DRC Mining Week opens door for African American investors seeking opportunities in the African Motherland

Despite the frequent clashes of government and rebel forces in the eastern provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the world’s richest nation in diamonds and other precious natural resources remains a center of opportunity for investors attuned to gaining lucrative and consistently high returns on their investments.

The estimated value of DRC natural resources is $24 trillion, not counting its abundant agricultural potential of feeding over two billion people far into the foreseeable future. 

The DRC mining and oil industries account for 97.5 percent of the nation’s exports. Yet there is a serious lack of effective plans and ability to cash in on these resources for the benefit of Congo’s 105 million citizens. The slow development of a viable national infrastructure and the inability to provide reliant sources of energy and other material necessities will continue to keep the nation mired in poverty unless or until a more accessible road to prosperity is found. 

Next month, DeWayne Boyd, a long time champion of African and African American business partnerships, and his wife, Leontine Mafuta Boyd, a native of the DRC, will be deeply involved with the goings-on at the DRC’s annual Mining Week Conference June 12-14, in Lubumbashi, the heart of the Congo’s Copperbelt.

“Leontine and myself are participating on behalf of the artisanal mining community of DRC to gain supply contracts with the US and Canadian automotive industry contractors who are at the center of the global supply chain in the manufacture of electric vehicles and their components, such as batteries,” Boyd said from his home in Detroit.

“That’s the focus of our going over to the DRC Mining Week as COOPAGEL,” he said.

COOPAGEL, initially established as a women’s agricultural cooperative, was founded by Mafuta Boyd and has since grown into a multifaceted NGO that is still devoted to keeping Congolese women in control of their own financial and business interests.  

MINING CONCERNS

The mining industry is governed by the DRC Mining Code, which recognizes two distinct approaches to mining the Congo’s precious natural minerals and other resources. Industrial mining is the major sector of the mining industry. Yet artisanal mining, which is the system of mining in which individual freebooters or small cooperatives of miners or villagers engage, is fully recognized by the government that has passed laws restricting the exploitation of children in the mines. 

A third group of miners operates outside the law and is subject to a government crackdown and arrest when they are caught. It is estimated that rebel groups, operating with the support of Uganda and Rwanda in the eastern provinces, are able to sell a greater amount of metals like coltan, used for mobile phones and other electronic devices, than the legitimate miners are selling on the legal market.

DRC Mining Week is promoted as “the only learning hub and industry network” for the DRC and the Copperbelt. 

“The government of DRC is deeply committed to improving the quality of life for the artisanal mining community in addition to providing investment funds for agricultural development,” the introduction to the program says. 

CANADIAN CONNECTIONS

Boyd is one of a number of principal actors seeking to introduce potential African American investors to the constantly growing opportunities in the DRC. 

“We’re developing talks now on how to facilitate that,” he said. He and his wife are working with Canadian companies to optimize income for women miners and to also keep their eyes on activities in the realm of agriculture and agribusiness in keeping with the original goals of COOPAGEL.

“My mentor on the mining of cobalt in DRC was a member of PEDAC (Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada),” Boyd said. “Toronto, which is just across the river from Detroit, is ground zero for global mining concerns because of the Toronto Stock Exchange. So, it was my contact at PEDAC that exposed me to firms in Canada with mining interests in DRC. And I was able to network with them to get to where I am able to finesse the offtake of 800 metric tons of cobalt to the US and Canadian automotive industries. The PEDAC session is held every year and I was invited over to it. That’ s how it started about four years since ago.”

During the Mining Week activities, COOPAGEL will be working in tandem with the Canadian Mining Group that is heavily invested in the copper and cobalt mining in Africa. The Canadian Mining Group is a joint venture project, Boyd said. 

“They’re sending us over to participate in DRC Mining Week and to meet with mining officials such as those at Gecamines and other artisanal miners who will help with the supply of cobalt and other strategic battery minerals for the US and Canadian automotive supply chain,” he said. “That’s our mission for going over.”

INTEREST GROUPS

The network of Black organizations and interest groups linked to the great variety of Congolese activities that go beyond business alone has grown noticeably during the past decade. Sparked by the leadership of the World Conference of Mayors, Tuskegee signed a Sister City agreement in September 2021 with the DRC city of Mbuji-Mayi, one of the richest sources of mineral wealth in the DRC. A research program between the University and the famous agricultural research station in DRC led to an exchange program.  

Prosper Africa is the Biden administration’s program to deepen the business and security relations with all of Africa. Prosper Africa brings together services from across the US Government to help companies and investors do business in US and African markets. 

But the big question in the minds of African leaders might be “cui bono”? in this US gesture of good will to the developing nations. Devex, the news service for national leaders in the western nations, points out the skepticism that African thinkers are holding onto.

“Prosper Africa has helped close 800 deals worth more than $18 billion since 2021 in places like Uganda, Ghana, and Nigeria,” the Devex reporter wrote in its March 3, 2023 edition. “But some African and investment experts are skeptical about the initiative and say that confusion about its mission, a lack of funding, and sometimes a wrong focus have constrained its success.”

Boyd, who is usually wary of such “deals” and questions the nature of the “help” that the US typically offers a struggling country, with the plight of post-earthquake Haiti a prime example, spoke favorably of Prosper Africa and its relationship with some of the Black-run NGO’s.

CRIMINAL ACTS

Former President Joseph Kabila turned over the DRC’s multi-billion-dollar diamond trade to Israeli billionaire diamond merchant Dan Gertler for $20 million, the entire field of players in a fractured Congo suspected that a major crime against the interest of the people of the Congo had been committed. 

Gertler, along with his friends at the giant mining company Glencore, were sanctioned in US and French courts for his criminal activities. Gertler also branched off into gold, cobalt, and agriculture, the Times of Israel reported.

Gertler faced sanctions in US courts for exploiting Congolese children in the mines, and more recently was charged with money laundering in a number of instances. 

He remains sanctioned by the US and cannot use the US banks or business services. 

Members of the DRC Crisis Group uncovered a current effort to remove the sanctions from Gertler. 

Gecamines, the DRC state-owned mining operation, has signed a $925,0000 contract with Mercury, a K Street lobbyist company, the Crisis Group posted in their Wat’s App chat stream. An effort is likely in the works to remove US sanctions against Gertler. The suspicions are that the lobbying group is being paid to get Gertler off the sanctions hook.

DRC President Felix Tshisekedi somehow has taken a special liking for Gertler and gives the appearance of no longer observing the sanctions that other countries, especially France and the US, have imposed on Gertler.

The DRC Mining Week program will host a Women in Mining Initiative during the course of the week. A Gala Dinner will close out the week with a special ceremony honoring excellence in mining.

For registration and other information, google: DRC MINING WEEK, EXPO & CONFERENCE.