DRC: revision of mining contracts, Dan Gertler exempted, string of concerns

Several years have passed since the denunciations of the illicit enrichment of Israeli businessman Dan Gertler in the DRC, no concrete action has been taken so far by the Congolese authorities. Under United States sanction and suspected of having enriched himself through “opaque and corrupt” transactions in the Congolese mining and oil sector, thanks to his bromance with ex-president Joseph Kabila. At the center of all these accusations but only the revision of Chinese contracts concerns the DRC, no allusion made to Dan Gertler. 

According to the Africa Progress Panel, the DRC could lose $ 3.71 billion in suspicious mining and oil deals with Israeli businessman and intermediary Dan Gertler. To date, the country has already suffered $ 1.95 billion in losses. Charges that should alarm the IGF and the Congolese anti-corruption agency APLC, including the judiciary. 

For the Congo is not for sale (CNPAV) coalition, if the DRC does not take immediate action to review these contracts, it risks losing an additional $ 1.76 billion in royalty payments to companies owned by Gertler. The CNPAV coalition has always urged the authorities to break their silence on this subject and to take urgent measures so that the fallout from the country’s mineral wealth benefits the Congolese treasury and the Congolese …

Corruption allegations have pursued Gertler for years. According to the US Treasury Department, this man would have secretly acquired mining or oil permits at discounted prices from the Congolese government or state mining companies, before reselling them to international partners, or even to the government, by realizing d ‘huge profits. He also obtained the right to collect royalties – usually paid to the state and its companies – under questionable circumstances.

Gertler’s juiciest contracts involve two mining giants: Glencore and Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation (renamed “Eurasian Resources Group” or ERG). British, US and Swiss law enforcement is investigating several of these transactions, while Gertler was hit with US sanctions for alleged corruption in 2017. Such sanctions hamper his free use of gains from contested contracts in Congo. ..

Gertler has always formally denied the allegations of corruption against him, and emphasized the colossal investments he has made in Congo … Glencore and ERG claim not to have been involved in any case of corruption or other wrongdoing .

Hence the very meaning of investigating Dan Gertler in order to clarify all the charges against him. 

As the country is on its way to renegotiating Chinese contracts, no hint is being made about Dan Gertler. Which worries several whistleblowers in civil society.