Carter Center Leads Efforts to Maximize Mining Revenues through Citizen Dialogue in the DRC
With support from GIZ and co-financing from German Cooperation and the European Union, the Carter Center, along with 15 social actors, concluded a strategic planning workshop on April 17, 2024.
This workshop marks the beginning of citizen dialogue aimed at maximizing mining revenues in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Facilitated by the Carter Center as part of phase II of the Integrated Economic Development of the Mining Sector Project (DISM II) of GIZ, the dialogue seeks to bolster citizen participation in mobilizing mining revenues to finance development projects in the country.
After launching the dialogue on February 21, 2024, in Kinshasa, the Carter Center conducted mapping exercises, evaluated existing initiatives, and selected 15 social actors from Kinshasa, Kolwezi, and Lubumbashi to participate in the dialogue process.
The strategic planning sessions empowered selected social actors to understand the dialogue’s objectives and develop a roadmap for training, research, and dialogue activities focusing on selected taxes and revenue streams.
They received training on mining taxation in the DRC and identified income flows for analysis to inform the dialogue process. The planning also involved organizing capacity-building sessions, research, analysis, and dialogue sessions with mining and tax administrations on revenue maximization.
The initiative stems from the DRC’s significant mineral resources, attracting substantial foreign investment in recent years, particularly in the copper-cobalt sector.
However, the country has experienced significant revenue losses due to a lax legal framework, tax evasion, fraud, and corruption.
Despite reforms, such as the 2018 revision of the Mining Code, the government’s capacity to maximize mining revenue remains limited.
The Carter Center’s dialogue aims to address these challenges by fostering constructive exchanges between social actors and government agencies.
By identifying obstacles and defining effective mechanisms, the dialogue seeks to enhance revenue collection to finance socio-economic development projects in the DRC.
