DRC: Carter Center calls on government to get involved to insure minerals are processed locally and benefit the people
The Carter Center calls on the Congolese government to create conditions conducive to the local processing of minerals to ensure that the country’s mineral resources are more beneficial to the Congolese people.
A development that coincides with the third anniversary of the entry into force of the revised mining code of March 2018. The Carter Center therefore urges the Congolese government to create favorable conditions for the local processing of minerals.
“These conditions include in particular the definition and implementation of an energy policy and measures for the industrialization of the country such as those defined in the 2021-2023 Action Program of the Government of His Excellency Prime Minister Jean-Michel Sama Lukonde. The revised mining code enshrined the obligation to process minerals on the territory of the DRC by asking each holder of mining or quarrying rights to develop and implement their industrialization plan relating to the processing of mining products3 with a view in particular to their local processing.4 The Code granted holders of mining or quarry rights a period of three years to comply with this obligation “can we read in this press release from the Carter Center of the 14th. June 2021.
Also, the Carter Center calls for the creation of an environment that promotes the industrialization of the DRC.
“In practice, the creation of an environment favorable to the industrialization of the country, including the establishment of a good energy policy, the improvement of the business climate and incentives for the development of the processing industry , would facilitate the application of these important provisions. During the last three years, however, little progress has been made in this direction to initiate the process of local transformation to give added value to minerals and promote the Congolese economy “.
The Carter Center notes that there is no attention to the implementation of the local mineral processing process.
“While certain provisions of the revised mining code are on a positive trajectory for their implementation, such as the signing of social responsibility specifications in certain provinces, little attention is paid to the implementation of the local transformation process. minerals, which nevertheless constitutes one of the main means by which the Congolese economy and the population of the country can derive a substantial benefit from mining, “said Fabien Mayani, Director of the Extractive Industries Governance Program. of the Carter Center in the DRC.
For the Carter Center, this third anniversary of the revised mining code should be an opportunity for the Congolese government to assess all the challenges and opportunities related to the implementation of the provisions relating to the local mineral processing process and to develop a coherent plan with stages and indicators of the industrialization process of the country as a whole.
