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Congo-Kinshasa: Transparency Issues in Cobalt Mining
DW, 19 March 2024
Child labor and collapsing tunnels in DR Congo's cobalt mines are bringing electric cars and other vehicles into disrepute. But the push for transparency along the country's cobalt… Read more »
DR Congo's Cobalt Mines Face Transparency Issues
The DR Congo accounts for about two-thirds of the world's cobalt, a key component of rechargeable lithium-ion batteries that power electronic devices and electric vehicles, dwarfing the output of its closest competitors. But reports of dangerous working conditions and child labor in the country's informal mines have sparked an outcry over what is being referred to as "blood cobalt". This is forcing manufacturers who market themselves as sustainable to look for ways to source "clean cobalt", untainted by abusive labor practices.
The dangerous business of cobalt mining in Congo is increasingly gaining international attention.
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Africa: Green Exploitation Is Still Exploitation
African Arguments, 15 November 2023
If leaders give in to the temptation of short-term gains, the extraction of Africa's transition minerals will follow familiar colonial dynamics. Read more »
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Africa: US Seeks to 'Diversify' China-Dominated Africa Minerals Supply Chain
VOA, 13 October 2023
Africa is the site of a new battle for influence as Washington ramps up efforts to build an alternative critical minerals supply chain to avoid reliance on China. Beijing dominates… Read more »
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Congo-Kinshasa: 'We Miners Die a Lot.' Appalling Conditions and Poverty Wages - the Lives of Cobalt Miners in the DRC
The Conversation Africa, 30 January 2024
It was a cool, dusty morning in July 2021, when I first visited the Kamilombe cobalt mine in Lualaba Province in south-eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Situated just outside… Read more »
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Central Africa: Lobito Corridor - Hoping to Break China's Grip On African Ore
DW, 8 February 2024
Central Africa hopes to revive a trade route from colonial times. Europe and the US support the ambitious plans by DR Congo, Angola and Zambia to shore up green energy resources --… Read more »
InFocus
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The expansion of industrial-scale cobalt and copper mines in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has led to the forced eviction of entire communities and grievous human rights ... Read more »
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Renewable energy sources are key to addressing the climate crisis. The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has 70 percent of the world's cobalt - used for batteries that enable ... Read more »
