▶ 0:00:00Chinese nationals in these operations has strained local communities and contributed to tensions between populists and the authorities. In response to these challenges, I have reintroduced the Cobalt Supply Chain Act. This legislation aims to ensure that goods made using or containing cobalt refined uh in the People's Republic of China do not enter the US market.
▶ 0:00:24addressing concerns that such cobalt is extracted or processed with the use of child and forced labor in the DRC. Then it comes back in our defense and commercial supply chains uh uh security is a national security issue and the reliance on China for these critical minerals is a clear vulnerability to the United States and to the western world.
▶ 0:00:46As co-chair of the Congressional Executive Committee on China, I held a hearing in November of 2023 that highlighted the problem of Chinese Communist Party dominance in the DRC's cobalt supply chain and how China's profits from these uneth profits from these unethical mining practices. I also chaired a hearing in July of 2022 of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission on Child Labor and Human Rights Violations in the mining industry of the DRC.
▶ 0:01:13One of our expert witnesses then said that child labor is one of the worst forms of child abuse and that's absolutely true. Uh it is forbidden by both congalles legislation as well as international rules and norms and yet it continues. The greatest beneficiaries of this system Chinese state-owned mining companies remain silent refusing to confront an undeniable reality from dirt to battery from cobalt to cars.
▶ 0:01:41The entire supply chain is built on violence, exploitation, and corruption. This must change, and the time for change is now. President Trump's executive order uh for quote immediate measures to increase American mineral production is a crucial step towards strengthening our domestic supply chains. This action will create American jobs, drive economic growth, and reduce our reliance on foreign adversaries.
▶ 0:02:06The United States must break its dependence on minerals from that finance the Chinese Communist Party often extracted through forced child labor and stop indirectly supporting the CCP's efforts to fuel instability and regional conflict in Africa. At the same time, as the CCP tightens its grip on global mineral markets, the US must take decisive action.
▶ 0:02:28In line with this strategy, the US Department of State has signaled openness to forming direct critical mineral partnerships with the DRC, an opportunity to strengthen collaboration in securing resources essential for our for our technological advancement and national security. Today we have a very distinguished panel of experts that will help us know and give us guidance as a Congress, as a committee uh as to where do we go next.
▶ 0:02:54Uh, and before u going to them, I it's my delight and my honor to yield to Miss Jacobs, our ranking member of this subcommittee. Uh, well, thank you, Chairman Smith, and thank you to all of our witnesses for testifying today on the drivers of conflict and exploitation in Africa's mining sector.
▶ 0:03:13As we all know here, there is a long history of exploitation in the mining sector on the African continent that has resulted in environmental degradation, labor exploitation, corruption, and other human rights abuses and has rarely led to actual prosperity for local communities. There are many drivers of exploitation in the sector.
▶ 0:03:33Whether that be poor governance that allows corruption to fester, weak judicial institutions that foster a culture of an impunity, lack of economic opportunity for marginalized communities, and so on. These conditions create an environment that's ripe for exploitation by domestic and foreign companies alike. They can act with impunity to cut costs by not adhering to environmental, social, and governance standards due to local corruption eating into their profits. That means poverty wages.
▶ 0:04:01That means unsafe and deadly working conditions. That means contaminated water in local communities. And ultimately, it means putting short-term gains ahead of the long-term development, stability, and success of the African continent. There is no question that Chinese-owned and operated companies are dominating and engaging in exploitive practices in the mining sector in certain African countries. Many of these companies frankly don't care about the corruption and are not as concerned by the blow to their reputation.
▶ 0:04:30For example, just this month, the Kafua River in Zambia was declared dead after a Chinese-owned copper mine contaminated the river. In response, the Zambian government find this company a measily $10,000. This impunity exists all over the continent. We have also seen other foreign companies operate in the sector and be accused of corruption and human rights abuses.
▶ 0:04:55For example, Glenor, a Swiss company, plead guilty in the United States to bribing officials in Nigeria, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, and the DRC, and ultimately agreed to pay the DRC $180 million in a settlement deal. Last year, the Biden administration sanctioned a UAE based gold company for purchasing gold from the rapid support forces in Sudan, ultimately fueling the war and the RSF's genocide.
▶ 0:05:20And famously, Israeli businessman Dan Girtler was exposed and subsequently sanctioned for hundreds of millions of dollars worth of opaque and corrupt mining and oil deals in the DRC. We will continue to see these practices until we address what is actually fueling exploitation in the first place. Meanwhile, the United States has long attempted to increase US investment in Africa's mining sector as a means to secure our supply chain and compete with China.
▶ 0:05:48But these investments won't come to fruition and won't be advantageous or strategic in the long term if they do not meet high environmental, social, and governance standards to ensure our investments are bringing benefits rather than more exploitation. To do this, the US government and US companies need to consult with local communities on new investments to obtain their consent and assess the impacts project is having on local populations.
▶ 0:06:15If we don't do this, US companies will be on the wrong end of protests and public scrutiny experienced by Chinese-owned and operated companies. And that's why I was so disappointed with that the Trump administration recently moved to pause the enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which is a law that prohibits the bribery of foreign officials to obtain a business advantage and requires transparency for companies. This is the exact kind of law we need to make sure our investments are good. So, I urge the Trump administration to reinstate the enforcement of this law immediately.
▶ 0:06:47I also continue to be alarmed by the devastating impact of President Trump's foreign aid freeze, including on US efforts to address exploitation in the mining sector. The Trump administration has terminated programs that were improving accountability in DRC's mining sector, working to prevent mining related violence through dialogue, and enhancing transparency and addressing corruption in the extractive sector.
▶ 0:07:10If we are serious about addressing exploitation in the mining sector and bringing mutual benefits to both Africans and Americans, then we need to bring all of our tools to the table. So, I look forward to hearing more from our panelists about what is driving exploitation and how we should address it. Thank you. I back. Thank you, sir. I would like to before recognizing our distinguished panel recognize a former member of Congress and a very distinguished one at that who has been very active on all of these issues, Mark Walker.
▶ 0:07:39Uh thank you Mark for being here and for bringing three uh congalles Americans with you uh who are extremely interested. Adrienne Morose Bronze uh Elaine Bua and Wilson Tate. Thank you uh Mark again for uh meetings we've had recently as well as in the past on on all of these relevant issues. You you are tremendous. Thank you. I'd like to now introduce our distinguished panel beginning first with Mr.
▶ 0:08:04Sasha Les He Lesv who is a senior policy adviser at the century an investigative and policy organization that seeks to disrupt predatory networks that benefit from conflict repression and kleptocracy in Africa and beyond. Sasha has spent the past 25 years working on human rights conflict corruption and US policy in Africa.
▶ 0:08:25uh he has worked with the Enough Project and we were just reminiscing about some of the past fights about Darur and and other issues and he's been here before uh as a very uh prized witness and I I thank him and also he's worked with the US Institute of Peace. We'll then hear from theory Dangala and welcome back. Theory used to sit here as a member of this subcommittee staff and did a tremendous job uh at that.
▶ 0:08:52He is the founder of accountable Africa which conducts supply chain investigations for gold and precious metal traders and provides due diligence reporting for investors in Africa. uh previously he worked as I said on this committee uh as a very distinguished member of the staff and we do prize his his his insights uh and in meetings prior to this he had a lot of you know good information for the committee about this uh which helped us frame this this hearing
▶ 0:09:22and so I want to thank you for that we'll then hear from Mr. Joseph Mulala Nagura Nurgamo sir thank you um is a non-resident fellow with the freedom and prosperity center and in the geo strategy initiative in the Atlantic council skull center for strategy and security was born and spent his four years in the Democratic Republic of Congo he was the first and thus far thus far only I believe congalles graduate from the United
▶ 0:09:52States military academy what a great accomplishment that is at West Point where he majored in defense and strategic studies. And then we'll be hearing from Mr. Obert Abore who is a Zimbabwean lawyer coming in from Zimbabwe. And I thank you for being on on the line here uh and legal researcher. He works on international trade and Chinese investments in Africa, natural resource governance and climate government uh issues.
▶ 0:10:20Previously, Obert uh coordinated the alignment of Zimbabwe laws with the 2013 constitution and served as a researcher clerk for the Chief Justice of Nibia where he provided research support to judges in drafting of court judgments. Um thank you. I would now yield to Sasha uh for such time as he may consume. Thank you so much uh Chairman Smith, Ranking Member Jacobs um and distinguished members of this subcommittee.
▶ 0:10:49You all are real champions for human rights and I greatly appreciate that. Um, I have personally witnessed the horrors of child soldiers and child miners as young as 8 years old in mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo, as well as warlords and Chinese and other companies profiting from this exploitation. All in the name of getting us cheaper smartphones and cars. This has got to stop.
▶ 0:11:12Africa holds 40% of the world's critical minerals, and China made a strategic decision a decade ago to procure them, spending well over 10 billion dollars acquiring mines. But the investments have come with corruption and human rights abuses. Nowhere has these problems been more acute than the Democratic Republic of Congo, the world's largest producer of cobalt and tantelum and the second largest producer of copper.
▶ 0:11:37Corruption has only increased since the China DRC mega deal worth $6.2 2 billion in 2008. The DRC's corruption rating is lower today under President Chisakei than under his predecessor, Joseph Kabila. My organization, the Century, investigated these deals and found $238 million and then $55 million and went missing. And major Chinese and other mining contracts are remain opaque today. Unfortunately, chi corruption has not been limited to the Chinese.
▶ 0:12:06International tycoon Dan Geler was sanctioned in the first Trump administration after his corrupt mining and oil deals led the DRC to lose$ 1.3 billion dollar. Human rights is also worsening with increasing repression and thousands of child miners working at mines that send cobalt mainly to Chinese crude refiners. President's security force has illegally controlled mines and thousands of people have been forcibly evicted to make way for Chinese mines in particular.
▶ 0:12:33Another mineral, gold, which you highlighted, has also been at the heart of this escalating conflict in eastern Congo, which has displaced 6.5 million people. It's the world's third largest displacement crisis. Gold is a chief source of revenue for armed groups, backed by Rwanda, M23, has taken over gold mines, and Rwanda's new refinery was sanctioned by the European Union last week after exporting $800 million worth of gold and illegally profiting from conflict gold.
▶ 0:13:03This gold is then smuggled to the UAE, China, and other countries. And China has been active in the conflict gold trade. From a $ 38 million operation where a Chinese company paid armed groups for access to 400 illegal mining operations in South Ku today that have allegedly smuggled up to eight tons of gold annually following bribes. And China is purchasing record amounts of gold today, potentially to establish a new bricks currency that would chip away at the US dollar.
▶ 0:13:33This is not a hopeless situation. Leverage exists in these supply chains and the US government, electronics companies, and banks in particular can make an impact in three areas. The biggest obstacle to eliminating mining abuses is the system of kleptocracy in the DRC. This state this system of state capture allows ruling elites and their commercial partners to personally profit while leaving the population to suffer from poor security, education and healthcare.
▶ 0:14:01They use violence to maintain power and repress disscent. This system will continue unless there are consequences for that corruption. Addressing this would also level the playing field for US companies. The Treasury Department under Secretary Bessant should robustly investigate and sanction the networks that facilitate grand corruption from refineries in Uganda, Rwanda, and the UAE that uh where that trade in conflict gold, Chinese middlemen, and senior DRC
▶ 0:14:31officials who facilitate bribes and aid illegal armed groups like the FDLR. There must also be judicial accountability for abuses and the administration and congress should support the establishment of a DRC transitional justice mechanism as advocated by Nobel Peace Laureate Nobel Peace Prize laurate Dr. Dennis McQueen. Second, the US government has a key role to play in combating the conflict gold trade in particular.
▶ 0:14:56Secretary of State Marco Rubio should lead a public private initiative to combat illicit gold, partnering with the London Bullion Market Association and Bullion Banks. The initiative should both increase gold trade data transparency to ensure that sanctions bodies aren't behind the curve of criminal actors and empower independent monitoring teams to inspect and certify gold smuggling hubs such as cash for gold markets.
▶ 0:15:23Secretary Rubio and and Secretary Bessant should also establish an illicit gold task force to robustly investigate and sanction trafficking networks. As part of it, Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network or Fininsen could issue alerts and keep banks updated. Third, China still needs US markets. So Tesla, Apple, and others have important leverage over Chinese suppliers. Sunlight is the best disinfectant to clean up corruption, especially through mining contract transparency.
▶ 0:15:52High-tech and auto companies should use their buying power to require Chinese and all suppliers to publish the ownership structures of mining companies, contracts and service providers, hire their congalles workforce directly, not through subs and source only from crude refiners of cobalt and copper that have passed the electronics industry audits by responsible minerals initiative.
▶ 0:16:15Relatedly, the State Department and companies should strongly urge the DRC mining ministry to create more artisal mining zones to give miners the legal space to operate and reduce abuses. Finally, it's important that the administration should nominate an assistant secretary of state for African affairs with urgency to coordinate responses to the DRC and all of these crises.
▶ 0:16:37In some the US government in coordination with electronics companies and banks can combat the abuses and corruption by China and others in the mining sector and reduce risks for US businesses. I sincerely hope that progress is made so congalles and other mining communities in Africa no longer experience the horrors that I've personally witnessed. Thank you very much very much. uh theory.
▶ 0:17:06Chairman Smith, Ranking Member Jacobs, and distinguished members of the committee. Thank you for the invitation to testify on metals, mining, uh minerals, and how the CCP fuels conflict and exploitation in Africa. Your leadership and interest in this topic is timely and warranted as the majority of the conflict zones in Africa are around mineral mineral deposits.
▶ 0:17:31Um so as a due diligence firm that has conducted supply chain investigations in various countries ranging from Tanzania to Sudan, Ethiopia, DRC, Ghana, Kotivvoir and so forth. Accountable Africa has been on the front lines of steering investors and traders away from the pitfalls of illicit mining practices and networks which are ever growing.
▶ 0:17:54Without saying any names, I just want to thank those responsible investors and traders that we have worked with over the past 5 years who have shown the courage to do business All too often, our due diligence reports have uh given them the tough council of having to turn down uh lucrative African mineral deals for the sake of maintaining their clean conscience and protecting their reputation, which for them it costs.
▶ 0:18:18U we're sure it wasn't easy to explain to their shareholders, you know, that they had to forgo these steep uh discounts and wildcat profits. Um, but I just want to I just want to let them know that they maintained not only a clean reputation and conscience, but they respected the dignity of the African communities in which they operate. Uh, so I'd like to start this testimony also with a personal story.
▶ 0:18:44When I got married in the Congo, a pastor did held uh our wedding bands and he kind of weighed them uh and was like, "This is real gold, I think." And uh in in after he said uh you know this is real gold, he held the wedding bands up and kind of had a prayer, a sanctification prayer saying you know whatever the the trail of uh uh uh the the trail of supply for this go these gold rings may be sanctified to start you know a
▶ 0:19:14heavenly union. And this kind of surprised me because, you know, I'm in the business of conducting uh supply chain investigations and here I am in church and and the pastor's ringing it up and and it it kind of brought to mind how how familiar all too familiar the congalles are with the trail of sin and suffering that can follow behind these minerals, gold, cobalt.
▶ 0:19:37Um, so if this is we're talking about an issue that is not far from the common uh from the common man on the street, whether it's in the Congo or in our iPhones here in uh in Washington, the part that matters the most, I would say, is what is clean gold? We have so many standards floating out there that it gives wiggle room for people to uh for people to abuse the systems of certification.
▶ 0:20:05I think this is at the source of what uh a lot of the conflict and uh a lot of the exploitation comes from because a lot of them are wiggling out of accountability because they're getting certified and some people are considering it clean and others aren't.
▶ 0:20:23So going on to that point of a moral standard needing to be established in the industry today we can we can witness that there are too many unaccountable and foreign entities that get to determine what makes minerals clean in Africa. Um I my colleague Sasha uh mentioned LBMA which is one of the good bodies doing a trying to do a lot of proactive work but at some point these bodies need to come together. UAE has their standard.
▶ 0:20:51LBMA has their standard. So stemming from stem stemming the corruption and the conflict uh fermented by the bad actors that take advantage of the this wiggle room uh will will require us standardizing that definition of what is clean. Um I wanted to I don't want to be too verbose but I kind of want to uh show another anecdote.
▶ 0:21:18uh you know today some western you know audit firm can certify something clean and and you know they had never been on the ground or if they go on the ground it's a show of you know two or three hours and they they go take pictures and go but I want to say how local fishers in the Congo can have a different perspective than these audit firms a local fisher can look by looking at the uh uh um I'm sorry uh yeah oh yeah a local school.
▶ 0:21:47Let me start by the local school. A local school can look by the local school principal can look by the attendance of the schools. A lot of times when you introduce cash into the gold mines, you'll start to see attendance levels, especially at the primary school, dip and and so the principal could probably tell you if the gold mine is clean or not because a lot of his students are going to the gold mine because there's cash.
▶ 0:22:11Um the local fishers also can tell you uh just by the uh just by the you know impact of the fish that they're catching the environmental impact. Um so this sort of moral standard needs to take into account local I say um local mechanisms for um for for for for judging the cleanliness of the minerals. When governments and communities get serious about enforcing a standard of cleanliness for mining activity, bad actors can't operate.
▶ 0:22:41As Sasha mentioned, you turn on the light, light is the biggest disinfectant. I like to say when you turn on the lights, this the roaches scatter. you know, um this, you know, this African moral sovereignty that that we need to include into accountability standards requires uh you know, the retreat of foreign, not necessarily the foreign foreign authorities, but at the same time, we need African uh moral leadership to rise to the occasion.
▶ 0:23:10Uh we've seen it with uh the case of ITSCI where they tried to establish a a standard of um of certification. This was based in Kegali but based on reports from Global Witness this was a compromised certification process. Um you know uh they uh Global Witness issued a report in 2022 that the ITSCI was effectively a laundromat. how a due diligence scheme appears to launder conflict minerals.
▶ 0:23:40So this is an example where we have just various authority structures claiming something clean and then it gives wiggle room and you know next thing you know they're fueling they're funding conflict. Um so I want to recommend two more things apart from standardization of the moral of what is clean gold. Uh I want to recommend competition. Uh this is something that doesn't cost the US government any money.
▶ 0:24:04Right now there's uh we're we're at a stage of all all um pretty much sanction is our main tool which is it's it's effective on the ground but I believe that we can do uh uh not necessarily all carrot all stick and no carrot. I think we could add a carrot to that stick under uh existing authorities. Of has uh authority to license uh activities.
▶ 0:24:28So if we could encourage traders to um to apply for licenses, this would effectively give uh bring competition to the space because right now in countries like uh DRC, Sudan and all the others that have uh network sanctions in place, what happens is as soon as the sanction system is in place, investors and bankers who want to who's usually finance the mining activity run away because they don't have time to decipher between the good and the bad actors.
▶ 0:24:57And so what happens is even the good actors, the ones that are willing to be accountable, they'll run away and not necessarily run away, they'll run to the only competition that's still there, and that's usually the Chinese and other bad actors. So if we could establish kind of a licensing uh channel which uh the authorities exist where traders can can actively proactively uh submit their trading data to OFAC to maintain their licenses.
▶ 0:25:25Not only would OFAC be able to stay ahead of the curve of illicit gold trends because they would be gathering data but also we would be rewarding those who are doing good in the space where there's gold, cobalt and others. Um, in the absence of competition, we've given the market over to bad actors, including China. Uh, the last recommendation I I think is quite just a development uh conver recommendation.
▶ 0:25:51Um, it's supporting industrial energy projects like the Grand Inga uh dam in the in the DRC. How how does that uh uh matter? Well, doing this will make the economics of exporting processed minerals to China comparatively costly. Right now, uh the race for strategic minerals is not for the deposits but for the refining capacity. China controls over 85% of the world's refining capacity for rare earths.
▶ 0:26:22It's because energy is cheap in China. Prioritizing the DRC's launch of the Grand Inga uh Grand Inga Dam project will undercut China's export-led growth model that dumps products and labor in Africa while also interrupting China's mineral extraction barter system that circumvents the US dollar in Africa.
▶ 0:26:44you know this um this is really key because uh if energy is cheap in DRC and the minerals can be processed in DRC and transformed there's no need to send it to China um and lastly I want to end on a warm note I just came back from Sudan when I conducted another u supply chain investigation um and uh you know it was during the month of Ramadan and the mining community I visited in the north didn't have much you know external wealth but you could you couldn't guess
▶ 0:27:14it from the amount of food and charity they uh shared at the breaking of their fast with me. Uh though everyone was living through a civil war cuz Sudan's right a civil war and they all joined in their hard knock pursuit of of gold at the mining site. These communities maintained the utmost hospitality. It reminded me that the mining activity doesn't happen in a void but within a social fabric that must be respected by visitors, investors, governments alike.
▶ 0:27:44This social fabric can be respected but we notice that it's this is the challenge of the African model in Africa. They don't respect the social fabric in mining communities which we can. Thank you. I'd like to now recognize Mr. Andimo. Thank you sir. Thank you. Thank you.
▶ 0:28:05Uh thank you chairman Smith Jacob and the other member of the California Aff Subcommittee on Africa for the invitation to testify on metal, minerals and mining and how the CCP fueled conflicts and exploitation in Africa. My name is Joseph Mulanguramu. I am a congalles national and I grew up in the war region of Kivu in eastern Congo particularly GMA.
▶ 0:28:29I was honored to graduate from the United Military Academy West in 2014 and I'm currently an unresentant fellow with the freedom and prosperity and the stroke of centers at the authority council. I am grateful to the US and the American people for the great opportunity to dedicate my professional career to the building of US African relations as well as promoting democracy, freedom and good governance. I'm humbled and honored to be invited here to share my thought on these issues.
▶ 0:28:56My testimony will look at the impact of Chinese mining in the DRC and the implication to US national security in the region. The DRC's wealth natural resources estimated at a $24 trillion representing 70 70% of global cobalt and a proven reserve of gold cult lithium copper and diamonds.
▶ 0:29:16As long as the Chinese Communist Party control the min, the entire region remain economically fragile and is threatened by civil unrest. The CCP has been playing a predatory game globally, fueling conflicts and corruption, encouraging bad governance, emboldening the rise of autocratic regime, autocratic regimes, leading to a significant regression of democracy around the world.
▶ 0:29:42and the atali council freedom prosperity project report have demonstrated currently the volume of trade between Africa and China is estimated at 280.1 billion and rising steadily by 1.5% annually as of last year yet almost investment are in the mining and infrastructure sectors without long-term benefit of the country's GDP and populations indeed the CCP routinely operates in shadow of governments that like transparency and the care little for
▶ 0:30:12human rights and democracy. I wish to argue that political political and social stability in the DRC is essential to the US security in the DRC. Ongoing civil unrest and unmmitigated human human right crisis humanitarian crisis are largely due to China's ruthless and irresponsible grip on the country's natural resources.
▶ 0:30:34Controlling almost 90% of Congo's mining sector, the CCP has has failed to use its economics and financial power to defend and promote the rule of law, freedom, and equality of governance, but has instead mass strategy to take advantage of a country in chaos.
▶ 0:30:55China has significance and economic interest in the DRC and to just to just name an additional example in Sudan and yet the countries are at the precipitate of collapsing becoming failed state no different with the tragic situation going right now in Haiti while the US government has come to characterize characterize and go massacre in Sudan as a genocide I'll focus more on the DRC because the nature and the character of the ongoing conflict between Rwanda and the
▶ 0:31:25DRC of a magnitude to destabilize the entire region and significantly impact US national security. The DRC mineral have become essential in the world transition to clean energy and are key component in microchips and semiconductors which we use in our critical infrastructures, advanced weapon systems technology including missile defense, fighter jet, satellites, communication equipment as rel and related to recent developments.
▶ 0:31:53Unfortunately, the current DRC government lacks a competence and leadership to ensure a safe and a consistent supply of this product. It has instead allowed China to control it mining sector. Given this situation, the US and allies national security will be experienced growing dependence on the CCP's glo global supply chain. This process will will be precipitated as the DRC and Rwanda are on the brink of a war and the stabil and the stability of the entire region is frightened.
▶ 0:32:24The latest developments in Sudan and African region are caused for alarm. The CCP mercantalist model is aimed at securing monopolies over critical natural resources. To that end, it's aimed to create illegitimate and unstable political systems in place like the DRC Sudan. Planting seed of civil arrest violence and wars.
▶ 0:32:47Despite the dominance of the money and the US money sector, the CCP has failed to de to advocate for implementing good governance, defending human rights, fighting corruption, and protain fair and good elections to ensure sustainable stability and prosperity. For example, China demonstrate no interest at all in the transparent and legitimacy of the DRC presidential elections in the past two elections.
▶ 0:33:11Not surprisingly, China has remained silent about DRC government's widely understood abuse of power. A similar trend of violence and the human catastroph catastroph can be observed in Sudan. Despite investing billion of dollars in oil, China has stood by as Sudan has become a failed state. China even opposed UN security council resolution to hold the Sudan government and the rebel accountable for the genocide or in the interest of it own gain.
▶ 0:33:39In exchange, the Sudan government backed China stance on issues like the Hong Kong national security laws and the Shin Shang conflict. According to Transparency's nationalist 24 report corruption perception index, about 90% of African countries score below 50 and indicating high level of corruption and mediocre governance.
▶ 0:34:00Just the subsar alone score an average of 33% out of 100 making it the lowest scoring region US government report on global business climate uh religion freedom human trafficking and the right support and document this allegation. China remain indifferent. As long as as China remain indifferent, as long as China empower and democratic regime for it own gain, the future of democracy remain fragile.
▶ 0:34:28Through its belt and road initiative, the CCP control about 40% of global energy reserve. It does so by disorganing human cost and the nature the nature of government it's work with just the DRC alone China has come to control almost 90% of consuming sector led by the Chinese company uh such as to pronounce China Metum he has a cobalt and noro the CCP defense contract in
▶ 0:34:59Noro as it turned out also acquire stakes in the DRC has been looking to take the DRC defense security sector and has been supplying weapons and the military drone to various participants in ongoing DRC conflict. China by failing to control the distribution of military weapons continue to fuel the conflict.
▶ 0:35:18Alternatively stated combined with a veto power the United security council China has failed to use its economic and financial power in Africa to defend and promote the rule of law, freedom and equality of equality of government and to help prevent conflict. Ultimately, political and the social chaos in Africa benefit uh benefit Chinese economic interest by keeping Western investment collaboration at bay.
▶ 0:35:46To conclude, the Chinese model is based on exploiting Africa's natural resources to the detriment of US national security interest. Concurrently, its pop its prop corrupt political systems led in place by predatory kleptocratic elites who enrich themselves at the experts of their own citizens. This system perpetual poverty and lead to regional conflicts and wars and can be witnessed in Sudan and uh the DRC.
▶ 0:36:12The US national security approach countering China and Africa should be a bipartisan concern transcending administrations and short and short-term thinking. The US needs a comprehensive and equim strategy, not just focusing on Europe, Asia, and Latin America, Africa, the future of the world because of the growing and dynamic young populations and abundance natural resources.
▶ 0:36:36I hope that the US government and allies will do the utmost to a regional war in the DRC and bring stability to the region. There have been years of pacivity and inaction regarding Africa and the US has been too slow to recognize how its own national security interests are tied to peace and stability and economic de development of the Afghan continent especially central Africa.
▶ 0:36:59It is crucial that the US counter China's grip on national resources within the region in the age of the own national security own uh democracy and a human right in Africa. The United States should take its responsibility as a moral as a moral global leader of international rule-based international order.
▶ 0:37:16If the US failed to lead who will certainly in the absence of US global leadership engagement, the vacuum will be filled by autocratic, repressive, tyrannical and authoritarian regime as we are seeing in Venezuela, North Korea, Russia, Sudan and sly the DRC unfortunately back and aligned with the CCP. I appreciate your attention and of this issue and looking forward to your questions. Thank you. Thank you so very much for your testimony and your insights.
▶ 0:37:44I'd like to now recognize from Zimbabwe uh Mr. Boore Chairman Smith. Uh uh kind of confirm if you can hear me. We can hear you. Thank you. Thank you. Uh Chairman Smith, uh ringing member Sarah Jacobs and distinguished committee members.
▶ 0:38:14I appreciate this opportunity to testify before this committee on metals, minerals, and mining and how CCP influences conflict and exploitation in Africa. I am indeed honored to appear before you today.
▶ 0:38:30Um, I save is a program lead on responsible business and investments of the Zimbabwe Environmental Law Association, a public interest law organization with over 20 years of using the law to promote equitable pardon. You can keep going.
▶ 0:39:01Please continue. Thank you. Well, as I was saying, um um there's there's a bit of some our end, but on yours, can you Oh, good. Good. I I'll go ahead.
▶ 0:39:29Um I serve uh as the responsible investment and uh business program lead for an organization called Zimbabwe Environmental Law Association which is essentially a public interest law organization with over 20 years uh of experience in using the law to promote equitable just and sustainable natural resource management and economic benefits and protection of rights of marginalized communities in Zimbabwe and the southern Africa region.
▶ 0:39:58Um before I share my insights and perspective on what drives conflict and exploitation in the mining sector in Africa, allow me to provide uh a bit of some context and why Africa is a key player in the global mineral supply chains. Um I think speakers before me have already alluded to the fact that Africa is endored with abundant mineral resources.
▶ 0:40:20The continent actually is home to an estimate of 30% of world's mineral resources with 8% of natural gas, 12% of world's oil reserve and 50% of the world's gold as well as 90% of the global chrome.
▶ 0:40:38With these abundant uh metals and minerals, the sector is actually a backbone of several African economies and continues to generate significant foreign currency and revenue as well as creating opportunities for employment. Um 42 out of 54 African countries are classified as resource dependent. This is enormous.
▶ 0:41:01This tells us that the entire African continent um depends on those minerals for revenue generation and um according to the African Union's Africa mining vision, it recognizes the potential of mining in driving broad-based economic development on the continent. And in terms of critical minerals required to transition to renewable energy and meet the climate goals, Africa also occupies a strategic position.
▶ 0:41:29The continent holds about 70% of the world's cobalt, 60% of the world's manganesees, 25% of the world's boide and nearly 15% of the world's copper amongst many other critical minerals.
▶ 0:41:50And Zimbabwe where I am from where I was born has the largest lithium reserves in Africa and sixth in the world as well as the second largest home deposits in the world. Without a doubt committee members, mining continues and should drive economic development for the continent.
▶ 0:42:12However, while mining presents this huge enormous uh economic opportunities for development, it has not been um you know easy for the continent to harness and maximize benefits from uh its natural resources. The sector has been plugged by governance challenges due to structural problems. There's been years of corruption that has remained a significant barrier to responsible investments and sustainable mining.
▶ 0:42:40Several companies both Chinese and non-Chinese have been implicated in corrupt practices to secure mining concessions. You all know of you know cases like Glenco where they've accepted uh to pay fines as a result of uh using bribes to you know secure mining and oil contracts uh in multiple African countries. You also have companies like Balo Group, a French company that was fined 12 million for corrupts charges in Togo.
▶ 0:43:11Similarly, Chinese entities like China nonforest metals mining and corporation as well as China offshore oil corporation have been implicated in corrupt deals in both Zambia and DRC and even Nigeria. While these are just examples of large corporations implicated, they are not the only bad guys. They are simply the ones that were caught on the wrong side.
▶ 0:43:36For years, places like Ku in the Congo have been afflicted by conflicts interlically related to its vast mineral resources. Various actors including multinational corporations have also been implicated in activities that accelerate these conflicts.
▶ 0:43:55Some of the major tech companies from the US Apple have also faced some scrutiny over the potential use of conflict mirrors such as team tentalite tungsten and uh cobalt from DRC linked to the governance challenges fueling tensions and clashes among communities and mining corporations.
▶ 0:44:19African countries have outdated mining legislation which create loopholes that foreign entities can exploit. For instance, Zimbabwe uses a 1961 piece of legislation that was created at a time when the country was under colonial rule.
▶ 0:44:37As as an organization uh Zimbabwe Environmental Law Association and many other players, we have been advocating for reform of the Mines and Minerals Act to include provisions for higher standards for transparency and accountability and transparency in how mining rights um entitle is awarded.
▶ 0:44:58So essentially many African countries um you know they have weak regulatory frameworks that do not reflect the changing global context that require higher standards of environmental, social and governance A case in point is where a Chinese company by the name Beakita Minerals which operates the largest lithium project in the world, the oldest largest project in the world and the largest in Zimbabwe polluted a major community
▶ 0:45:28dam and was nearly fined $5,000 a figure that does not reflect the environmental harm and even the impact that the community would face.
▶ 0:45:42There was a similar case in Zambia which I'm glad um member say Jacob mentioned earlier on in Zambia where the company was simply fined 10,000 for uh environmental pollution despite um the enormous environmental and public damage that resulted from that um pollution.
▶ 0:46:03So beyond regulatory gaps and weak institutions, uh challenges in the sector are also coupled with high levels of unemployment on the continent which create opportunities for predatory employment practices where companies tend to employ you know vulnerable labor force which is often exploited easily as they are desperate for jobs.
▶ 0:46:25In the DRC, Zimbabwe and Zambia and many other countries both Chinese and Western companies, they've been accused of underpay paying workers in failing to provide adequate safety equipment, providing a workplace um you know safe and health um equipment. We know of several workers whose employment contracts have been terminated for seeking to enforce their constitutionally guaranteed labor rights.
▶ 0:46:54Another important factor aiding uh the exploitation of Africa's minerals is the continent's desperation for investment to finance development. This has resulted in several resourcebacked loan agreements being signed where African governments have been exchanging mining rights or mineral resources for infrastructure development.
▶ 0:47:14In theory, if the borrowing process is carried out transparently and effectively and if the loans have favorable terms and the infrastructure projects are well selected and executed, the transactions would be expected to generate positive returns for the borrowing countries. However, this is not the case.
▶ 0:47:35As of 2018, all more than 11 African countries had signed resourcebacked deals with Chinese financial institutions whose terms are often oper and result in unsustainable debt levels and exploitation of natural resources. A case in point is Angola deal with export in import bank of China which raised serious concerns about great sustainability for China.
▶ 0:48:03It is evident that it is strategically using its financial muscle through resourcebacked loans to exploit natural resources and cut African governments into sweet deals which are difficult to turn down as a result of its best which are difficult to turn down as most African governments require finance for development.
▶ 0:48:27In some instances, the opakiness of these deals um have resulted in some governments actually questioning um how their predecessors would have entered into, you know, those contracts. And as the scramble for critical minerals intensifies and geopolitical tensions, it is evident that resourcerich countries are more prone to conflict and social instability that are linked to their mineral resources.
▶ 0:48:54One of our recent studies in Zimbabwe, Mozambi and and JC has revealed several instances of forced displacement linked to extraction of critical minerals and even social unrest and violation of human rights. For instance, in Zimbabwe, Chinese lithium mining projects in areas such as Bohera, Kamati, Beikita, Guanda have contributed to social tensions due to lack of real and tangible community benefits as well as unfair labor practices.
▶ 0:49:24As if that is not enough, there is now increased competition over water between communities and companies given that the process of processing hard rock lithium is water intensive.
▶ 0:49:39Um and I must mention um hard rock lithium found in Zimbabwe is concentrated is concentrated in water strained regions which makes it very very difficult for companies to extract water but also increases competition for communities to to use water that they need for everyday life.
▶ 0:50:02a study by the business and human rights resource center on the impact of China's global investments in um investments on human rights between 2013 and 2010 uh 2020. It shows that Africa had the second highest number of human rights abuses um that are recorded against Chinese companies and in the face of all these uh violations, communities impacted, they struggle to access remedies and seek redress because of judiciaries.
▶ 0:50:31Furthermore, several Chinese bank projects are linked to cases of forced displacement. For instance, a BY sponsored project uh by Shenzhen Shenchin lithium project in the eastern part of Zimbabwe has been held as a good example for responsible mining uh project. Yet several communities um from this area were not adequately compensated and they were displaced.
▶ 0:50:59in places like Cabo Degado as well in Mozambique there have been serious tensions as a result of projects that total energy um has been exploiting. So evidently it is not only the Chinese that are contributing and fueling conflict and exploitation of Africa's mineral resources. Um there are several other companies that are not Chinese that are also you know implicit.
▶ 0:51:23Um and and and and coming to to to to my conclusion, I want to make four recommendations on what the US government can do. One of the key things uh we think is is important is to rethink the engagement strategy with Africa particularly to secure critical minerals for shared prosperity.
▶ 0:51:42African governments are now banning export of unprocessed minerals in line with the recently launched Africa green mineral strategy which was just launched in Ethiopia and Adis Sababa last week and the idea is to compel beneficiaration and value addition of projects on the continent.
▶ 0:52:00This provides an opportunity for the US to strategically provide the requisite skills and knowledge by setting up refinary plans in partnership with actors. Secondly, while the US government is currently uh engaging with DRC for a deal for critical minerals for security, it should expand its engagement.
▶ 0:52:24uh we know of the the lobito um corridor you know deal with with Angola DRC and and Zambia. Of course Zimbabwe has been excluded out of this but one of the key things we know is that there is need for technical assistance around responsible mining traceability and responsible standards.
▶ 0:52:45Zimbabwe and many African countries are looking at potential partners to break the cycle uh of Chinese dominance and it is important for me to highlight that due to sanctions for countries like Zimbabwe they felt abandoned and China took advantage um and in some context because of the desperation to look for the lowest suitor available.
▶ 0:53:08um China became one of the investor that was that was there for the country to you know award mining deals. So I think we need to ensure that um as as as as the US government rethink its sanction regime on countries like Zimbabwe because um when sanctions were imposed by by the US government it created a void and companies that had disinvested created an opportunity for Chinese company.
▶ 0:53:36So I call upon the US government to also look at its sanction regime on Zimbabwe. Thirdly um I think uh my my speaker colleagues before me have already talked about providing alternative markets and diversifying the investment portfolio for the continent.
▶ 0:53:52But uh my last recommendation is supporting democratic uh or democracy and governance actors particularly NOS's that are working to improve the regulatory frameworks and enforcement uh capacity around state institutions because the role of civil society in exposing corruption human rights abuses cannot be understated.
▶ 0:54:14It is crucial for the US government I think to rethink again um foreign funding towards these institutions and for US companies um just three key recommendations. Um US companies that are contemplating on investing in Africa um they should set higher standards for environmental labor and governance. Um this is crucial for them to manage reputational risks and also avoid clashes with with the local populations.
▶ 0:54:43it is vital for for us to ensure that um we have something to compare with currently in in countries like Zimbabwe for instance there's nothing um to compare with so if you say Chinese are bad but there is more a lot of western investment that can be compared with to set uh you know the best practice or the benchmark US companies should also ensure that uh if they investing in Africa communities are benefiting from these natural resources uh by putting in place community benefit sharing mechan mechanisms
▶ 0:55:13around corporate social responsibility. This has been done somewhere and it has worked and lastly uh I think I want to emphasize um due diligence as as a key recommendations that there's proper due diligence where communities where the mirrors are being extracted are actually consulted in the process of audit. Um I think uh the colleagues before me have mentioned how some of the you know frameworks that are there are not um inclusive.
▶ 0:55:42You claim that uh a company has undertaken due diligence in a way where sitting up there in in Europe or in the US communities where the minerals coming from have actually not been consulted. Uh in conclusion, the US has an opportunity um to initiate and enter into critical mineral deals, more transparent manner with higher ESG standards and provide alternatives to counter Chinese dominance.
▶ 0:56:06With better options and alternatives, African governments may begin to see how certain deals that they've entered into with Chinese are predatory and not beneficial to them. This can also serve as an example of how responsible investments can be done.
▶ 0:56:21And thank you um over Thank you so very much for your testimony and um I have a number of questions but I'll just ask two because we do have such a a great turnout for this hearing underscoring the importance so many members on both sides of the aisle attribute to it. So I'll come back uh and ask other questions in the second round and anyone else who would like to do it then as well.
▶ 0:56:42You know, in 2008, I traveled to GMA uh when very credible reports surfaced that UN peacekeepers were raping young children as young as 12 and 13, bribing them um and and for for a meal uh were exploiting them sexually.
▶ 0:57:03Uh I went over there I chaired four congressional hearings on the issue and Kofi and Anne issued his zero tolerance policy which sounded good. Uh Jane Hall Loot from the UN came and testified uh very well-meaning and it was very sincere. Uh but at the end of the day, after uh lack of enforcement of the zero tolerance policy, I held an additional hearing about zero compliance with the zero tolerance policy.
▶ 0:57:31Uh because again, words are great, policies are great, but if they're not enforced, uh they are close to being meaningless, if not worse, because they give a false sense of hope. this year's um uh trafficking victims protection act the report the tip report for 2024 in DR Congo points out and I quote them in 2020 uh the DRC's Minister of Human Rights issued a decree increasing oversight of mining communities including a
▶ 0:58:01zero tolerance policy for forced child labor in the mining sector. However, the government did not report certifying any mines or identifying any potential victims uh during the reporting period. Uh and and very disturbing again well-meaning but what happened uh with regards to implementation. Um if we our witnesses could speak to that because you know these arteasonal minds are are catastrophic to children.
▶ 0:58:30obviously all the minds uh to when you have forced labor uh and and one of our previous hearings on this very issue pointed out that these children are not getting you know they shouldn't be there in the first place. It's child labor. It's it's a a violation of fundamental human rights, their rights, but they also don't have the right kind of gear. Uh so they're breathing in dust uh as they're in the case of cobalt mining and they get very sick. Uh some die, but many get very very sick.
▶ 0:58:58and the long-term consequences are absolutely deletterious to their to their lives. So, if you could speak to that and and parenthetically along the same lines, you know, uh the GAO general accountability office or government accountability office issued a report on section 1502 of the DoddFrank Act.
▶ 0:59:18uh and it pointed out that s in 2023 62% of the companies did did perform due diligence to determine the responsible source of conflict minerals uh and they are unable to determine the mineral source. So again things get blocked well-meaning but it doesn't and finally I'll just point out um you know I've been very very concerned because I've chaired 106 congressional hearings uh on human rights in China.
▶ 0:59:44Um, I do chair the China Commission and I'm shocked at how they exploit their own labor, how they, you know, whether it be in Shing Jang or anywhere else. Uh, you know, the use of forced labor is is prevalent throughout all of China. And that same mindset and that same sense of exploitation is carried right into Africa uh as they procure things like cobalt uh and again child and and adult forced labor. And what's what's it all about when it comes to cobalt?
▶ 1:00:14you know the the China share of the global electric vehicles uh in this past year 2024 skyrocketed to 76% a fourth of all the EVs in Europe are coming from China. Uh so this is all about making more money on the backs of children African children uh and on the backs of their parents.
▶ 1:00:36Uh so if you could speak to those issues, you know, including this this lack of real due diligence, the lack of enforcement of a zero tolerance policy that sounded great when it was issued. Thank you so much, uh Chairman Smith. I think it's you just characterize characterize it correctly.
▶ 1:00:59uh we need to be I think we need to be very demanding uh in terms of accountability zero policy. Um from my modest experience living here in the US I know we mean well we try to help uh we try to help but we really have to be very direct particularly in places like the DRC because in these countries are actually the officials who are supposed to enforce the laws and the policy in the country. So if they don't do that, we can do that.
▶ 1:01:29So I like to think that uh yeah, we have to put a lot of pressure on the official in these countries to make sure they're actually enforcing their own policy and own laws and punish actually people who are doing bad stuff. Um I just wanted to encourage I thank you for the tips question because uh I'm going to I'm going to share an industry kind of trick that I've been using that has helped us. So, we've been monitoring, like I said, the school attendance levels.
▶ 1:01:58Um, that data is very valuable because we know that if we start to see the school attendance levels to drop, we need to start looking for where these kids are going. Um so any I think the future tips report should uh find a way to include these these data points of uh in attendance levels uh in mining areas something worth monitoring because from an industry practice of due diligence I I use it to say okay look we need to start looking uh at this uh and then uh from due diligence
▶ 1:02:28side you know the the big the big issue is that um due diligence is seen as a western uh demand or you know and there's no local buyin in in due diligence. But if we can translate this due diligence demand uh locally like the example I used of pastor didday you know about the go that notion exists locally but if you can get buyin from uh you know like I say whether it's the local school principal the local fishers union the mothers of the of the children um they they do
▶ 1:02:58have buyin on the environment. So, that being said, I think if we could get more more of the local uh mining communities involved in due diligence processes and even getting their signatures on the certification, uh it will render more effective and even enforcement because then the community will be like, you don't have our certification, why are you here?
▶ 1:03:18you know, so yeah, I would just add that um it's this system systematic kleptocracy that is the heart of exactly what you're talking about, Chairman Smith. I met a mining inspector in the DRC um who told me, "Frankly, I live on the back of the local population, and I'm incentivized to uh to to get money from them and then pass the money up the chain, otherwise they'll replace me here." Um, and to change that system, you need transparency,
▶ 1:03:48accountability, and incentives for a clean trade. Um, I think the legislation that you highlighted needs to be needs to be kept because it's a baseline. Without that, you have the free-for-all that we had before when you visited in 2008.
▶ 1:04:02Um and congalles a whole group of congalles civil society organiza organizations over a hundred of them wrote during the first Trump administration saying if you repeal this conflict minerals act um that that it would be reactivated the terrorist networks and in the armed groups which would be very bad. Um uh but it needs to be supplemented by other measures to incentivize responsible investment like Ti mentioned which is very important.
▶ 1:04:29Um there is such a thing as the Burma responsible investment reporting requirements. Um and uh we can follow on that. We can have awards for responsible investment from the state department and others. Um and then we need a better system to trace these minerals that is much more accountable and transparent.
▶ 1:04:48Terry highlighted this Izzky system that has failed and the responsible minerals initiative suspended them and you know unless they're seriously reformed or replaced you know that really needs to be much more transparent on the ground and we need a better system for gold which we which we talked about only those kind of things plus incentivizing legal artisal mining then you know if it's if it's legal if people are following the law children will not be there at least of a certain age so I think those kind of things can help thanks Thank you,
▶ 1:05:20Mr. Bore. Thank you so much for for the question. I think um for me um you know the there's a cocktail of tools that can be utilized to to address the problem. Um my colleagues told me they mentioned importance of due diligence.
▶ 1:05:39uh and when you look at due diligence in in most cases um um I think two months ago I visited um a lithium project it's a project owned by uh a Chinese company by the name Sichuan ya um basically this company has um they have they have they have a joint venture with the the Zimbaban government and they're mining lithium and you get into their community and they ask them
▶ 1:06:09um have they ever been consulted about this project that they you know that has been you know exploited by this this company. Most of them they have never been consulted but there is an environmental impact assessment report that was you know approved by by Emma which is the regulator and you start asking so how you do have a legislation that requires uh environmental management agency to you know sort of like approve only if there's consultation that are inclusive and
▶ 1:06:39communities have not been consulted. So you see that institutions they might not actually be implementing the law that exist. You have institutions that are not necessarily doing their duty and the law exist. Then you you send a prob you asking this this these guys so where are you sending your lithium to? Who are you buying?
▶ 1:07:00They start telling you we are buying we are selling to to companies like BMW to to LG to Tesla and some of them were even saying Tesla was you know in Zimbabwe doing due diligence. I I live the the company I go to the community if you ever heard of a company by the name Tesla here.
▶ 1:07:19So one of the key things that I need to insist when tech companies are doing due diligence they shouldn't just rely on the data that they get from the mining companies themselves. They have to go to the traditional leaders in the area. The local leaders will give them more information about how their you know community members are being impacted by the project. I'll end there. Thank you. Thank you Miss Jacobs. Thank you.
▶ 1:07:48Um, as as we've discussed already, there is a long history of exploitation in the mining sector on the African continent. Exploitation has emanated from not just Chinese companies, but from other foreign too. So, if we're serious about preventing and addressing exploitation in this sector, we need to address the core drivers rather than just focus on one specific actor. So, Mr.
▶ 1:08:10Bor, I was hoping you could explain why exploitation and corruption is so rampant in the mining industry and why are so many companies able to take advantage and often get away with corruption, exploitation and diversion of minerals. Um thank you so much uh for for that question and for me I think um exploitation and corruption in the mining sector um is a systematic issue that is driven by a combination of vectors uh both you know governance challenges lack of
▶ 1:08:40regulatory um you know power imbalances between the state the west government and also the multinational companies in most instances uh multinational companies are able to negotiate bills because of the power imbalances and in many African countries mining you know operations are taking place in a politically unstable and you know economically very fragile environment where institutions are very weak and oversight mechanisms are you know sometimes
▶ 1:09:11compromised um so there are a number of factors and why companies you know um exploiting so I mentioned earlier on during my my address the issue of resourcebacked loans Um I think um it's one of the key things that we have noticed because almost all the loan agreements that are extended to African governments by Chinese financial institutions they are not known in the public.
▶ 1:09:36No one can scrutinize them and minerals are you know collateralized you know for future mineral for for for for future mineral production but no one really knows and even the estimate of the value of the minerals that are being collateralized um you know for purpose of infrastructure development.
▶ 1:09:54So that's one of the key factors I think if African countries could have access to credit and not use you know resourcebacked loans as a strategy to you know to to get access to finance for development we could I think break the cycle um the other thing is regulatory capture I think uh this point has been overemphasized um I'll end there thank you thank you Mr. Legend have anything to add? Thanks for the great question.
▶ 1:10:24Um, I would say two reasons. Uh, transp lack of transparency and lack of real accountability. Um, you highlighted the excellent case um, that the US government sanctioned a UAE based gold refiner for sourcing from the rapid support forces in Sudan. That's just the tip of the iceberg. That was one company. There's a whole supply chain there of RSF companies and UAE based companies that are you know uh trading uh uh ten tens of tons of gold per year um and and fueling that conflict.
▶ 1:10:53Uh we need to go much more much deeper and much more robustly into those networks to hold them accountable. Um I think number two is there needs to be transparency um to level the playing field for all companies. So the extractive industries transparency initiative is a great example of that. Chinese, Russian, whoever, whatever company is extracting minerals in that country has to play by those rules. Now there needs to be better enforcement um of the EITI standard.
▶ 1:11:22So for example, they did they they now require contract transparency. Only 26% of the countries implementing this contract transparency are actually fully disclosing all the contracts. DRC is a great example of that. So there needs to be more followup and and on that transparency but um once you level the playing field then um you can really start to eliminate some of that uh exploitation.
▶ 1:11:45So, um, I think we highlighted some of some of the ways and and you know, on that transparency front, you know, the the gold trade data right right now is 2 years old if you're trying to get access to this. And so, the sanctions bodies are just, you know, playing catchup with people with these smugglers. Um, very few of whom have been sanctioned. Um, we need a much better system.
▶ 1:12:06the the industry is developing this thing called the gold bar integrity uh initiative which um the US government needs to to play uh to to work together on them. U we should not be behind this curve um we should be working with industry to to help lead these initiatives. Thank you. And since you brought up um the role of the UAE gold trade in Sudan, I just want to highlight that in 2022 over $30 billion in gold was smuggled from the African continent to the UAE.
▶ 1:12:36And this illicit trade has fueled conflicts in the DRC, South Sudan and Sudan, where UAE based companies have purchased gold from the RSF as we mentioned who is committing genocide. Um, you know, you talked a little bit about how the US can take more actions against UAE based companies. Could you elaborate on on how the US should hold these companies accountable?
▶ 1:12:56And beyond in Sudan, where it's become very clear the role that the UAE is playing, what other concerns are associated with Emirat Emirati mining companies involvement in the mining Sure. Yeah, great question. Thank you for highlighting that and for for your leadership on this on this issue. Um, we really need a better system to independently monitor global gold trading centers. The UAE, Hong Kong, Switzerland, Brazil.
▶ 1:13:23Um, there there are certain choke points where illegal gold, whether it's from Venezuela, Sudan, with the genocide happening, Congo, etc. Um, are are going, right? And and so, um, the the Kimberly process for conflict diamonds actually provides a useful window into how to do this. So, they have independent monitoring teams that can go and inspect and certify these global gold trading centers, especially these gold cash for gold markets.
▶ 1:13:50If you're trying to buy uh if you're trying to sell gold um in the UAE or or some of these other places, including Hong Kong, you can just get cash for a slight discount and nobody's really following up. Um, and so, you know, I think it would be a a great opportunity for Secretary of State Marco Rubio to help lead this with industry who actually put pressure on the UAE and other gold trading centers in 2020. Um, and then basically those centers did almost nothing.
▶ 1:14:19Um, and and now that pressure has been backed off. So, I I think it's imperative on industry to to hold um these global global gold trading centers feet to the fire. um and also for banks to uh conduct enhanced due diligence. They have a key role to play. Um the these these centers need um uh finance and and banking systems and so uh banks can play a key role in that. Thank you. I yield back. Dr. Jackson. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
▶ 1:14:48Uh on Sunday, I just returned from a visit to the DRC. I went to the DRC, Rwanda, the Republic of the Congo, Bundi, and Uganda. I met with the president in the DRC, the president in the Republic of Congo, the president in Bundi, uh, and the president in Rwanda. Um, I, uh, I left encouraged in some ways and discouraged in other ways, as you can imagine. I, uh, I feel like that there is unbelievable potential in the area uh, for peace and security and for the the killing and the bloodshed to stop.
▶ 1:15:18Uh, the resources there are just uh, through the roof. Tens of trillions of dollars in resources. uh you know DRC could be one of the wealthiest countries on the entire planet. Um but I do believe that certain things have to happen and I don't know exactly what the answer is to get there.
▶ 1:15:36I think that you know for for for this to exist uh there the Eastern DRC has to be an area where everyone has a vested interest in the safety and security and the ability for foreign uh companies to come in and invest in the area. And when I say everybody, I mean the DRC. I mean I mean Bundi. I mean Uganda and Rwanda. Everybody that's there. We we all know right now that the Eastern DRC is a completely ungoverned area. It's like the wild wild east, right?
▶ 1:16:05And I I truly believe that uh there is no ability for the for the government in Kinasha to actually control that area right now. They do not have the resources or the ability to really like impact what's happening there. uh and they are are are actually becoming to in my in my mind just another entity there that is trying to take advantage of uh the resources there and get what they can uh and everyone's doing it. We know this, right?
▶ 1:16:32We know that uh you know the Uganda is is is uh you know bringing minerals in from there. Rwanda is doing it. Bundi is doing it. Everyone is doing it. Uh and there's really nothing there to stop them. I I think that uh the the Congalles government has to do a couple of things.
▶ 1:16:47uh one they have to address a domestic issue right uh there are a large number of people in the congalles uh that are not congali citizens that are not treated as congalles citizens including most of the members of M23 so on and so forth now you know M23 is a rebel group and you know uh you know uh we we know that there's a there's there's an influence there and there's a there's a component of the Rwanda defense forces you know the Rwanda military but honestly M23 with or without Rwanda
▶ 1:17:17right now is pretty much uncontested in the area. They're do they're just doing anything they want right now and the Congolese military is not even fighting back right now. As a matter of fact, they're just running away ahead of M23 or in some cases they're laying down their weapons and they're joining M23. Right. Uh so I think that the Congalles government's in a bad position here. But I do believe, you know, it's been a long-standing issue. It is my understanding that there are certain people in the Eastern DRC that are unrecognized as Congalles citizens.
▶ 1:17:46And that maybe in part because this used to be Rwanda before the the lines were redrawn many years ago. And you know and that used to be part of Rwanda. Uh but I would submit to you that there's a large part of Uganda that also used to be uh it used to be Rwanda as well. And after it's been redrawn now it's Uganda. Those people were immediately assimilated and treated as Ugandan citizens. But that has not happened in the in in the DRC. And I think that's part of the problem.
▶ 1:18:13I think that this domestic issue has to be addressed that everyone in the region, everyone in the country has to be treated as a congregate citizen with all the rights and privileges of such. I think that this is a difficult thing to do, but I think at some point the armed resistance of M23 are not going to just put down their weapons and walk away. I think that they are an armed resistance. There has to be an effort somehow to incorporate them into the Congolese military and make them feel like Congolese citizens that are protecting their country, not what's going on right now.
▶ 1:18:43Uh I think that that that's one of the problems. I think the other problem is that uh they they have the domestic problem or they have the international problem obviously uh which mainly focuses right now with around the relationship with Rwanda. And I think that there has to be an ability for Rwanda and the president. I talked to Kagami. I talked to Shik Shikashetti. I talked to both of them. And I think that the one of the biggest problems right now is personally they can't get along.
▶ 1:19:12And I think that at some point people have to put their personal differences aside. This has to be a region that's beneficial for everybody that everybody sees profit and everybody everybody has a reason for that to be an area of stability, right? And I think that I don't know the answer to this for sure, but uh the the neighboring countries have to benefit from the in minerals that are in the eastern DRC as well.
▶ 1:19:34Whether that's they have some refining capability and the minerals are mined there and refined elsewhere or you know uh there's a refin there's a refining capability in the DRC, refining capability in Rwanda. Everybody has an ability to to make some money from what's going on there. Then I think everyone will have an interest in making sure that this is a safe and secure area. They're going to need foreign investment to come in. They're going to need intern other countries businesses to want to come and operate there.
▶ 1:19:59Right now, that can't happen because there's not the required level of safety and security and there's not the lack of corruption. It doesn't, you know, there's going to be a certain level of corruption everywhere you go. But, you know, when I was there, I was shocked at at the level of corruption there. I talked to a Swiss company this morning and they told me that their company was worth something like $18 billion and they got a tax bill last year uh for their company for $80 billion, which is ridiculous, right?
▶ 1:20:22And so they they protested it and they got it reduced to a billion dollars, which is still hundreds of times more than the profits that they make in the year. So they're they're being taxed at an unreasonable rate. The bribes obviously are a big deal. The Chinese can afford to pay the bribes or they they're they're willing to pay the bribes and you know, we as United States are not. Many countries are not willing to do that. So they end up uh being able to compete without competition. Uh there's a biased justice system as well.
▶ 1:20:47You can never be assured that if you go there and something you get into some kind of legal uh disagreement that it's going to be a fair judgment, you know, and they're going to rule in your favor if you're in the right. Uh there's manipulated exchange rates. Uh there's unreasonable fines. Uh you know, there's evidence everywhere that members of the government and their family are getting filthy rich from what's going on there while the population there is starving and, you know, and and living in a you know, in a horrible environment. Um I I think that we have to come up with a way to fix this.
▶ 1:21:18Uh I think that until that happens, a lot of this other stuff is not going to matter. Uh I don't know the answer to this, but I would like to get your opinion each of you. Do you think that in the current situation that we're in um that um and obviously there's other issues too I just want to mention too just for the record, but you know there are some it's not all financial. Now, I think a large part of it's being driven by the financial benefit from the minerals there, but I do think that there are other issues at hand, too.
▶ 1:21:43I do think that Rwanda has a legitimate concern regarding FDLR and the terrorist threat on their border as well. They have a tourism industry that they have to uh protect that's up in the uh in the northwestern part of their country that's really right on the border with population centers there. If uh if mortars and rockets start landing there, there's no more tourism there.
▶ 1:22:03Uh I saw you know maps and you know this because you're from there from the area you've been there uh some of you and you know it's you know the city of GMA uh is I it's on the border and it's one continuous city that goes into DRC and there's no there's no uh you know differentiation. So it it there has to be some level of of security in that regard as well.
▶ 1:22:22So, we need to figure out how we get these uh these governments together and we come up with a reasonable way that everyone can profit financially from partnerships there uh so that they all want to see a level of safety and security there and that everyone feels secure because everyone is fighting some type of rebel group as well.
▶ 1:22:40you know, whether it's uh ADF and the Islamic uh group that's up, you know, that Uganda's engaged with or whether it's uh you know, FDLR fighting uh to, you know, overcome uh or you know, M23 fighting to overcome FDLR so on and so forth. Um but my question is, do you guys one at a time, I'd like you to answer me. Do you think that the current uh the current existing government in the DRC has the ability to to do what I'm describing? Mr.
▶ 1:23:11Ingar, you want to start? Uh, thank you, sir. Uh, and if not, what do you think? What do you think the answer is in brief terms? First of all, uh, thank you so much for your attention to this ongoing crisis in the Congo, in the region, and I appreciate very much to bring the attention about this crisis been going for quite decades right now. Um, and I feel very fortunate partic about my fellow citizens in particular in GMA. Here's the thing.
▶ 1:23:38When I look at this problem, I think to find a solution is possible and let me use a story. Uh when I was at West Point 10 years ago, I was actually running cadet and I hope they listen to me. We went along very well, very very well. Actually, we actually good friends. So in other words, peace is possible in that region. I just hope that the leaders particularly DRC, they understand that it's possible. Uh and I really agree with I think they just raised. Yes, sir.
▶ 1:24:06Um there's a lot of problem the DRC side but at the same time the DRC side as well has to understand the problems of the Iranian concerns which is true absolutely true if you look at the UN reports that have been coming out the past four years uh abs with absolutely evidences there were collaboration between the senior far officers with I'm not making that up it's right UN report why did the government tolerate that now see the consequences on the other hand u about for example
▶ 1:24:36the resources along those lines. I think there is a lot of existing mechanism economic political uh we just need to enforce them so that uh you know they can bring regional stability for example which I think is quite frankly one of the best things ever if the regional country actually focus on it with the adab agreement.
▶ 1:24:59uh and keep in mind that the ADISAB agreements came right right after the M23 again uh simply what's the you know all the regional country in particular the DRC government had to focus on implementing those policy recommendations that were in that agreement including firing the corruptions good implementing good governance and security sector reform but what have seen over the past let's say uh 10 years I think since the agreement was signed really we saw a little progress.
▶ 1:25:29Now people can argue the president security has arrived has you not have much time but come on you know 70 I think is enough to show u what to do or the limits of what they can do uh but I like to think that particularly so come back to your question you know I like to be optimistic uh but I'm not seeing any positive sign from the kinasa particularly to try to address some of the root causes of how This conflict has come
▶ 1:25:59so bad to the point of you know bringing the region again back to the mess we saw back in '90s and particularly because and again I point out the UN reports which are very very actually I always like it when all side contested report it mean it's credible it's correct because it's not point one side yeah uh for example when they for example the government collapse if anybody was reading quite carefully objective was happening behind the scene it was predictable it was really predictable um for many reason I know there was no mil strategy it just some kind of maybe a looting system from
▶ 1:26:29the DRC elites in Kenasa instead try to uh to do what is correct but anyway sir I I'm optimistic I'm very optimistic I hope that uh prince security all the efforts uh I saw the meeting in the do I think I hope they read it somewhere but most importantly I would like to really emphasize on Washington sir Washington most of these guys are looking at the Washington leadership uh they're looking up to Washington particularly Trump administration what they going to We have the G20 summit coming up in November.
▶ 1:26:59Uh I really hope the traumat will be engaged. I think it did not look good for all the leaders in the world uh to be in Johannesburg or Cape Town with a mess just in the backyard. So we still have some time I think to do what we can uh and somehow bring to a successful conclusion along those lines. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you doctor um for your engagement on this issue. Uh see you really been been boots on the ground there.
▶ 1:27:28Uh I I uh have uh conducted due diligence in DRC for about four years and up until now I still have not been able to approve some of the traders and investors that I that wanted to go there. They're mad at me but you know I'm doing my job. Um the re and so I think that goes to answer your first question about the ability. um you know Christ said you judge a tree by its fruits and uh the past seven years the fruits you know um have not been uh uh tasteful.
▶ 1:27:59So um what I would say is um the as far as the answer to that ability I think the president himself president is juggling with that question. I think he's come to terms that that uh his he hasn't had the ability and he's talked about a government reshuffleling. If there's a government reshuffleling that shows a drastic change in difference perhaps you know that would you know embolden my answer to say yes he give him a chance another chance of to show their ability.
▶ 1:28:30Um and then uh apart from that I would say uh where the US can play a role in helping with the ability. One thing the US really does well is business. Um, and when I even business between states and the US could help broker this business deal between all the parties. Um, me being in the industry space, I'm seeing this trend that I'm I'm briefing Treasury on it every once in a while.
▶ 1:28:56Um, central banks are getting involved in the all over Africa, you're starting to see central bank gold purchasing programs happening. So now, you know, in Tanzania, their central bank is purchasing gold. Ghana, their central bank is purchasing gold. And it's very interesting because central banks uh have sovereign immunity. So uh in a way we we can't sanction a central bank. So you have to be very careful with these programs that they're not masking bad behavior. But if they get involved in the market, it has a huge consolidating uh uh impact.
▶ 1:29:25So um you know if the DRC central bank became a a gold purchaser a local gold purchaser and you know the other they have um central auh the the CEC it's a community of uh East African states which includes Rwanda, Uganda no Rwanda, Burundi DRC and Congo Brazville and Central African Republic. So there are they already have a framework to collaborate economically.
▶ 1:29:54So if the US could be helpful in getting those interests aligned, it could have an impact on the ground. And I just want to make one important point. There's a huge difference between the government that you deal with and the people on the ground. The people are I mean in Congo there's so many tribes we're used to, you know, intermarriage. Even my wife, she's from another tribe. Uh you know, I come from the Congo tribe.
▶ 1:30:19she's from, you know, and so it's it's it's the people what you're seeing happening among the corrupt elites sometimes does is is not a reflection of the people. So I think pieces I think that's part of the problem. Exactly. People see this too. Yeah. First of all, thank you so much for traveling to the region, Dr. Jackson. Um I I viewed your trip from afar and and really salute you for heading out there during this very challenging time. Um I liked your uh phrase the the wild wild east. I think we need to use that more.
▶ 1:30:48Um, first of all, I would say to your question, the DR it, you know, any solution needs to start with the fact that the DRC is the DRC. There's talk of, you know, annexing parts of it and so forth. The DRC is a sovereign country and needs to remain as such. Um, having said that, I think there absolutely is uh uh the possibility of a symbiotic relationship between the DRC, Rwanda, Uganda, Burundi, and other countries.
▶ 1:31:15Um, we've outlined that in several papers that we wrote during the last M23 crisis. Um, and I think that started to be followed for some time and then people were tempted by illicit exploitation and smuggling and and criminal activity um on all sides really. Um, you highlighted that the the DRC military units have have aided and emedded a terrorist group, the the FDLR, and that continues.
▶ 1:31:43Um, so any relationship that that can be symbiotic has to be based on transparency and accountability. Those who have been aiding and abetting the M23, those who have been aiding and abetting the FDLR, they need to be held accountable. The United looking to the United States, are they going to do that or not? The European Union has actually taken some advanced action um compared to what we have done. Um, but the Trump administration did, you know, sanction some Rwanda officials in M23, which was very good. It was a useful start.
▶ 1:32:12Um there needs to be a much better system for tracing and auditing um the gold and the and the the other critical minerals who that are in the east um so that it's much more transparent um so that you know uh there can be processing facilities on the congalles side and processing facilities on the Rwanda side and everyone's very clear in a multistakeholder framework where there's real as Terry said you can't just trust people to say oh yeah sure it's conflict free well guess what it's not so
▶ 1:32:42we need to have real monitoring teams out there um and the ICGLR I think is a is a good mechanism to try to do that but we need more support to that system um uh such that it can be um uh you know actually workable um I I think that uh the last point I would say is that you know we need more democratic um governance in the DRC and and it's not really democratic at the moment and that really needs to um be reformed
▶ 1:33:12and amended and shifted. Thank you. Thank you so much uh Dr. Justin for for the question. Um I'm probably not the most qualified to speak about this uh you know conflict in DC.
▶ 1:33:34telling my colleagues who been uh in the in the area and if they I think a better you know place to uh but I think speaking from um you know my my understanding of um you know some of the drivers of the conflict um I think um there are two processes that have happened at the regional level um one uh the process that you know the Lwanda process led by the the Angalan president they
▶ 1:34:04tried to you know bring the two DRC and Wanda to you know to the table as well as the Nairobi um you know process and I think these two processes um in a way should have at least uh you know deescalated the conflict.
▶ 1:34:20Unfortunately, I think um you know the the government in Kinasa is not buying into um you know the the negotiation and demands and um currently I think Angola is trying to bring them to the table and one of the conditions now is um the M23 is saying we also want to be on the negotiating table. So governments can negotiate but the leaders of the group also want to so to to be part of that negotiation which I think is is quite important.
▶ 1:34:49Of course you cannot support you know uh you know these groups to be part of uh you know formal processes but we have to accept that the situation is reached another level that uh it calls for you know uh these measures that are not usually what one would would want. So the DRC government should accept that at least we need to have you know leaders of the these groups to also come and understand what really their interests are.
▶ 1:35:18Um then the other thing is around strengthening you know the institutions uh state institutions really I think um you know D is a vast country it's quite big and um and and you know arguments that we have also heard that it's quite difficult to manage you know such a big country with enormous resources so many people with with with interest but um I mean the US also I think can play a role um through you know this um crypto or security
▶ 1:35:48um partnership do um and come up with some sort of like you know uh since DRC is already you know seeking to partner with the US that can also be you know one of the preconditions to to to to stabilize the region. Thank you. Thank you. And I'll just close by saying I think there's incredible opportunity here.
▶ 1:36:08I think that the new administration, President Trump's administration, uh sees the he they want this the bloodshed and the violence in the eastern DRC to stop, but they also see the US uh national security interest in the area and that's uh DRC in particular, but all of the continent of Africa. And I think that if we can't get this fixed, uh, if we can't, uh, you know, develop this safety and security and the stability in the area, the people that win every time are the corrupt governments that are making money from it and the Chinese who thrive in this type of environment and on occasion the Russians.
▶ 1:36:38Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Oeski. Thank you very much, uh, Chairman Smith, Ranking Member Jacobs, and to all of our witnesses. Um, I want to just say clearly, uh, we have an abundance of resources here, uh, but also no shortage of concerns and so worthy of our time and attention. So, I thank you, uh, again for calling us together.
▶ 1:37:01I also just want to reinforce the point, uh, that ranking member Jacobs made earlier, uh, about, um, you know, if we're serious about exploitation, just making sure that we're taking the the holistic view of of things here. uh certainly concerned about uh the impact of what uh the CCP is doing, but also thinking about those issues of transparency, economic opportunity that so many of you raised today. And so I want to just thank you uh for that.
▶ 1:37:25Um it's probably no surprise to members of this subcommittee that I'm especially uh appalled and interested in the stories of children uh who are victims of the sector that is fueled by violence, corruption, and cruelty. We know that there are as many as 40,000 child laborers in the cobalt mines. Now, uh just this year between January and February, more than 400 children in the Eastern DRC were recruited by armed actors with some as young as 14 uh being as young as 14 years old.
▶ 1:37:54Um we know that these children earn as little as $2 a day and face deadly landslides, hazardous conditions, and diseases, but continue to abandon school and work due to poverty and hunger. Um, we know that um, Mr. Dangola, I appreciated you mentioning um, the ways in which uh, gold mining investments often reduce in less students in school. I appreciated also your comments about monitoring attendance levels in mining areas as we address these concerns.
▶ 1:38:23Um, it's a real concern. Uh, the human capital index for the DRC is at.37. uh that means that a congalles child born today rece will achieve only about 37% of their full potential um compared to what would be if they had that full quality education healthcare it's one of the lowest scores uh in the world staggering 97% of 10year-olds in the DRC cannot read and understand a simple text uh and so in this committee and elsewhere I will just continue to bang the drum about the
▶ 1:38:53importance of um education among those other supports um certainly ly uh any successful strategy strategy to address China's exploitation uh and support for Africa's use of its critical mineral sector uh must include these supports for families, children, and local communities.
▶ 1:39:10Uh and so um I I will note um in 2019 there were a number of large companies that do benefit from this cobalt mining uh such as BMW and Samsung that launched the cobalt for development uh program with the stated goal of supporting safer and more ethical practices. uh these initiatives included better access for education for congalles children which can help provide opportunity and reduce the prevalence of child labor and mines. I guess my question then uh maybe for Mr. Dungala and Mr.
▶ 1:39:37uh board just in in the interest of time um you know can you talk a little bit more about what initiatives have been most effective in supporting educational outcomes uh and providing those alternative alternative options for income for child minors across Africa?
▶ 1:39:53uh and then if you could answer the question especially in the context of uh without the presence of U US USA USID and the ways in which those programs have been just gutted um in recent months um so that we can scale um the programs that can work uh to counter CCP dominance in the region and ensuring those critical extractions support local communities rather than exploiting them. Thank you, Congressman.
▶ 1:40:21Uh it's uh it's very refreshing to see uh someone so engaged on you know it's a business question but it's also a community question. Um and uh so from um the private sector side some of the uh initiatives that we've done um usually there has to be a co when a when a mining company or a processing plant is established either in Zambia DRC Ghana I think Kivoir they all have this same framework where the community the village leader there needs to
▶ 1:40:51be an agreement with the village and this agreement has the most of the families that are impacted by the education their children not going to school are going to be signitories to this agreement. The this uh the village that signs off on this community agreement for mining should have provisions on education. Say, "Hey, are your children still attending school? How many children do you have?" Lean on that community agreement that the mining company has.
▶ 1:41:17And all the big companies have them from Bareric down to the smallest, you know, even the Chinese when they have to, they have to get some sort of community agreement where they're mining. It's just that that community agreement is just, you know, some random document that everyone kind of makes up and it doesn't have real teeth. But if you start to require that that agreement, you know, monitors education. Hey, are your children that we we as a community sign off that you know the that uh we are committing our children to staying in school in the midst of these mining operations.
▶ 1:41:45Something that at least uh gets their attention on the issue and then from there I think initiatives can build on. That's what we've been doing. Um, and I hope others can can do more. All right.
▶ 1:42:05Uh so so I think for me um you know better access to better access to education is one of the most effective ways to you know reduce child labor by exploitation in the mining sector and particularly in the DRC where we have this staggering statistics of you know children as young as you know 10 and then 14 not being able to read and write and and child labor I think in the mining sector is often driven by by poverty and lack of economic opportunities and even um you know social protection
▶ 1:42:35systems and when families can cannot afford school fees um you know ultimately children are forced to you know contribute to the household income by working in this dangerous uh you know mining conditions and what I think in terms of what those mechanisms in terms of providing access to education could do um you know you talked about the coat for development which um is quite a noble initiative that is focused on improving access to education and supporting safer mining practices particularly
▶ 1:43:05for artisal cobalt communities. Um but beyond I think there are other initiatives that we have seen um in DRC I think in 2019 the government also introduced a nationwide free education uh policy. While this is quite an interesting program and increased school enrollment and challenges around you know overcrowding classrooms and teacher shortages I think more needs to be done.
▶ 1:43:31Um you may also be aware of the World Bank education program uh which has supported several education pro um you know um opportunities in DRC including funding for school construction, teacher training and curriculum development. But of course these are not the only ones. UNICEF and even the international labor organizations have come up with some of you know important mechanisms to support children to access education in in the DRC.
▶ 1:44:00But one last one I think um the US could also contribute is around conditional cash transfer programs that you know provide financial incentives to families for keeping their children in school and this has been really successful in countries like Ghana where this has actually been implemented and I think is something that can also be borrowed for the DRC context. Thank you. Great. Thank you all. Thank you Mr. Chairman. Thank you Miss Radwig. Lava.
▶ 1:44:30Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And I want to thank you all for being here today as we examine the impact of how China's involvement in mining in in Africa uh is uh and being from the Pacific Islands, I care deeply about what's going on. Uh so I'd appreciate the perspective of each of you.
▶ 1:44:54What way can we make existing legislation or regulations like the Frank Dodd section 1502 account for community buyin to the certification process or encourage Africa moral sovereignty over the certification Mr. Lash? Sure. Thank you so much for the question. Very very good one.
▶ 1:45:17you know, when when this legislation was originally drafted and and I happen to be around at that time as well, um there were provisions that were added on to it or that were part of it that were there to support certification um and support for artisal mining communities in the DRC and and in the region.
▶ 1:45:37Um, and then when that piece of legislation and I think believe in the House it was called the Conflict Minerals Trade Act in the Senate it was had another name when it got folded into the wider Wall Street reform bill um some of those sections got stripped out and there was money attached to those um and uh it's it's um I think it would be very helpful if Congress could uh could allocate some support to um the artisal mining communities and for certification because as we've seen as you know um the other witnesses highlighted
▶ 1:46:08The governments of the region are very corrupt and uh they have corrupted some of these systems and we need some better international independent monitoring and some support for alternative livelihoods both to eliminate child labor as well as you know get some of these arm groups to make sure there's real you know inspections of these mines happening. Um and you know it's all there on paper but you know is it going to be actually implemented?
▶ 1:46:34Um I sat on the the the governance board of a organization that's a US government um private initiative called the public p private alliance for responsible minerals trade um which is a great organization has supported efforts like that on the ground but it's really been a drop in the bucket.
▶ 1:46:50So, I I would um call on Congress to support those kind of initiatives more robustly so that we can really begin to um uh you know eliminate the the the smuggling and the the illicit actors um that that have that have stepped into some of those voids. Mr. Jungala, thank you, Congresswoman.
▶ 1:47:11Um I would say on the certification African moral sovereignty um my colleague Obert mentioned something about including village chiefs uh you know the role of the village chief in the Congo uh and in very in in many of the countries uh is is kind of a ceremonial role that is and in DRC law it is recognized there's a whole traditional court system that's recognized um getting the getting simply them to sign off on the community agreement
▶ 1:47:41is already required according to to law. But if certification, if they can be involved in certifying cuz now they're putting their moral obligation, their moral authority on the line. And usually in these communities, their moral authority is really all that they have. They kind of sometimes they trade in that which is very bad.
▶ 1:48:00but is starting to um starting to have them sign off that you know this is not hurting your community is uh a a step of accountability that could be taken Mr. N Grammo. Uh thank you ma'am. Uh and thank you so much for your interest in this question. Uh let me just put things in perspective a little bit.
▶ 1:48:22Uh when do Frank came out I was still pretty much in high school uh in GMA just to see how this has been going on and maybe a lot of progress on it. Uh but here's the thing. I think my colleague have already mentioned a lot about this and particularly Sasha and Nongala uh who have been working on this for a long long time. But I just uh insisted on make sure that we actually enforce our policy in the laws. I think it's really really come back to that if people don't see consequences of bad act or bad behavior they can really change.
▶ 1:48:52So which come back to transparency accountability. Uh I like as well to you know I think to relate to what congressman just mentioned education u thing you know most of these kids who work in these minds I think there was just a good opportunity uh they want to go to library they want to go to school know how to read and write and be able to access to you know information make critical judgment of their own future so uh we have to you know that's I really agree with congressman uh we have to
▶ 1:49:22make a particular uh We have to emphasize on education of communities. We have to build the grassroots uh providing first come with stability of their communities providing them the necessary needs like educations all kind of things uh basic infrastructure so that they can have a better future. Mr. Boore thank you congressman uh congresswoman for this question.
▶ 1:49:48So for me I think um my colleagues have already mentioned um some of the responses but one of the critical things I think um would be important is around supporting African governments in creating legal pathways for you know artist small scales to operate under license and and you know even access to financial services.
▶ 1:50:08Currently um a lot of African countries criminalizes artisal small scale mining and we know a lot of the problems emanate from the fact that in unregulated sector it's easy for it to be influenced um so I think you know if the artist smallcale mining sector is is is operationalized formalized rather um and and also supported in terms of access to finance for them to actually do the you know uh do the engines or certification process which is quite expensive
▶ 1:50:38for for small scale miners. I think that will I think also you know address some of the challenges around transparency and accountability. I think we need to en ensure that companies are able to publicly or compelled to publicly disclose um you know their due diligence practices and processes but but even the names of their suppliers you know to create more pressure on on accountability and and lastly uh while the dot act I think is quite you know a very important piece of legislation
▶ 1:51:08I think um the focus obviously has been on the three TGS um it could also be expanded to to other you know um so that we are able to catch them all. Uh so the limitation on the minerals the the the three TGS it needs to be expanded the scope of the of the dot I think that would also assist in particularly looking at emerging um mineral quality chains like lithium for instance. Thank you. Thank you Mr. Chairman.
▶ 1:51:36I yield back the balance of my Thank you very much uh Mr. Baird. Thank you Mr. Chairman and thank all of you witness for being here. We really appreciate you sharing your perspective about what's going on in Africa. But uh but Mr. UN ina did I pronounce that correctly? Yes sir.
▶ 1:52:06I want to congratulate you for graduating from the US Military Academy at West Point. Thank you. But then I want to I want to get into in your testimony you mentioned that um the trade between Africa and China is estimated at about 282 billion or so.
▶ 1:52:22And uh and it's going it's growing at about one and a half% And yet almost all the investment in in the mining and infrastructure sectors, this is according to your testimony, without long-term benefits to the countries and the gross domestic products, the GDPs of the populations there. So indeed, China routinely operates in the shadows of the governments that lack transparency.
▶ 1:52:49They care very little about accountability, transparency, human rights, and democracy. So I I picked up that she wished to to comment about the fact that political and social stability and prosperity in the DRC is essential to to our national security. So in that vein, my background, I'm interested in agriculture. I'm taking a long time, but I'm finally getting down to my question. Okay. I'm interested in Good time, sir. Yeah.
▶ 1:53:16Uh but increasingly we've received uh and received reports that the local populations are very angry with the Chinese companies because of the environmental disasters that are directly linked to their negligent business practices. So do you believe that African governments are increasingly dissatisfied with Chinese companies operating in their countries?
▶ 1:53:40And have the environmental disasters caused by Chinese companies affected the agricultural sector across the Can you repeat the question, sir? I I want to know I want to know if the Chinese practices and the destruction they've done to environmental issues in their country. Uh has that been a factor across the whole continent? Uh let me just mention the thing about the DRC because I've been tracking that closely.
▶ 1:54:10Uh my home country uh definitely the CCP practices in mining sector has been uh destructive the local populations. uh there are some credible report uh by for example the amnesty international which has shown that uh you know the lack of respect of environments uh pro the lack of providing let's say um adequate protective equipments to particularly young children who work in these mines have come to create some significant health problems
▶ 1:54:40uh to the childrens including destruction of the the environment and the drug is translating into social conflict u as we can see for example in it I think is one of the you know one of the case I think study we can look at now uh how that I think will translate to maybe some kind of uh dissatisfaction of the population across the country across the continent I think we have is rem to be seen but we can say that there's some definitely some trends uh and I think part of the reason why we are
▶ 1:55:10seeing all this conflict going around particularly DRC and and the May I add, Congressman? Um, you on the uh agricultural connection to um you know, we were doing some uh investigations in Ghana and there's a whole new term they call galamz which is this um you know wildcat kind of uh uh mining of gold and they pollute waterways all over the
▶ 1:55:41area. And the thing is that a lot of the conflicts in in Africa is between the cattle herders and the farm and the farmland owners. And for the longest time the farmland owners have been complaining about the cattle herders who come on their land and it causes you know tribal conflict. But now they're complaining about the illegal miners and this is in uh China. So um it's actually becoming a farming issue as far as the pollution.
▶ 1:56:08And a second point on that is that there's it's it's it's it's not a one-off issue, but we've seen it probably in three or four different countries, Chinese firms are going into uh conservation areas, which they're supposed to be protected, but it gives them also the anonymity and because no one is there, they're they can do it kind of without anyone looking. And so these conservation areas which are like you know usually ti uh you know you're allowed to farm around conservation areas.
▶ 1:56:38So a lot of farmers you know and these are small holder farmers you know they have a couple of acres they use it for subsistence farming feeding their families. They are the first ones to witness and also to feel the impact of illegal mining you know sponsored by the Chinese. So I just wanted to put that on the record too. I really appreciate that comment because when you think about agriculture and Africa has a lot of fertile land that could be used for agricultural production, but when you contaminate that soil, you're going to contaminate the food. And so, excellent point.
▶ 1:57:09Any any of the other two have any comments in that regard? That's a great question. Um, Congressman, I you know, um, the prices of some of these minerals are skyrocketing. We all know gold hit $3,000 an ounce for the first time a couple days ago. Um, and what does that do on the ground in countries like this? It just, you know, is a flurry of activity and when there's no rule of law, you know, it's it's it's the wild wild east as as Mr. Jackson said.
▶ 1:57:36So, um, uh, you know, uh, I think the the key is really the governance and the rule of law and and and reducing this corruption and and kleptocracy. Um, I've been to many mining communities in Congo where the alternative livelihood is farming, but nobody wants to do it because everyone can make a quick buck. Um, and and there's so many exploitative actors from armed groups to corrupt officials who are just going after these mines. Um, so you need a much better framework. Um, as Mr.
▶ 1:58:06Bor said, I fully support, you know, the the the the formalization of the artisal mining sector. give them property rights, give them legal areas to work, and then the same thing for the farms. Um, you know, ma make sure that that is formalized and that there's not bribes being paid paid everywhere. Um, and and um, you know, back earlier to Miss Ratwagan's um, uh, question, you know, we need um, some support for those alternative livelihoods and that's really in the farming communities.
▶ 1:58:37Um so if we can help reduce the corruption and and support the the the formalization um then I think that can go a long way to to uh to establishing better governance in this sector. Mr. Bor, you have any comments? Yes, Congressman. Yeah, thank you so much for the question.
▶ 1:58:56I think um you know Chinese mining operations um on the continent have had a significant negative impact on agriculture particularly through displacement uh environmental degradation water pollution soil contamination I think uh there's there's ample evidence of um communities that have been relocated that you know rely on subsistence farming um but also even some of them uh that have been relocated large scale farming I'll give an example of um a project that is owned
▶ 1:59:26by uh Cobb Jen Jiang Kobat um in Gorammonzi, the eastern part of um you know the capital city of of Zimbabwe. Um where um big commercial farmers were you know relocated just to pave way for lithium mining.
▶ 1:59:43Um and of course the communities also are you know complaining around the conflict on water resources for mining uh because of the the intensive amount of water required to process lithium um and also for farming. Um so already I think we are seeing the the connection and the linkages between how um you know mining by these Chinese companies you know through um illegal practices or irresponsible practice are fueling even food insecurity.
▶ 2:00:13Um I can also give another example of a BY supported project where I think about 30 community households were relocated from their you know village and they were moved to a perry urban area and they were given just around 400 um I think 450 uh square meters of land and these communities used to live on agriculture.
▶ 2:00:37So I think there's broad evidence to to show that um agriculture is being impacted um and also I mean there cases also from Sieron where mining by Shandong has also you know affected um agricultural production. So food security, you talk of you know subsistence living uh even livestock.
▶ 2:00:58Um as an organization as Zella um I think my colleague you also mentioned about you know moving into protected areas where Chinese companies are also now starting to explore mining particularly in national parks. You might have you know read in the news where we you know filed uh an application essentially um an interdict before the court um in Nari to um you know challenged the minister of mines who had granted uh a special grant.
▶ 2:01:28A special grant is essentially a special mining list which allowed this you know Chinese company to mine co in Huang which is the biggest national park in the country. So we are seeing that you know companies are also starting to you know move away from where you know naturally people live to go into protected areas where there's no less population but of course it's also impacting tourism which also brings another dimension in how you know mining in these areas is affecting um you
▶ 2:01:58know conservation efforts. Thank you. Thank all of you and I yield back. Mr. let me um you have one quick question because I have a series of questions. Oh, okay. Thank you. Let me um ask a few questions. I'll put them all out and then whichever ones you would like to answer, please do. You know, building on on Mr. Bard's comment about the uh local population's anger based on environmental degragation.
▶ 2:02:27How do you rate the environmental record of PRC mining companies in Africa compared to that of US and Western companies? Uh have African governments sought to hold Chinese companies responsible financially or criminally for environmental damage that their business practices have created? We know for a fact that in China itself, um, not only do they not follow ILO standards on labor rights, they have egregious problems in China itself, uh, with environmental degragation.
▶ 2:02:58Why wouldn't they just then export that to to their operations in another continent, which is of course Africa? Um, and then what evidence, if there is any, do you see linking PRC mining activities to the funding of armed groups or militias in specific African conflict areas? Theory, if you could speak to uh based on what you've seen, the Chinese border system that circumvents the US dollar system in Africa. Um, can you expound upon that?
▶ 2:03:27uh also in Ghana, Tanzania, Uganda, Ethiopia, Sudan, and Zimbabwe, central banks have launched their own gold purchasing programs which can often mask illicit behavior because they benefit from sovereign immunity. Uh what measures should regulators and sanction enforcers take to ensure that our sanctions and other sanctions like by the EU uh remain effective?
▶ 2:03:52Uh let me also ask if I could um what are the major goals and changes under the recently negotiated DRC PRC uh cycle sino cycle mines infrastructure for mining rights agreement. What has the DRC government done with the reported $7 billion it received from this agreement? And to what extent have corruption and diversion of resources characterized this deal since it was signed? and where would you place the responsibility?
▶ 2:04:22Uh let me also thank you again Sasha for the recommendation for the elicit gold task force. I'm wondering if you're getting any traction will raise it obviously with Secretary of Treasury and as well as state. I think it's an excellent idea. You might want to speak a little further on that. Then finally, um I've introduced HR2310, the Cobalt Supply Chain Act. Uh just reintroduced it.
▶ 2:04:49And at its core, uh is section four, a rebuttable presumption that covered goods and goods that are made wholly or in part with force labor or child labor cannot come here. Although if the company can prove it uh that it's free of that taint in their supply chain uh then it would be way it would be allowed to come in. Uh I've patterned that after legislation I worked on along with other members of Congress.
▶ 2:05:14Uh there were four of us who did it on the Weaguer Force Labor Act and the rebuttal presumption uh is a you know I think a novel way of saying okay you can export your goods but they better be free of child labor and they better be free of forced labor of adults.
▶ 2:05:30There's also an enforcement strategy section five and then also a section six that says clearly that no federal procurement of vehicles uh federal vehicles uh can occur if again there's child labor or u or forced labor of adults uh coming out of Shing Jang especially because we know that's where uh the cobalt is being processed. So, uh, your thoughts on that legislation? Um, because I think, you know, platitudes are great.
▶ 2:06:00Uh, again, I mentioned before about the zero tolerance initiative done by the human rights folks in dear Congo. welcome it, but you know, if you don't get enforcement um and I' I've done oversight hearings on the Weaguer Forest Labor Act, and while it's not perfect because we had a dimminimous provision in there, anything that's $800 or less is not subject to inspection and it has been exploited with impunity. Uh and we're looking to rectify that.
▶ 2:06:28So, we're learning from our mistakes uh with that legislation, but hopefully this will be, you know, a a clarion call that we really don't want these kids being exploited anymore. Um, you know, when you look at how how sick they get, many of them die. Um, and then the fact that so much of this, as you all have testified, fuels M23 and and so many other uh uh groups that are killing, maming, and raping uh in Africa.
▶ 2:06:56uh you know we need zero tolerancy that has an enforcement capability. So if you want to speak to any of those issues that I've raised deeply appreciate it. Um I'll start with the one that was directed to me. Um and uh then we can we can sort of maybe divide them up.
▶ 2:07:16Um, regarding the gold task force, um, you know, there's illicit gold coming out of the DRC, out of Venezuela, out of Central African Republic, out of Sudan. Um, and yet, and like I said earlier, you know, China is buying it up, you know, hand overfist and potentially going to establish a new currency which threatens our own. So um we we need to take bolder action to address this and the US government I think is is well primed to to be in a in a good position on that.
▶ 2:07:46I think a couple things that would be important for this task force. First of all, you know, set up a inter agency coordination body such that, you know, we we can coordinate with industry especially through Fininsen um to uh to to talk to banks more to to have a banking roundt etc. and then you know investigate and sanction um you know the whole networks we did a whole six-month study on on sanctions and they're most effective um when they really go after the networks.
▶ 2:08:15It's not just a one-off initiative. start out with, you know, the smuggler himself, but he runs a, you know, a series of shell companies, then there's a refiner, you know, then there are officials that work with them. Once you go after that and involve multilateral sanctions, European Union, even the UN if possible, um, you know, that can can have a very important um, uh, impact. Um, and then the private sector needs to play a really important role, you know, in coordinating here.
▶ 2:08:42So um uh you know banks need to enhance their due diligence on monitoring of gold suppliers and the industry also um should coordinate this new gold bar integrity initiative with government so so that there can be um some some cross sharing of information. I you know I really think that having a central task force in the US government that can address these various aspects could could be very important. Um I I'll over to you guys for those. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
▶ 2:09:12Um, I will go ahead and answer the Chinese barter system. What's what's interesting? So, there were a lot of deals that we saw you can see with the Kabila deal for infrastructure for minerals where they did they got copper uh and they were supposed to do minerals when the government audited by when the government of TCK came into office and they audited that deal. Uh, it was a it was a barter deal. Okay, we'll build your infrastructure. You give us the copper. But there were no enforcements, no accountability measures.
▶ 2:09:41And and what happens is they can mine unaccountably and the government of DRC can do whatever with the infrastructure funds uh uh that were supposed to uh uh be uh put at disposal and work. So uh this border system happens through either you know state-to-state uh uh deals.
▶ 2:10:01Banks, local banks that are being established in uh in the region are facilitating a lot of um nond dollar transactions uh which evades the US dollar system and sanctions. Um then since we're on the topic of sanctions uh how can we ensure that sanctions remain effective? Um I think it goes along with his uh with with Sasha's um recommendation of an illicit gold task force. Uh I would add the OFAC licenses which is already existing process.
▶ 2:10:32What that will do is it will gather data that can be actionable live data because what's happening is to apply for a license for OFAC they would have to share regularly share data of their gold trading activity and this data will inform the OFAC uh uh the illicit gold trade uh task force of of trends and that's right now you know the uh enforcers of sanctions are flying blind really they're trying to keep up with what the what everyone's doing who the traders doing what's the new refinery That's the new name
▶ 2:11:02and all that, but I think that'll be helpful with making sure that sanctions remain effective. And then on HR 2310, I mean, I think this is a breath of fresh air. What I'll do uh from my side, from the industry side, I'll encourage uh I think we need to educate industry uh participants to know that it's not like a new regulation, something that they're not already doing, but what it is is giving getting more details. And I would actually recommend for section six if we could include weapons procurement weapons.
▶ 2:11:32Now you might have a that might be a whole lot of uh a whole another storm but it's if you want to make it effective because the reason why cobalt and and lithium and all that is available is not only just commercial technology but also weapons technology. So if you could include in section six of HR 2310 weapons I think that will be uh you know a headliner also. physical fail. Thank you, uh, Chairman Smith. I really agree with the panel of Sasha and Terry.
▶ 2:12:01U I'll, I'll just maybe add, you know, I think one thing in ter of like ranking. Uh, I like to think that Western companies are way better in many ways because of course it's not perfect, but at least we has we tend to care about issues like human rights, you know, human dignity, firing corruptions. It's not always easy, but at least we try, you know. Yeah. Yeah.
▶ 2:12:21And I like to think that we have we western companies see some kind of collaboration from these African countries particularly the Congo so they can meet at least somewhere to some kind of a compromise along those lines. I don't name any companies but I I I worked maybe two three companies who they you know they run into some serious problem in the DRC you know but it was because you know uh maybe the moral stand was a bit high.
▶ 2:12:43Anyway, u commenting on the uh CCP uh how is fueling, you know, um conflicts groups, I'll refer to the recent UN reports, not actually the recent one, but most of them of the past three years, I think, you know, if you go to the appendix and with really awing evidences, I mentioned this company Norinko, which has been supplying weapons basically actually to all the sides. You know, here's the thing.
▶ 2:13:10I like to think that the CCP will at least want to put some kind of guard rails make a name to say hey where these weapons are going and you know made you know here thing and especially because we're in a situation where uh the Monk is getting out of the DRC with serious concern of leaving a security vacuum behind we know the FDC is not yet there to assume this kind of responsibility secondly uh the UN I think if I remember well I think 267 resolutions remove the um arm shipment embargo
▶ 2:13:40to the DRC. So all these can create a prolifer high risk of proliferation of weapons in the area. So China I like to think should really care about these issues and and really try to make sure there's some trustability and make sure that uh you know it does not increase conflict and Sik mean uh Terry already mentioned that u I think it was a great initiative uh but the implementation was just a disaster uh over the past maybe 15 years I think been in along those lines it's very
▶ 2:14:10hard to see how those kind of agreement benefit the average person the poverty has increased unemployment remain high uh and s as well the phili came in tried to do some money revision but you know we heard some payment we made I think credit report yeah recent by the IGF the inspector general of fennis but where the money went you know it's hard really to trace it you know and I like to think that's probably one of the reason why we are seeing this dissatisfaction or disconnection between the Philist government and its populations
▶ 2:14:41because we people hearing all these revenues but they're hardly seeing them in their daily lives uh and I I fully support the global supply chain actor uh I'll just insist on enforcing these laws I know it's tough uh hard but I think that's the heavy work we have to do. We have to deploy all the necessary resources possible, learn from past mistakes you just mentioned. Uh you know we have to learn from what did not go well upgrade those kind of policy and where are shortcomings how we can do better next time and moving forward. Thank you.
▶ 2:15:16Thank you so much. Um so I I'll address the question on central banks and responsible god um standards. Um so I think um broadly across the African continent central banks um implementing a variety of measures to promote responsible god processing and kept illegal you know mining activities.
▶ 2:15:37Um I could you know site examples of Ethiopia where the national bank um of Ethiopia and even Zimbabwe where the fidelity code printers and even in Tanzania have all been coming up with you know incentives for uh ensuring that actors that are in the ASM that is now small mining um you know become more responsible safety and health has been one of the key concerns then also illicit uh you know trade.
▶ 2:16:06However, I think what hampers, you know, the these efforts by central banks to promote more responsible god processing is is a policy of what they call no questions asked policy. I think you know countries like Zimbabwe have been implementing this uh you know no questions asked policy and essentially um you know because government has been trying to mobilize you know more resources um they they just say bring your gold and we give you your money.
▶ 2:16:33We don't ask questions in terms of how was that gold mine you know using what kind of infrastructure you know or any child labor or any other related you know post labor alone. So I think that is a policy that has also contributed to some of the problems we have in the god processing um and also more promoting these responsible god processing initiatives.
▶ 2:16:56when um coming to your question around um I think the the the gold I think supply chain act the cobalt supply chain act I think it's it's quite um you know an important uh you know piece of legislation that I think if if implemented could actually address some of the problems we we are talking about um however I think um while it's it is important that it's this presumption of um that you know cobalt that has been processed uh you know in in in PR PRC
▶ 2:17:27or refined in PRC is associated with forced labor. um you know the the cost of supply chain is very intricate and if the act you know can also maybe you know consider what are the potential um you know for for other you know other actors that are sorry PRC that might actually be also reflections and even the the the enforcers of this law need to also be
▶ 2:17:57you know thinking creatively and and innovatively um because it's not all the coat that is being refined in PRC um even though of course the focus has been you know you know China then um I think the other thing is around national security strategy um you know because China dominates you know cobalt extraction and processing um it's important for ensuring that there's more coordinated approach at at the US um you know Africa you know level um you know African
▶ 2:18:28governments as I mentioned earlier on are all looking for investments that are going to be value adding products on the continent and that is a big opportunity that US can also actually tap into and set up those refining and and processing facilities on the continent. It creates jobs. It also creates the investments more secure and even uh you know government buy in.
▶ 2:18:50So I think um we we need to think strategically and ensure that whatever that we are we are proposing is going to allow you know lasting solutions and and benefits for for for for Africa in the US. Thank you. Thank you very much Miss Cam Logger Dove. Um thank you. I I I want to thank uh the chair and the ranking member for allowing me to participate.
▶ 2:19:21I am no longer on this committee and I miss it. Uh and I want to thank the witnesses for being here today and also want to just thank the committee for making an accommodation for us to have a witness um um virtually because not all committees do that.
▶ 2:19:37And I appreciate the chair for holding this hearing to address human rights abuses in the DRC's mining sector perpetuated by Chinese companies, but also by broader issues of corruption, impunity, and lack of economic opportunity that US assistance should address and was grateful to hear some of the earlier discussions about financing.
▶ 2:20:01But the other reality is uh is that right now Africa does not have a partner in the White House. Um just by the very nature of dismantling our global foreign aid architecture and pulling back on key areas of engagement, something that China and Russia are applauding.
▶ 2:20:22Um there has been a zero Africa policy coming from this um and a belittling and a marginalizing of the continent not just with its challenges but also with its opportunities um and the global relationship that the continent has not just with us but with our allies and also with our adversaries.
▶ 2:20:50Um, we talk a lot about exploitation, but there will be far more happening without any aid, you know, because rapings and killings and exploitation happens when there is no food, when there is no medicine, when there is no hope. That is just real.
▶ 2:21:10Regardless of what continent you are on, the death eataters at the State Department and USAD have disrupted life-saving aid to the world's worst humanitarian crisis in Sudan and the Congo by ripping up PEPFAR, by exacerbating famine and attacking the international institutions that support stability in the region. By doing all of these things, we have also yielded to China and Russia in this space.
▶ 2:21:40The chair is absolutely correct. Platitudes are great but engagement is more meaningful and you cannot have engagement when you are not present. You cannot have engagement when you are not offering support and assistance. And if you are going to be silent in that space then that also means you are going to be unbothered by human rights abuses by conflict by malign foreign influences that are spreading across Africa.
▶ 2:22:07And we can dangle as many mineral deals in front of folks as we want. But if you don't think that Africa is worthy, if you pay limited, if any, attention to the continent, if you siphon away and stop resources going towards the continent, you are aiding and abetting what China is doing. And Mr. um Negromo, and I hope I said it correctly. Apologies.
▶ 2:22:38Oh, great. Um said, you know, CCP should or could uh put up guard rails, but who's going to make them? Who is going to make them? And if we don't even care enough about Africa to stay involved then why would any what would be our benefit to making them? I mean, so it's just like we have to take the rosecolored glasses off and live in the real world. And here are my questions. Mr.
▶ 2:23:05uh Lesnv, in order to address exploitation in Africa's mining sector and pave the way for US investment, what levels of sustained engagement and foreign assistance would be required from the United States? And is our posture on the continent currently conducive to promoting that? Um it was great comment and thank you for the good question.
▶ 2:23:32Um I think that um as the administration considers where um refocus uh some of the aid that has been uh suspended uh you know I would highlight a couple of areas. Um number one is we really need to legalize the artisal miners um to help to help them legalize you know these people are mining day-to-day right but they need a legal framework to operate. We had the same thing here in the United States in California, right? The the 40 rush of 1849.
▶ 2:24:02And the reason that we didn't have conflict minerals in California is because we had rule of law to so people had property rights and you know um uh legally enforcable contracts etc. These are the things that are needed in the DRC and elsewhere on the continent. And there are things that we can do to support that support the DRC mining ministry um and you know help hold those accountable who are completely breaking it. Um, number two is much better support to certifi certification process, right?
▶ 2:24:31There is um, Mr. Smith, you mentioned the uh, the central banks buying. Well, the DRC set up a gold buying program the last couple of years that originally had UAE investment and the Emiratis pulled out because the UN group of experts found that there were lots of conflict minerals in this in this gold buying program. It wasn't the central bank, but it was a similar setup. Um and so for high-risk, you know, there's central bank buying and then there's central bank buying.
▶ 2:24:59Um uh so for high-risk areas like the DRC really needs to have proper certification on the ground. The governments of the region have agreed on a certification process. I was actually involved um in Bjon Burough when they when they wrote this thing um and and we and some other NOS's advised on it. It's very good on paper. It has all these checks and balances etc. But it's not being implemented well. Um and so that's where the public private alliance on responsible minerals trade, you know, there needs to be more support to that.
▶ 2:25:28Um and those are the kinds of things that can um counter illicit uh activity by China and others. So then what about and my last question, Mr. Chair, what about also um brokering a sustainable ceasefire to the destabilizing fighting led by the Rwandabacked M23? I mean, can you speak about that? And I think that we have been missing an action um leading Qatar to convene peace talks between uh Congo and Rwanda.
▶ 2:25:58So uh does that play a role? I think stabilization in the region is incredibly important. And are you maybe aware of any US role in trying to preserve the fragile ceasefire? I guess that was reached last week maybe from on signal. Did you get anything on signal? Um I think that the ceasefire was a nice piece of paper that um uh was quickly followed by a Rwanda military advance to Kisangani or towards Kisangani.
▶ 2:26:27Um and uh the reality is unless Rwanda and the and the DRC um actors who are aiding and abetting other armed groups like the FDLR unless they're held accountable then these pieces of paper will be completely meaningless. Um uh you know I think that the initial step of sanctioning a senior Rwanda government minister and some M23 officials and companies was helpful. The European Union followed by much stronger sanctions.
▶ 2:26:54These one-off initiatives are good but they're not going to mean anything unless there's actually a sustained program to pay attention to that. Um and then once there is once there's a level of seriousness to it. I mean as somebody highlighted earlier the DRC army is running away um at present then you know you see you you could you can see some progress.
▶ 2:27:1310 years ago um there was progress and the the blueprint is there in front of us there was an M23 conflict and with Rwanda withdrew once there was serious consequences in in particular uh World Bank money was pulled out um uh and and that had a major impact because that's direct budget support. Thank you Mr. Jackson. Thank you, Chairman Smith.
▶ 2:27:39Um, thank you for your interest, your dedication, and your uh, sincerity in trying to find reconciliation and peace and prosperity to this region. To my esteemed colleague, Congresswoman K Loger Dove, thank you for your insight. Um, the Trump administration has embarked on a campaign against USAD over the last two shuttering thousands of US funded assistance programs across the globe.
▶ 2:28:10At least one of those programs aimed at accountability in the DRC's mining sector. The project in in partnership with Enterprise EGC and responsible mineral initiatives RMI aimed to ensure that the production and export of cobalt and other strategic minerals in the DC DRC met standards of social and environmental responsibility and
▶ 2:28:40traceability and to address some of the complex governance issues that contribute to the perception of DR. ERC as a high-risk investment destination. This program has since been terminated. I'd like to first start off with Sasha, if you don't mind, and I thank each of you for your time and talent that has come before us today. Can you please explain how the extraction of critical minerals in the DRC fuels conflict?
▶ 2:29:11Sure. Thank you for highlighting these important issues. Um, uh, Congressman Jackson. Yeah, I mean uh it's it's very unfortunate that um uh there are critical minerals in eastern Congo. Tin, tantelum, and tungsten are are the three um that are, you know, unfortunately continue to fuel some of the conflict. Um I will say, you know, I've been working on the DRC for about 17 years now. Um and uh the situation for those particular minerals was much worse before.
▶ 2:29:40Um, and you had basically a free-for-all at mines and companies had no idea where they got their minerals. Um, now you have a a auditing system the industry set up thanks to Congress um to trace and audit these minerals and almost twothirds of them 66% of the smelters which are the key choke points in these supply chains have now actually passed these independent audits.
▶ 2:30:04The issue is that there's some smugglers on the ground who've take advantage of some of these loopholes and this this um traceability mechanism which we talked about earlier, the IDsky um uh which is pretty opaque and and why the electronics industry suspended them um have have gotten around some of those systems.
▶ 2:30:22So there needs to be better enforcement of the certification mechanism and some of these transparency standards so that um there can be a much better symbiotic relationship between the DRC, Congo, sorry the DRC, Rwanda, Uganda etc.
▶ 2:30:40um whereby there can be a peaceful trade and there has been a peaceful trade for some time but you know unfortunately Rwanda and others you know have stepped in um to take advantage of some of that but I I do believe that that can be restored as long as there's real consequences for the illicit actors. Thank you. Uh as well Mr. theory as well.
▶ 2:30:59Um, do you believe that the gutting of US foreign assistance in the DRC creates a void for China to fill as it further pursues control of critical minerals? Um, I would say based on my statement, I think the void is created be yeah by our absence. The we have a um we have a the sanction system I said is pretty much all stick and no carrot.
▶ 2:31:27So I I I I recommended that we have carrot sort of involvement with OFAC the treasury uh OFAC licensing but then uh what's happening right now with the assistance program I mean it I would almost defer to Congress because the spending authority is yours uh under law there is a presence but it's just that right now we're going through a situation where the US government is deciding to uh review all of these spending decisions.
▶ 2:31:57So, uh, I think it's calling for the leadership of of this committee on these decisions, uh, to guide the administration on how to make these, uh, most effective. So, I I think, um, uh, the leadership of Chairman Smith and and and ranking member Jacobs can can be is probably warranted the most right now to make sure that there isn't an absence or a void in the midst of these decisions. Well, thank you, Mr. Theo. Again, I thank each of you and I would probably add to that for the record.
▶ 2:32:27There's been a gutting of this uh department when the employees have been removed. Life will go on. Um there will be a continuous void and to rebuild what they've taken out in the last two months could take us five or 10 years from trying to capture that intellectual talent uh and restaff these agencies. But then again, I'm honored to be here with uh my esteemed chairman, Mr. Smith, and again, thank you each for coming.
▶ 2:32:56Thank you very much, Mr. Jackson. Um, anything you'd like to add before we close because your testimony has been outstanding, incisive, and give us a blueprint for action. Thank you, Mr. Boore. Thank you. Thank you. And the hearing is adjourned. Um,