased to have succeeded in six months in exporting 2 tonnes of gold from artisanal mines to the United Arab Emirates, with which the country has been a shareholder in a company since December 2022. A record for the DRC which embarked on the fight against the illicit sale of this mineral. With these results, it is the first time that financial flows for the purchase and marketing of artisanal gold have been repatriated to the Congolese banking circuit.
With our correspondent in Kinshasa, Pascal Mulegwa
The gold exported comes from artisanal mines in the province of South Kivu. The region was a sieve for neighboring countries like Rwanda, according to a United Nations report. 99% of the export of artisanal gold took place fraudulently. In 2022, the DRC had been able to export only 32 kilos of artisanal gold officially.
Joseph Kazibaziba, the general manager of Primera Gold, the joint venture that exports the ore, rubs his hands. The two tonnes exported represent 80 years of the province’s exports, he said. But how do you ensure that the minerals purchased do not come from sites controlled by armed groups?
Joseph Kazibaziba, assures that the company perfectly masters ” sources and supply chains better mapped and tracing all mining sites according to their status “. To this mechanism, he continues, is added the banking of actors in the supply chain, mainly traders and approved buyers for better traceability of their transactions:
” The ideal for the DRC remains to refine the gold locally, to certify the gold locally. But to get there, we have a long way to go, because last year or the year before, Congolese gold could not be sold on the international market. It was called improper gold. »
Some voices within civil society believe that these mechanisms are limited. The Congolese State holds only 45% of the share capital of Primera Gold, the company born of the Congolese-Emirati contract. The remaining 55% is held by the private company Primera Group, on behalf of the UAE government.