DRC: out of more than 149.3 million USD expected, FOMIN only received 31.6 million of the 10% quota on the mining royalty between 2018 and 2020
Between 2018 and June 2020, the Mining Fund for Future Generations (FOMIN) received only 31.6 million US dollars out of a total amount of 149.3 million US dollars projected under the 10% quota of the mining royalty reserved for it in view of its missions.
During the period under review, the total of the 10% portion of the mining royalty reserved for FOMIN was expected to amount to 149,317,711 USD. However, the amount actually collected is 31,667,590 USD, representing an execution rate of 21%. This is what the latest 2018, 2019 and 1st Quarter 2020 report of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (ITIE DRC) reveals.
By establishing the Mining Fund for Future Generations, the 2018 Mining Code provided that the statutes, creation and operation of the latter should be set by a decree of the Prime Minister. This decree was issued on September 25, 2019.
For many specialists in mining issues, the delay in putting in place the organizers of the organic and operational structures of FOMIN would be the basis of the dysfunction observed in the collection and management of the 10% share allocated to FOMIN.
Faced with these criticisms, the Mining Cadastre, which was responsible until recently for collecting this 10% portion of the Mining Royalty, made this clarification: ” It is true that in 2018, in order to apply without delay all the
provisions of the Revised Mining Code, the former Minister of Mines, Martin Kabwelulu, had instructed the Mining Services to liquidate all the quotas of the mining royalty without exception, including that due to the Mining Fund. He then instructed at the same time, through the Secretary General, the CAMI to open an “escrow” account to receive payments from the companies relating to this portion pending the establishment of the FOMIN establishment which is legitimate beneficiary”.
It is therefore until the beginning of 2019 that this escrow account opened by the Mining Cadastre with RAWBANK was closed by decision of the Government and all its assets had been transferred to a Public Treasury account at the Central Bank, informs this document of almost 115 Pages.
The EITI also notes that to date, the Mining Fund is under the management of the Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank of Congo.
“ As part of this study, we approached the Central Bank to find out a little more. Account statements retracing the movements, inflows and even outflows of funds from this escrow account held at the Central Bank have been given to us ,” it is stated in this report.
