Carter Center Backs DRC Mining Sector Audit as Govt Moves to Tighten Resource Governance
Carter Center supports DRC mining audit targeting revenue repatriation, state mining firms, and joint venture governance
The Carter Center has welcomed President Félix Tshisekedi’s decision to launch an audit of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s mining sector, approved during the 87th meeting of the Council of Ministers.
The audit will focus on key governance areas, including compliance with obligations to repatriate mining export revenues, the management of mining joint ventures, and oversight of state-owned mining assets.
In a statement issued on May 13, the organisation described the initiative as a significant opportunity to strengthen transparency and accountability in one of the country’s most important economic sectors.
The Carter Center, which has monitored extractive governance in the DRC for more than 15 years, said it holds extensive data that could support the audit process.
It recalled that its 2017 report on Gécamines identified more than $750 million in mining partnership revenues that were not reflected in the state-owned company’s accounts.
The organisation also noted that studies conducted between 2013 and 2024, in collaboration with civil society groups, pointed to potential tax avoidance in several large-scale mining projects.
These analyses estimated that nearly $4 billion in public revenues may have been lost through various financial flows linked to government entitlements.
A separate 2025 study on the revised 2018 Mining Code highlighted structural challenges affecting revenue collection, including complex tax frameworks, limited digitalisation, weak institutional capacity, and fragmentation across tax authorities.
The Carter Center said the success of the newly announced audit will depend on several key conditions, including full transparency of the process, publication of terms of reference and final findings, and unrestricted access to contracts, financial statements, and joint venture documentation involving state-owned mining companies.
It also recommended the inclusion of specialists in extractive taxation and transfer pricing to properly assess complex financial arrangements and potential avoidance mechanisms.
In addition, the organisation called for active participation by civil society and strengthened parliamentary oversight to ensure credibility and public trust in the audit process.
The Carter Center urged the government to integrate the initiative into broader structural reforms covering state-owned enterprises, mining taxation, and public revenue administration to improve the distribution of mining wealth, particularly for communities in mining regions.
It said the audit could represent a turning point toward more transparent and efficient management of the DRC’s mineral resources if implemented effectively and independently.
