Democratic Republic of Congo will declare cobalt and coltan, used in electric vehicle and renewable energy technology, as “strategic” minerals which will earn the country higher royalties, an advisor to the prime minister said on Wednesday.
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A new mining code was signed into law on Friday by President Joseph Kabila despite vigorous opposition by global mining companies with operations in Congo such as Glencore, Randgold and China Molybdenum.
Royalties paid to the government from cobalt and coltan mining will jump to 10 percent from 2 percent previously. Miners of the two metals used in batteries, would have paid a royalty of 3.5 percent under the new code if they had not been designated as strategic.
The government considers minerals with the “strategic” designation important for the economic, social and industrial future of the country.
“We need to make enough money before we run out of these minerals so that is why they are strategic to the country,” said Jean Nkunza.
“We have to make sure for the next 20 years we make money from these minerals because demand is going to be so high. It’s going to continue to grow and we are not going to stop raising the royalties on these minerals.”
Other “strategic” minerals on the list include lithium and germanium, Nkunza said.
Congo is the world’s biggest source of cobalt, the price of which more than doubled last year. The central African country is also Africa’s top copper producer.
International mining companies have said the new mining code will deter foreign investment but have agreed to start negotiations with the government over measures to implement the code.
The announcement by the prime minister’s office, however, appears to pre-empt those negotiations, which were due to determine, among other things, how metals would be classified.
The code also removes a clause that protected miners from changes to the fiscal and customs regime for 10 years and raises royalties and taxes across the board.
Low commodity prices in recent years hit Congo’s resource-dependent economy hard, causing inflation to swell to nearly 50 percent in 2017, and the government is desperate to increase its revenues.
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Reporting by Zandi Shabalala; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle
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Cobalt to be declared a strategic mineral in Congo

Switzerland imposed sanctions including asset freezes and travel bans on 14 allies of Democratic Republic of Congo’s President Joseph Kabila on Wednesday amid a worsening political crisis linked to his refusal to step down.
<div id="attachment_298824" style="width: 860px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-298824" class="wp-image-298824 size-full" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Kabila_GettyImages-800731456.png" alt="" width="850" height="538" />President of the Democratic Republic of Congo Joseph Kabila smiles as he delivers his remarks during a meeting with South African President Jacob Zuma at Sefako Makgatho Presidential Guest House in Pretoria on June 25, 2017. Image: Getty Images</div>
Congolese security forces have killed dozens of protesters in violent crackdowns on a series of demonstrations organised in opposition to Kabila’s decision to remain in power despite the end of his elected mandate in December 2016.
Switzerland has long held a reputation as a favoured international destination for stashing ill-gotten wealth, owing to its banking privacy laws. But in recent years, in the face of international pressure, it has sought to demonstrate greater transparency, including increased cooperation with other nations’ tax authorites.
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The sanctions list published by the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs largely mirrors one already enforced by the European Union. The United States has also imposed sanctions on senior Congolese officials over the past two years.
Regime figures targeted by the Swiss measure include former interior ministers Emmanuel Ramazani Shadari and Evariste Boshab, ex-national police commissioner John Numbi and Kalev Mutond, the head of the National Intelligence Agency.
Information Minister Lambert Mende, who serves as Congo’s government spokesman and is also on the sanctions list, was not immediately available to comment on the Swiss announcement.
In power since 2001, Kabila struck a deal in December 2016 with the main opposition bloc to stay on after his mandate expired on the condition elections were held by the end of 2017.
Government authorities missed that deadline and the vote is now scheduled for this December. However, election officials have hinted that polls may not even be possible then because of financial and logistical constraints.
As the political crisis has dragged on Congo has experienced a spike in violence by armed groups, particularly in the restive east, which many fear could plunge the country back into the kind of conflict in which millions died at the turn of the century.
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Reporting by Aaron Ross; Writing by Joe Bavier; Editing by David Goodman
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Switzerland imposes sanctions on allies of Congo’s Kabila

Mohamed M Diatta | Sciences Po – USPC
The winds of change may blow in several directions across Africa this year as a host of countries prepare for elections. But a change in power isn’t always synonymous with change in governance. In Africa, very often, a new face in power doesn’t signal change of the system of governance.
<div id="attachment_298824" style="width: 860px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-298824" class="wp-image-298824 size-full" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Kabila_GettyImages-800731456.png" alt="" width="850" height="538" />President of the Democratic Republic of Congo Joseph Kabila smiles as he delivers his remarks during a meeting with South African President Jacob Zuma at Sefako Makgatho Presidential Guest House in Pretoria on June 25, 2017. Image: Getty Images</div>
The continent is set for a busy 2018 electoral year. In the past presidential, legislative, or local elections, or a combination, have had a destabilising if not devastating effect due to pre and post-election transparency issues and accompanying protests, violence and political instability. But when conducted well, elections have also brought hope for a better future. Ghana and Benin are good examples.
The year ahead won’t be any different. On the one hand the expected end of Joseph Kabila’s tenure in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) might bring momentous change to the country. On the other it’s more difficult to foresee better days for South Sudan. Others might also depart before elections.
<h2>Early departures?</h2>
All eyes are on Pretoria where the ruling African National Congress has asked President Jacob Zuma to resign following the election of Cyril Ramaphosa as ANC president and South Africa’s next president. As of February 13 he was showing no signs of doing so.
And seven years after the Jasmine Revolution that ousted the regime of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, Tunisians are back on the streets. The wave that took away Ben Ali now threatens to sweep the government of Beji Caid Essebsi.
<h2>Presidential seats at stake</h2>
The DRC has added more instability to its already complex situation. The country has been embroiled in a political and institutional crisis since Joseph Kabila extended his term in office, after failing to amend the constitution to remove the disposition preventing him from running for a third term. He has twice postponed presidential elections, despite signing the December 2016 agreement whose main clause was to have presidential and legislative elections held by December 2017.
Kabila’s failure to hold elections by the December 2017 deadline has led to mounting national protests, which the regime has crushed. Increasing national and international pressure might see Kabila out in 2018 unless he amends the constitution.
In Cameroon, Paul Biya, 85, in power since 1982, should be up for reelection in October. Although there is no indication that he will relinquish power, he has faced dissensions and separatist claims from so-called anglophone Cameroon and is believed to have ill-health. The current lack of succession plans if Biya does not run, leaves room for speculation and uncertainty.
In Madagascar, concern reigns in the run-up to the presidential election at the end of this year, which should see incumbent Hery Rajaonarimampianina face up his two predecessors Marc Ravalomanana and Andry Rajoelina. The island, with a tumultuous history, has been prey to institutional instability since 2001. There are fears this will happen again.
Three countries, South Sudan, Libya and Mali, plagued by instability for some years, are expected to hold presidential elections this year. Strong uncertainties prevail in South Sudan and Libya where negotiations for peaceful settlements have yielded little tangible results. In Mali the government doesn’t control large parts of its territory and is not immune to terrorist attacks.
No surprise will come from Cairo where, Abdel Fattah Al Sisi, will certainly be reelected president of a country he now controls unchallenged.
<h2>Longevity and power sharing dilemmas</h2>
In West Africa, Togolese Faure Gnassingbé appears as a poor student in the field of democracy. He came to power in 2005 in a quasi-dynastic political ‘transition’, replacing his father, General Gnassingbe Eyadema, who had been in power for 38 years. Reelected in 2015, he has, since August 2017, faced massive and sustained popular protests demanding institutional reforms and the end of his family’s 50-year rule.
The Economic Community of West African States is trying, through negotiations, to restore calm. An uneasy situation is emerging given that Faure is the current chairman of the organization until June 2018. But if he completely loses the support of his peers, he might be on his way out. Legislative elections are scheduled to take place by July.
Like Togo, Gabon experienced a similar ‘transition’ from father Omar Bongo, who died in power in 2009 after 42 years of rule, to his son Ali Bongo, who replaced him that year. Once a haven of peace in an unstable Central African region, Gabon has tumbled into a serious crisis since the highly contested presidential election in 2016 which was marred by widespread fraud and deadly repression. Jean Ping, leader of the opposition and former chairperson of the African Union Commission, continues to claim victory.
The hardening of the Libreville regime has recently resulted in a constitutional amendment that the opposition characterises as a ‘monarchisation’ of power. Legislative elections planned this year will certainly be a turning point for the country.
In Guinea Bissau, the power of José Mario Vaz is in troubled waters, with the appointment of a seventh prime minister since 2014. The opposition has decried the president for overstepping his constitutional prerogatives by monopolising power, in violation of the Conakry agreement signed in 2016, under the aegis of the regional west African body.
Vaz runs the risk of sanctions, in which case he would definitively lose the support of the organisation and the protection of the regional troop deployment. This would precipitate his departure and could plunge the country into chaos, in a state that has mostly known military coups and instability. Legislative elections are expected to take place this year.
In Chad, the crisis that has affected resource-dependent countries has plagued the economy. This is coupled with Idris Deby’s stronghold on power and his repressive methods. Despite facing civil unrest, he is unlikely to be shaken even though the country is expected to hold legislative elections this year.
<h2>Ghana setting the pace</h2>
Over the past 20 years, since the John Kofi Agyekum Kufuor presidency, Ghana has epitomised democracy south of the Sahara (aside from South Africa). Its institutional stability and peaceful transitions of power are commendable.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/91690/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />What the continent needs most are strong institutions, which will only come about with a regeneration of its leadership as well as its political class. This renewal must be rooted in a paradigm shift as embodied with determination, class and panache by Ghanaian president Nana Akufo Addo.
This article was originally published on The Conversation.

With a busy election schedule, Africa needs a reversal of the old order

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Gecamines, a base metals company owned by the government of Democratic Republic of Congo will be renegotiating its contracts with international mining partners operating in the country but what will this mean for future investment in the country?

DRC’s Gecamines to renegotiate contracts

Blockchain is to be used for the first time to try to track cobalt’s journey from artisanal mines in Democratic Republic of Congo through to products used in smartphones and electric cars.
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Sources close to a pilot scheme expected to be launched this year say the aim is eventually to give manufacturers a way of ensuring the cobalt in lithium-ion batteries for products such as iPhones and Teslas has not been mined by children.
Tracking cobalt presents many challenges as scores of informal mine sites would have to be monitored, all players in the supply chain would need to buy into the scheme, and accurate, electronic data would need to be transmitted from remote areas &#8211; all in a vast country plagued by lawlessness.
But companies are under growing pressure from consumers and investors to show the cobalt they use has come through supply chains free of rights abuses, just as they have for minerals used in electronics such as tantalum, tin, tungsten and gold.
Businesses in China, the main destination for Congolese cobalt from artisanal mines, have set up a Responsible Cobalt Initiative, which has been joined by tech giants such as Apple and Samsung, to address child labour.
The problem they face is that there are few sure-fire ways of tracing cobalt from the informal mines that produce up to a fifth of the cobalt from Congo, the world’s biggest producer.
“The demand to make cobalt more sustainable is going to continue growing, meaning there is a will to find a solution and blockchain will be part of that,” said a source with the project, who declined to be named because it is not yet public.
<h3>OPEN QUESTION</h3>
Blockchain technology is already used in the diamond industry. Gems are given a digital fingerprint that is then tracked by blockchain as gems are sold, giving a forgery-proof record of where the stones have come from.
The cobalt supply chain is far more complex but the developers of the pilot hope blockchain &#8211; a decentralised online database in the form of a distributed ledger &#8211; can at least track some of the stages that are a major worry for end users.
Sheila Warren, head of blockchain policy at the World Economic Forum, said it was an open question how well it could work in Congo given the prevalence of conflict, lawlessness and an opaque legal system.
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“We are prototyping, iterating, testing, scaling,” said Warren, who is working with experts to see how blockchain can improve mineral supply chains. “The technology is not the hard part.”
Amnesty International, which detailed the extent of child labour in cobalt mining in Congo in a 2016 report, said it was looking at blockchain, especially with a view to tracing payments to middlemen.
“You have to be wary of technological solutions to problems that are also political and economic, but blockchain may help. We’re not against it,” said Amnesty researcher Mark Dummett.
Congo holds half the world’s cobalt reserves and demand for the main mineral component of lithium-ion batteries is set to surge as electric cars proliferate. In 2016, Congo mined 54 percent of the 123,000 tonnes of cobalt produced worldwide.
Carmakers such as Volkswagen are trying to secure long-term cobalt supplies to sustain electric car production, and they are asking suppliers to ensure no child labour was used in the supply chain.
<h3>BAGGED AND TAGGED</h3>
The plan for the Congo pilot scheme is to give each sealed bag of cobalt produced by a vetted artisanal miner a digital tag which is entered on blockchain using a mobile phone, along with details of the weight, date, time and perhaps a photo.
At the next stage, a trader buying the bag would record the details on blockchain, and the process would be repeated until the ore gets to the smelter &#8211; leaving an immutable record of the cobalt’s journey for downstream buyers or third parties to view.
The pilot will involve organisations throughout the supply chain, from on-the-ground monitors checking that sites are not using child labour, through the refining process to end users, according to people helping to develop the scheme.
One potential risk in the supply chain is that cobalt mined by children gets mixed with “clean” cobalt before processing.
The industry is experimenting with options such as indelible marks that survive the refining process, a mass balance approach as used for Fairtrade certification of products such as cocoa, or bolting blockchain onto computer technology already used by refiners to monitor material as it moves through their plants.
“We are very bullish about the potential impact of blockchain in minerals and metals supply chains,” said Harrison Mitchell, director of RCS Global, which advises companies on responsible sourcing and audits supply chains.
“Blockchain-enabled supply chains will have the ability to deliver trust and transparency over the production of metals such as cobalt,” he said. “Ensuring that information from these mine sites is inputted correctly and transparently is difficult, but it is possible.”
<h3>INPUT DATA</h3>
Some institutional investors are also pushing mining companies and manufacturers to harness blockchain to help clean up mineral supply chains.
Christine Chow of Hermes Investment Management said tracking cobalt was far more complex than diamonds, typically involving 12 steps as opposed to five stages for gems.
“But the principle of recording key characteristics and then entering them into the blockchain, which is stored on the cloud, is the same,” said Chow, part of the Hermes EOS team that advises institutional shareholders on responsible investing.
“To make it work, the key players in the chain must agree a set of input data to define its features,” said Chow, whose team has $425 billion of assets under advice.
The International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM) said its members, which include all major mining companies, were well-placed to draw on blockchain’s potential to improve public trust in the industry.
“It does not solve the whole problem, but it solves a big part of the problem,” ICMM CEO Tom Butler said.
“Quality at entry to where the blockchain starts remains a challenge, but in that respect we’re in a privileged position as ICMM members are mining responsibly.”
Glencore, the world’s biggest producer of cobalt, declined to comment on the use of blockchain.
In its 2016 sustainability report, Glencore said when it sourced cobalt in Congo from outside its own production, it only dealt with third parties that did not use artisanal mines.
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Editing by David Clarke
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Blockchain to track Congo’s cobalt from mine to mobile

(Thomson Reuters Foundation) &#8211; In western Uganda’s Kyangwali refugee settlement, Tamari Mutesi teaches tailoring to young women who do not go to school.
The initiative she works with aims to combat violence against young single mothers and other refugee girls, including those mistreated by their husbands, by helping them gain economic independence.
Mutesi, 27, a refugee from Democratic Republic of Congo, has trained more than 25 of her peers since 2008, after she and several friends learned the trade from an experienced tailor.
Her trainees have now started their own tailoring businesses, earning enough to be self-reliant. Adelphine Ingabire, 22, said her income is about 10,000 Ugandan shillings ($2.74) a day.
“I feel so happy to see fellow girls getting skills to stand for themselves, to feed their families, and help their parents and neighbours,” said Mutesi.
Her work is backed by a group started in 2005 by four refugee boys from Congo, Burundi, Rwanda and Sudan &#8211; named COBURWAS after those countries &#8211; who wanted to help children living in Kyangwali camp go to school.
One of the boys, Joseph Munyambanza, fled the war in Democratic Republic of Congo aged six.
Later, he and his adolescent peers raised funds by working on farms and constructed a classroom. They identified the neediest children and enrolled them to study.
Realising girls aged 10 and above were most at risk of falling out of school and into early marriage, the COBURWAS International Youth Organization to Transform Africa (CIYOTA) launched a scheme to help them complete primary school and enter secondary school. It set up a hostel for about 50 girls, enabling them to study.
According to UNESCO, many African girls only receive five years of schooling, while 9 million girls between the ages of six and 11 will never go to school at all in sub-Saharan Africa.
“Girl’s education is what I am passionate about. We have a big number of girls and less (education) infrastructure to support them,” Munyambanza told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
Sheila Arach, 16, from South Sudan has just finished primary school and plans to continue studying. She said COBURWAS provides a safe environment for learning, as well as support for dealing with unwanted sexual advances.
“(It) has good teachers &#8211; we study at night and they talk to us about how to avoid men,” she said.
Annet Atieno, CIYOTA’s education manager, said primary-age girls are at risk of sexual abuse, especially those who are orphans, cared for by guardians and living in poverty in the settlement.
“Demand for sex is very high in such a set up,” she said. “But since we started the programme, the dropout rate reduced, the rate of absenteeism also dropped, and (the girls) are now focused on education.”
SCHOLARSHIPS 
For those looking to go on to higher education, philanthropic organisations can help, as with Munyambanza who received support from the Mastercard Foundation to pursue a biochemistry degree at London’s Westminster College.
Since 2013, the foundation has offered scholarships to more than 30 male and female refugees living at Kyangwali to study at universities around the world.
Favourite Regina from Rwanda graduated last October from the African Leadership Academy programme at the United States International University in Nairobi, and has since returned to Kyangwali to oversee projects and motivate its young girls.
“I talk to them about how everything is possible, and not to look at men as a solution,” said Regina.
Those who complete primary education are sent to secondary schools outside the settlement, and come back to learn more skills and receive mentoring during the holidays.
John Bosco Okoboi, head teacher at the COBURWAS primary school in Kyangwali, said the rate of teenage girls getting pregnant was very high, at almost 90 percent. “But the best is not to condemn them. We discuss with them about the consequences,” he said.
Sarah Tuyiramye, a refugee from Rwanda who is about to complete her secondary education, said most of her friends never finished primary school.
“They dropped out, and some have three children. I think if I had not been given this chance, I would be married,” she said.
SCIENCE EDUCATION 
Meanwhile, in Gisozi, a suburb of Rwanda’s capital Kigali, bright girls are able to study science at a special school run by the Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE).
The Mastercard Foundation pays fees for girls from poor families, and has enabled more than 2,000 to attend the school since 1999.
Alumni visit the school to mentor pupils, and have also set up an orphanage for abandoned girl children and others born of rape.
Students at the school donate part of their allowance to help pay fees for other needy girls in their communities.
Marie Aimee Keza has just finished her exams at FAWE, and wants to go to university to become a pilot. As the only child in her family of six to attend school, Keza has motivated other girls in her neighbourhood to work hard and stay in school.
“The country should continue investing in girls and motivate them through education,” she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. “When I heard that during the (Rwandan) genocide, there were some women who rescued people from the killers, I said, ‘I want to be one of those women in society’.”
Dorothy Nyambi from the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences said Africa is short of female role models. “It is not enough to give opportunities to girls when men are not opening up (to equality),” she said.
Sharmi Surianarain, who connects African Leadership Academy graduates and other Mastercard Foundation scholars with opportunities for making a difference across the continent, said one former student had gone on to start a school in Zimbabwe.
“After they graduate, girls give more to the community, so investing in girls is fundamental,” she said. ($1 = 3,655.0000 Ugandan shillings) (Reporting by Pius Sawa; editing by Megan Rowling. Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, climate change, resilience, women&#8217;s rights, trafficking and property rights. Visit news.trust.org/)

How African refugees are helping girls learn to avoid abuse, early marriage

Reuben Loffman |Queen Mary University of London
For the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) 2017 was a disaster. Presidential and legislative elections were delayed, the violence in Kasai intensified, a long-standing opposition leader died and violence in eastern Congo continued.
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To be sure, 2016 was hardly better. As the slated presidential and legislative elections deadline expired on 27 November 2016, Joseph Kabila remained in office. And the incumbent was still in power when his constitutional term ended on 19 December 2016.
On 31 December 2016, the Catholic Church thought that it had reached a deal with Kabila that would deny him a third term.
As the early weeks of 2017 wore on, however, that deal looked like yet another false dawn for the DRC. And as the year draws to an end there seems to be little hope of a resolution to the major crises that have intensified over the past 12 months. The violence in Kasai is escalating and the conflict in south eastern Congo looks set to continue.
DRC is the largest country in sub-Saharan Africa. It is 2.3 million square kilometres and has a population of nearly 77 million. The country has extraordinary wealth in the form of minerals such as gold ore and copper. However, the proceeds from the sale of these minerals are siphoned off and stolen before they ever reach the population.
Kabila’s insistence on remaining president of the DRC throughout 2017 only compounded these dynamics. While there was some hope in 2016 that he would step aside, 2017 proved that removing him will be a very protracted process.
Since a new constitution was promulgated in 2006 it’s been hard to imagine a worse year for the country than the present one. Only 2012 might have been worse thanks to the M23 rebel movement which briefly took the city of Goma. But the violence in Kasai is threatening to overshadow even that disaster.
The big story as 2017 got going was not the rapidly collapsing church led deal, and the intensified conflict that came as a result, but rather the death of long-standing opposition figure Étienne Tshisekedi in February.
<h2>Death of an icon</h2>
Tshisekedi’s death dealt a blow to the talks between Kabila and the various opposition groups. His death robbed the DRC opposition of a figure who could mobilise popular support as well as cut political deals in Kinshasa.
Worse still, more than nine months since his death he is yet to be buried. Kabila’s government fears that if Tshisekedi’s body is flown back to the DRC it will become the trigger for opposition protests.
Kabila’s fears could prove well founded. It is not hard to imagine the interring of Tshisekedi’s body acting as a lightning rod for the huge social and political tensions in the country. Kabila’s refusal to leave office this year has meant that a range of protests have sprung up across the country. In August, for example, the “dead city” movements ensured that significant parts of the country’s urban population went on strike.
Étienne Tshisekedi’s son, Felix, took over much of the daily running of the party that his father had led for decades when he became the deputy secretary general of the Union for Democracy and Social Progress. But he lacks his father’s experience and gravitas.
<h2>Violence in Kasai</h2>
As political deadlock between the president and the opposition ensued, the humanitarian crisis in Kasaï intensified. Some reports have suggested that more than 3,000 people have been killed since the start of 2017. More than 33,000 Kasai residents have fled into Angola.
The violence in Kasaï was perhaps 2017’s biggest news story. There were reports that it got so bad that little children were being hacked to pieces with machetes.
It is widely believed that the Bana Mura &#8211; a government sponsored militia &#8211; perpetuated this violence. The government fears that if left unchecked a rebel movement in Kasai could seriously undermine its sovereignty in the province.
But local rebels known as the Kamwina Nsapu (‘black ant’ in English), also played a big part in the violence. The Kamwina Nsapu militia were suspected of decapitating 40 police officers in March.
The UN has accused the DRC army of digging mass graves for those they have killed. It has attempted to investigate the atrocities in Kasaï but the investigations have been marred by tragedy.
On 12 March, Michael Sharp, Zaida Catalan and their translator Betu Tshintela were abducted by rebels and later found in a shallow grave. A UN inquiry found that the two investigators were probably killed by members of a local Kasaïan militia.
<h2>More unrest</h2>
In addition to the violence in Kasaï, the south and northeastern parts of the DRC also witnessed deadly conflict during the course of this year. There was major fighting between its Twa and Bantu populations in Tanganyika province. And as the year entered its last quarter, Uvira, on the outskirts of Lake Tanganyika, was the site of a battle between the rebel Yakutumba militia and government forces.
While the Yakutumba militia failed to take Uvira, it was a reminder of the level of discontent building in the east where conflict has been a feature of everyday life since the end of the Second Congo War in 2003. The patchwork of rebels operating in the east has been fragmented but remains heavily networked. Violence could potentially spread to Kivu and beyond.
Some of the rebels have suggested that their ultimate ambition is to march on Kinshasa. But given the small numbers of their forces this might be a long way off.
<h2>Happy New Year</h2>
With such a litany of misery in Congo, one could be forgiven for thinking there is no hope. But on 5 November, the Congolese government finally announced its intention to hold presidential and legislative elections in December 2018.
Many Congolese feel that this date is too far off. As a result, on 15 November there were protests in cities across the country to pressure the government to hurry the elections along.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/88170/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />But the announcement of a date is an indicator that elections will eventually take place. The country risks slipping into civil war if they don’t.
This article was originally published on The Conversation.

2017: the year the Democratic Republic of Congo would like to forget

HARARE (Reuters) &#8211; President Robert Mugabe was dismissed as leader of Zimbabwe’s ruling ZANU-PF party on Sunday in a move to force a peaceful end to his 37 years in power following a de facto military coup.
He was replaced by Emmerson Mnangagwa, the deputy he sacked this month, sources at a special ZANU-PF meeting to decide Mugabe’s fate told Reuters.
“He has been expelled,” one of the delegates said. “Mnangagwa is our new leader.”
Mugabe’s wife Grace, who had harboured ambitions of succeeding Mugabe, was also expelled from the party.
READ: <a href="http://cnbc.africa/news/political/2017/11/18/mugabe-wont-step-grace-wont-step-says-cabinet-minister-nephew/">Mugabe Won’t Step Down – Grace Won’t Step Up – Says Cabinet Minister And Nephew</a>
Speaking before the meeting, war veterans’ leader Chris Mutsvangwa said the 93-year-old Mugabe was running out of time to negotiate his departure and should leave the country while he could.
“He’s trying to bargain for a dignified exit,” he said.
Mutsvangwa followed up with threat to call for street protests if Mugabe refused to go, telling reporters: “We will bring back the crowds and they will do their business.”
Mnangagwa, a former state security chief known as “The Crocodile,” is now in line to head an interim post-Mugabe unity government that will focus on rebuilding ties with the outside world and stabilising an economy in freefall.
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<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Zimbabwe?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Zimbabwe</a>’s President <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Mugabe?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Mugabe</a> now has the following options, which do you think is most likely?
— CNBC Africa (@cnbcafrica) <a href="https://twitter.com/cnbcafrica/status/932231621734010880?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 19, 2017</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
On Saturday, hundreds of thousands of people flooded the streets of Harare, singing, dancing and hugging soldiers in an outpouring of elation at Mugabe’s expected overthrow.
VIEW: <a href="http://cnbc.africa/trending/forbes-africa/2017/11/18/history-making-scenes-zimbabwes-anti-mugabe-protest/">History In The Making: Scenes From #Zimbabwe’s Anti-Mugabe Protest</a>
His stunning downfall in just four days is likely to send shockwaves across Africa, where a number of entrenched strongmen, from Uganda’s Yoweri Museveni to Democratic Republic of Congo’s Joseph Kabila, are facing mounting pressure to quit.
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Men, women and children ran alongside the armoured cars and troops who stepped in this week to oust the man who has ruled since independence from Britain in 1980.
Under house arrest in his lavish ‘Blue Roof’ compound, Mugabe has refused to stand down even as he has watched his support from party, security services and people evaporate in less than three days.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
Mugabe to resign by noon tomorrow else impeachment proceedings begin <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ZanuPF?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ZanuPF</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Zimbabwe?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Zimbabwe</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/cnbcafrica?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@cnbcafrica</a> <a href="https://t.co/pgvCc8qE7V">https://t.co/pgvCc8qE7V</a>
— Ancillar Mangena (@ancillarmangena) <a href="https://twitter.com/ancillarmangena/status/932248111396859904?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 19, 2017</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
His nephew, Patrick Zhuwao, told Reuters Mugabe and his wife were “ready to die for what is correct” rather than step down in order to legitimise what he described as a coup.
But on Harare’s streets, few seemed to care about the legal niceties as they heralded a “second liberation” for the former British colony and spoke of their dreams for political and economic change after two decades of deepening repression and hardship.
“These are tears of joy,” said Frank Mutsindikwa, 34, holding aloft the Zimbabwean flag. “I’ve been waiting all my life for this day. Free at last. We are free at last.”
The huge crowds in Harare have given a quasi-democratic veneer to the army’s intervention, backing its assertion that it is merely effecting a constitutional transfer of power, rather than a plain coup, which would entail a diplomatic backlash.
Despite the euphoria, some Mugabe opponents are uneasy about the prominent role played by the military, and fear Zimbabwe might be swapping one army-backed autocrat with another, rather than allowing the people to choose their next leader.
“The real danger of the current situation is that having got their new preferred candidate into State House, the military will want to keep him or her there, no matter what the electorate wills,” former education minister David Coltart said.
The United States, a long-time Mugabe critic, said it was looking forward to a new era in Zimbabwe, while President Ian Khama of neighbouring Botswana said Mugabe had no diplomatic support in the region and should resign at once.
Writing by Ed Cropley; Editing by Angus MacSwan
http://cnbc.africa/news/southern-africa/2017/11/15/fact-box-key-figures-zimbabwe-first-lady-grace-mugabes-g40/

Zimbabwe’s ‘second liberation’ looms as President Mugabe expelled from Zanu-PF, given ultimatum

Congo’s electoral commission announced on Sunday that long-awaited presidential elections to replace President Joseph Kabila would take place on December 23, 2018.
<div id="attachment_41934" style="width: 860px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-41934" class="wp-image-41934 size-full" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/president_joseph_kabila_-_flickr.jpg" alt="Congo's president shows would-be successor who is in charge" width="850" height="567" />Democratic Republic of Congo President, Joseph Kabila </div>
Around 43 million voters have been registered for the vote so far, Corneille Nangaa told a news conference in Democratic Republic of Congo’s capital, Kinshasa.
The election will be held on December 23, 2018, with the results to be published on January 9, 2019, and the president to be sworn in on January 13, another official from the Independent Electoral Commission (CENI), Jean Pierre Kalamba, told the same news conference.
The election, originally scheduled for late 2016, has been repeatedly delayed.
Those delays have triggered unrest and raised fears the central African nation could slip back into the conflicts that killed millions around the turn of the century, mostly from hunger and disease.
The electoral commission had said last month that the presidential vote could not take place until April 2019 at the earliest, and the opposition had warned that the population would “take matters into its own hands”.
Opposition leaders reacted furiously to the new date.
“The predatory regime wants to prolong the instability and misery of the people. We do not accept this fantasy calendar,” exiled opposition leader Moise Katumbi tweeted.
Civil society activist organisation Lucha on Twitter also condemned the announcement.
Dozens died in protests against Kabila’s refusal to step down at the end of his constitutional mandate last December.
U.S. envoy Nikki Haley said during a visit to meet with Kabila last month that the vote must happen in 2018 or it will lose international support.
With no imminent election in sight, a political crisis has set in that is fuelling increasing militia violence and lawlessness in Congo’s east and centre.
Clashes between Congolese troops and supporters of a renegade colonel in Congo’s eastern city of Bukavu killed seven people on Sunday before he surrendered and turned himself in to U.N. peacekeepers. [nL5N1NB0CH]
Kabila has ruled Congo since his father was assassinated in 2001. He says delays are owing to problems registering millions of voters across the vast, forested country.
Opponents say he is using them to eventually remove term limits that prevent him from standing again, as presidents in neighbouring Rwanda and Congo Republic have done. He denies that, but has not categorically said he will step aside.
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Reporting by Patient Ligodi and Amedee Mwarabu; writing by Tim Cocks; editing by David Evans and Jason Neely
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DRC sets presidential election for December 2018

Democratic Republic of Congo must hold a long-delayed election to replace President Joseph Kabila by the end of next year or the vote will lose international support, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations said on Friday.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-121542 size-full" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/DRC_Flag_Flickr.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="767" />
Repeated delays to the poll, originally scheduled for late 2016, have led to unrest and raised fears the Central African nation could slip back to the wars of the turn of the century that killed millions.
U.S. envoy Nikki Haley, who met with the Congolese electoral commission (CENI) during a visit to Kinshasa, told reporters she had passed on a message that “these elections must take place in 2018 or there will be no support for the electoral process”.
“The president must say that we’re going to have elections in 2018,” Haley said ahead of a later meeting with Kabila. “Every day we don’t have elections in this country someone dies.”
The electoral commission had said earlier this month that the vote to replace Kabila could not take place until April 2019 at the earliest, leading the opposition to warn that the population would “take matters into its own hands”.
Dozens died in protests against Kabila’s refusal to step down at the end of his constitutional mandate last December. The resulting political crisis has also contributed to rising militia violence in Congo’s east and centre.
Kabila, who has ruled Congo since his father’s assassination in 2001, says the election delays are due to challenges registering millions of voters.
However, his opponents accuse him of using the delay to manoeuvre to remove term limits that prevent him from standing for re-election, as presidents in neighbouring Rwanda and Congo Republic have done. He denies those charges.
Congo government spokesman Lambert Mende said the government hoped to see the election as soon as possible but that it was up to the electoral commission to set the date.
“It’s not up to the government, nor to Ms. Haley to organise the elections,” Mende said. “I don’t think that we can be subjected to these kinds of diktats.”
International donors have said they are prepared to provide significant funding to elections but are waiting for a realistic calendar from CENI.
So far, they have contributed only 6 percent of the $123 million that the United Nations is expecting, the head of the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Congo said earlier this month.
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Additional reporting by Patient Ligodi; writing by Aaron Ross; editing by Peter Graff
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U.S. says Congo must hold long-delayed election by end of 2018

A long-delayed election in Democratic Republic of Congo to replace President Joseph Kabila cannot take place until at least April 2019, the electoral commission said, a schedule certain to enrage opponents who say Kabila is clinging to power.
The polls were originally scheduled for November 2016. The schedule outlined by the electoral commission would torpedo an agreement between Kabila’s representatives and his opponents that the election would take place before the end of this year.
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Dozens of people died last year in protests against Kabila’s refusal to step down at the end of his term. Parts of the country are in the hands of insurgents who say they will not stop fighting while he remains in power.
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Congo’s electoral commission said in a statement following a meeting with civil society representatives on Tuesday that it would need at least 504 days to organise the poll once voter registration is completed.
Enrolment began in parts of the country’s insurrection-ravaged Kasai region in mid-September and the commission says it will, in principle, take about three months. That means the vote could not be organised until April 2019 at the earliest.
The commission is expected to release a calendar for the presidential and other elections this month.
The opposition accuses Kabila of trying to cling to power by postponing elections until he can find a way to remove constitutional term limits that prevent him from standing for re-election, as his counterparts in neighbouring Rwanda and Congo Republic have done.
Kabila, who took power after his father Laurent Kabila was assassinated in 2001, denies he intends to remain in office, and says the election delays are due to difficulties enrolling millions of voters and mobilising hundreds of millions of dollars in financing.
Congo has never experienced a peaceful transition of power and Kabila’s refusal to step down last year has fuelled mounting insecurity across the country, where millions died in regional conflicts between 1996-2003, most from hunger and disease.
An insurrection in Kasai has killed up to 5,000 people and displaced 1.4 million more since last August, and militia violence has also spiked in the eastern borderlands, where dozens of armed groups are active.
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Reporting by Patient Ligodi and Aaron Ross; Editing by Joe Bavier and Peter Graff
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No Congo election until mid-2019, says electoral commission

Kristin Mmari | Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins Medicine
&nbsp;
A team of international experts have just published the most comprehensive analysis to date of how children on the cusp of adolescence perceive growing up as a boy or girl. The Global Adolescent Study involved a series of interviews conducted over the last four years with hundreds of early adolescents and their parents in 15 countries. These included Burkina Faso, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria and South Africa. We asked lead researcher Kristin Mmari to explain the significance of the study
What did the 15-country global study set out to establish?
Our overarching question was to explore how boys and girls from diverse cultural settings experience their transitions into adolescence. Questions we were interested in finding answers to included: what changes? How do these changes vary by boys versus girls? How do these changes vary by geographic and cultural location?
We wanted to address these questions because the way in which adolescents experience biological and social changes differ. Factors that play a role include gender, cognitive abilities, educational, emotional, life experiences as well as cultural and social contexts. Yet information on how these factors manifest and inform gender differences across contexts is quite limited, particularly from low and middle-income countries.
A particularly interesting, yet unknown aspect of early adolescence, is how boys and girls establish relationships that ultimately shape their sexual and overall health from early to late adolescence.
What are the most important findings from African countries involved in the study?
So far, only Assuit in Egypt, Nairobi, Kenya, and Ile Ife, Nigeria have been involved. Another four countries, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burkina Faso, Malawi, and South Africa, will be included in future products and analyses.
The key takeaways from the study so far are:
<ul>
<li>First global study to demonstrate that we can measure gender norms around the world among this young age group ages 10-14 years old. Before this study, it was not known whether adolescents in this age group would be able to accurately provide information about what it meant to be an ‘adolescent’ and the attitudes and beliefs about gender that influenced their transition into adolescence. Not only did we learn that it’s possible to collect data from this age group across multiple cultural settings, but that in fact, adolescents are astute observers.</li>
<li>There are consistent forms of patriarchy around the world: girls are perceived to be vulnerable and in need of protection to preserve their sexual and reproductive health. Their mobility and social space is greatly reduced and often enforced by parents to “preserve their reputation”. Girls who are observed to be seen with boys are automatically assumed to be in romantic and sexual relationships with them, and this can often ruin their reputation or their families.</li>
<li>Boys expand their social space and are given much more freedom and independence. But they also face increased risks related to the environment, such as increased engagement in violence and/or substance misuse.</li>
<li>There were more similarities than differences between the sub-Saharan African contexts and the other sites included in the study. However, boy-girl relationships were frowned upon and subjected girls to sexual and reproductive health risks, such as pregnancy and gender based violence; as a consequence, many parents did not want their daughters in the company of boys.</li>
</ul>
The goal of the study was to get insights that could be used to inform policies that promote sexual and reproductive well-being. What insights were gained and what key interventions should follow?
We already know that norms around gender inequitable lead to poor health outcomes among older adolescents and young adults. For example, research has shown that when men and boys adhere to traditional views about masculinity, they are more likely to report having used violence against a partner, to have a sexually transmitted infection, and used substances Pulerwitz and Barker, 2008. Other studies have found correlations between beliefs in gender inequitable norms and HIV transmission rates, contraceptive use, and gender based violence (Barker and Ricardo, 2005).
This study shows that these norms are being solidified much earlier than we thought. Interventions then need to start earlier and should include both boys and girls. They should also address gender as a system that’s made up of multiple actors, ranging from parents, teachers, peers, neighbourhoods, and the broader media and policy environment.
What happens next?
Phase 2 of the study will be a large quantitative survey to examine the extent to which changes in beliefs of gender inequitable norms lead to changes in health outcomes, and the factors that may contribute to these changes.
&nbsp;
This article was first published in The Conversation.

Op-Ed: African boys and girls enter teens with gender stereotypes firmly set

Nic Cheeseman | University of Birmingham
There is much to celebrate as the world marks International Day of Democracy. The last year has seen important democratic breakthroughs in Africa. In Gambia an entrenched autocrat was forced from power. In Ghana, a sitting president lost an election for the first time.
In just the last few weeks, Kenya has also joined the club of precedent- setting nations, after the Supreme Court ruled that the election of President Uhuru Kenyatta was illegal and must be held again. Not only was this a first in Kenya, it was also the first time that the election of a sitting president had been overturned by the judiciary in Africa.
These changes reflect a broader trend in sub-Saharan Africa and much of the world. An increasing number of countries are holding multiparty elections. And an increasing proportion of these states have witnessed a transfer of power from one party or leader to another.
It’s true that more elections are now being held than at any time in human history. But recent highlights in Gambia, Ghana and Kenya mask a problematic reality, namely that the expansion of multi-party politics has often gone hand-in-hand with political and economic exclusion. Over the past five years, the level of political repression and economic inequality has increased in Africa. In turn, this has called into question the extent of the continent’s democratic gains.
<h2>Rising repression</h2>
In recent times high levels of repression have been witnessed across much of the continent. These include the arrest of opposition leader, Kizza Besigye, as he campaigned against his defeat in the 2016 presidential election in Uganda. Also, in Kenya there were a high number of human rights violations when security forces cracked down on opposition protests during the election.
According to Freedom House, an American think tank that rates the level of freedom in every country in the world, the quality of civil liberties in Africa has fallen every year for a decade. Seven out of the 15 countries that showed the biggest deterioration in the quality of their political environment over the last 12 months were African. They are the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Lesotho, Niger, South Sudan, and Zambia. Next year, Tanzania may well join that list.
Other forms of political exclusion are also prevalent. Rwanda leads the world on female legislative representation while Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda also perform well on this metric. But very few women are ever elected in the continent’s largest states such as Angola, Nigeria and the DRC.
Minority groups often suffer a similar fate. In Botswana, a state often lauded as one of those leading on democratic rights in Africa, the indigenous San community have been largely excluded from the political process. Similarly, lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and queer citizens typically find that their human rights are undermined. Fortunately, this is not true of countries with more progressive constitutions such as South Africa.
<h2>Rising inequality</h2>
In many states, political exclusion has gone hand in hand with rising economic inequality. As a result the relative poverty – the gap between the rich and the poor – is growing. This is despite the fact that the level of absolute poverty has fallen in a number of countries.
In other words, serious developmental gains are occurring at the same time that other forms of economic exclusion are intensifying.
One of the most stunning facts about the continent is that the <a href="http://hdr.undp.org/en/content/human-development-index-hdi">Human Development Index</a> – a composite statistic of life expectancy, education, and per capita income indicators – shows that
<blockquote><a href="http://africasacountry.com/2017/01/african-inequality-rising/">every country in Africa is today less equal than it was in 2010</a>.</blockquote>
More worryingly, there is no evidence that democracies are performing better than authoritarian systems on this issue. If anything, the reverse is true. Indeed, one of the most intriguing paradoxes of African democracy is that it is those countries that are most democratic that are most unequal. Botswana, Namibia, and South Africa, three of the continent’s most secure democracies, feature the highest levels of inequality in the world.
The combination of political and economic exclusion in Africa is important for intrinsic and instrumental reasons. Intrinsically, democracy is failing to deliver if it is not helping the worst as much as the best off. Instrumentally, the combination of economic and political exclusion increases the risk that political grievances will develop into instability.
<h2>Building a more inclusive world</h2>
One reason that democratisation has not always reduced the degree of exclusion is that political systems in Africa, much like the rest of the world, tend not to feature inclusive political arrangements.
The continent only features a handful of states that are federal or feature high levels of political devolution. These include Kenya, Ethiopia, Nigeria, South Africa and Sudan. Moreover, even within this small sample the ability of opposition parties to get elected at the sub-national level has often been limited, especially in Ethiopia and Sudan. As a result, individuals and groups that lose out in the race for national office rarely enjoy the kind of local self-government that might make them feel that they have a stake in the political system.
Institutional mechanisms to ensure a form of power sharing are also rare. By and large African states are presidential and highly majoritarian. They also do not feature constitutional provisions that guarantee minorities and losing parties a seat at the table.
Indeed, Burundi is currently the only country that comes close to the consociational “ideal type” of inclusive politics outlined by the famous political scientist Arendt Lijphart. But even there the authoritarian bent of President Pierre Nkurunziza has undermined both the letter and the spirit of the country’s carefully designed constitution.
Absent political representation, and with so few checks and balances on the exercise of power, it is unsurprising that minorities and opposition groups get such a raw deal. Of course, this is not to say that political inclusion is a cure-all: there are many established democracies with less exclusive political arrangements that have failed to reduce economic inequality. But until African political systems become less majoritarian and do a better job of protecting the rights and interests of minorities, the true benefits of democratic government are unlikely to be realised.
This article was first published in The Conversation.

Op-Ed: Democratic breakthroughs in Africa – time to celebrate but worries still linger

Judith Verweijen | Ghent University
The past year has been challenging for the Canadian mining corporation Banro. The company holds four gold mining concessions in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The Namoya concession in Maniema province went into production in January 2016 but the company was forced to temporarily suspend operations and evacuate staff in May and July this year.
The suspensions were related to threats from a local armed group to attack the operation. These were not isolated incidents but followed a string of violent attacks, property destruction, ambushes and kidnappings of workers.
The company president and CEO, John Clarke blamed the violence on “a few bandits” he believes are a remnant of the country’s difficult past, not on discontent and poverty that many believe have been made worse by the company’s presence.
But my recently published research shows that these issues are in fact interrelated. Armed groups and local strongmen capitalise on widespread anger towards the company. This anger largely stems from the deep economic crisis in the Namoya region which was caused by the forced closure of artisanal mining sites four years ago. The effects were not only felt by the 6.000 to 10.000 diggers who were forcibly removed, but also by all those depending indirectly on diggers’ incomes, like farmers, shopkeepers, bar-owners and taxing agents.
By claiming to oppose transnational mining companies, armed groups are able to gain popular support. They often do so by drawing on the language of anti-imperialism and neocolonialism, which resonates strongly in the DRC. As a political representative of the coalition of armed groups responsible for the most recent attacks put it:
<blockquote>the government has signed contracts with foreign mining companies that allow them to plunder our resources. This is neocolonialism (…) we will fight it.</blockquote>
Armed groups are also bolstered by competition between local elites and authorities that is fuelled by the influx of resources stemming from mining operations. In a militarised area like the eastern DRC, conflicting local elites and authorities often draw on armed groups to bolster their position. This, in turn, strengthens these groups.
Mining companies would be better served to acknowledge and monitor rather than downplay the effects of their presence on conflicts and armed groups. Arguably, a more conflict-sensitive approach could have prevented the outbreak of violence in Namoya.
<h2>How violence escalated</h2>
Before 2016 there was limited activity by armed groups in the Namoya region. This changed after an escalation of tensions between the company and the people living in the area in January 2016. That month, a protest march against Banro ended in bloodshed. An officer from the Congolese police unit contracted by Banro opened fire on the crowd of protesters, causing the death of one person.
The march was held to protest against what people perceive to be the company’s failure to promptly meet its commitments towards the community, like building health care centres and schools. The impatience is understandable given the dire economic situation in the region. Not only have artisanal miners largely been driven out of business, the company employs limited labour and subcontractors from the area.
Towards the end of 2016, armed groups began ambushing vehicles from Banro’s logistics subcontractors close to Namoya. In March this year, one of these groups also directly attacked Banro’s facilities, taking a number of employees hostage.
The group responsible for taking the employees hostage demanded that the company construct basic infrastructure in the area as one of the conditions for releasing the hostages. Namoya’s population has remained divided about the attacks, but many sympathise with the armed group’s stance. This has allowed the group to harness crucial support from community members, like financial contributions and intelligence.
<h2>Neither criminal nor ideological</h2>
There is a tendency to see armed groups in dichotomous terms: as either ideological and having a political agenda or as criminal and pursuing material self interest. The reality is much more complex.
There’s no doubt that there’s a good dose of self interest in armed groups’ antagonism towards Banro. They have tried to benefit financially from ransom payments and “protection fees” paid by logistics subcontractors to avoid ambushes. Many armed groups also depend on artisanal mining for some of their income, imposing forced contributions on diggers and pit-owners. So the closure of artisanal mining sites by industrial companies threatens their income.
But this doesn’t mean they are simply criminals looking only for self-enrichment. Armed groups articulate widespread grievances, including growing discontent with the DRC’s political leadership and the delay in holding elections.
These grievances don’t legitimise the use of violence. But they create a measure of sympathy among the population for those claiming to fight the perceived source of their hardships.
There is a general fear that the expansion of industrial mining in the eastern DRC will eventually wipe out the artisanal and small-scale mining sector. This sector, which also mines tin, tantalum and tungsten, is estimated to employ 9-17% of the total population of the Kivu provinces. Its economic importance is however much bigger as money earned with mining is invested in other sectors, like real estate and the trade in consumer goods.
After the mining sites in Namoya were closed, many artisanal miners moved to gold mines in Fizi territory. But an exploration company, CASA Mining, is paving the way for industrial mining in that region and artisanal miners fear being displaced again.
An armed group active in the area plays into these fears. It has encouraged the population to manifest against the company. CASA’s operations have also been attacked. One member of the armed group commented that:
<blockquote>CASA will never work here. All those chased from Salamabila [Namoya] have fled here; they will rather revolt than being chased again.</blockquote>
Industrial mining companies operating in the eastern DRC would do well to acknowledge how their presence feeds into dynamics of conflict and violence rather than obscuring these complexities. As Banro’s plummeting share price over the past year shows, in particular a spectacular 12% drop after the violence in July, this would also be in the company’s own interest.
&nbsp;
This article was first published in The Conversation.

Op-Ed: Shedding light on why mining companies in eastern Congo are under attack

Transport Infrastructure Driving Boost in Africa’s Cross Border Trade 
Africa could soon be the largest free-trade area in the world. This is if the African Union’s Continental Free Trade Area (CTFA) stays on track to be operational by the end of this year. Once up and running, the continent-wide free trade zone could lead to a 52 percent ($35 billion) increase in intra-African trade within the next 5 years, according to the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA).
The UNECA’s Stephen Karingi, who heads their Regional Integration and Trade Division, says “boosting intra-African trade is the most effective way to speed up Africa’s economic transformation.” Speaking at the recent Africa Session of the Aid for Trade Global Review 2017, Karingi added that “trade contributes towards industrialization and structural transformation.”
Increasing intra-African trade – which reportedly stands at 13 percent – will require the removal of certain barriers in order to improve connectivity, including improvement of custom procedures, reduction of transit and other trade costs, and, importantly, development of reliable transport infrastructure. Here’s a look at some of the inroads that have already been made in the expansion of Africa’s rail, road, and port networks to connect the fragmented African market:
The Ethiopia-Djibouti Rail Link 
This year saw the launch of the first fully electric cross-border railway in Africa. Linking Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa with Djibouti City – a stretch of more than 750 kilometres – the new line will incredibly cut travel time between the two countries. Running at 120km per hour, the rail journey, which lasts about three to four days by road, now only takes 12 hours. Each freight train reportedly transports the same cargo as 200 trucks, with the cost reduced by a third.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-280971" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/ethiopia_djibouti_ra_hb5CS.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="400" />
The line, which cost $4.2 billion, is a significant step towards elevating the poor levels of trade between African countries. Ethiopia plans to construct another 5,000 km-long network of rail by 2020, linking to Kenya, Sudan and South Sudan.
The Trans-African Highway 
Envisaged more than 40 years ago by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), the Trans-African Highway is an ongoing network of highways intended to connect all corners of Africa from north to south, east and west. The ambitious plan, first proposed in 1971, is aimed at boosting internal trade on the continent by building nine roads linking major cities across Africa. Those networks would collectively measure nearly 60,000km.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-280972" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/the_trans_african_hi_Jk17e.jpg" alt="" width="391" height="400" /> 
While progress has been slow, the completion of this project will mark a new day for intra-African trade. One of the nine planned roads is already complete – the 4,400km Trans-Sahelian Highway which runs through seven countries, connecting Dakar, Senegal to Ndjamena, Chad. While more than half of the network has been paved, maintenance remains an issue. Conflicts in countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Angola have led to both the destruction of some highways and hampering of construction.
Doraleh Multipurpose Port 
Djibouti recently opened its new 690-hectare Doraleh Multipurpose Port after two years of construction. The $590 million project, one of the most advanced ports on the continent in terms of facilities, can handle almost nine million tonnes of cargo per year.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-280973" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/doraleh_multipurpose_hUUFK.jpg" alt="" width="681" height="400" />
Despite its small size, Djibouti is one of the important trading hubs on the continent, thanks to its convenient geographic location of connecting Africa to Asia and Europe by sea. Ports in the tiny East African country of less than a million people receive the bulk of cargo from Asia, followed by Europe, and then Africa.
West Africa Regional Rail Integration 
A group of West African countries and mines have poured significant investment into an ongoing extensive rail project which will boost trade in the region. When completed, the track will be 3,000 km long and connect Niger, Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria and Togo. The network will add newly built tracks to existing ones which will be upgraded. This project will greatly benefit landlocked countries like Niger, which face constant transport problems. The country largely relies on its neighbours’ seaports and road infrastructure to carry its imports and exports.
The West African Regional Rail Integration project is a response to the need for better infrastructure and reliable transport to move minerals from one West African country to another, and from the mines to major ports.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-280974" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/west_africa_regional_jMJnM.jpg" alt="" width="732" height="400" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/west_africa_regional_jMJnM.jpg 732w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/west_africa_regional_jMJnM-300x164.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/west_africa_regional_jMJnM-730x400.jpg 730w" sizes="(max-width: 732px) 100vw, 732px" />
Bagamoyo Port 
With its Port of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania is among the major trading hubs in Africa. Now the East African country is aiming to take things up a notch with the development of Bagamoyo Port, which is set to cost $11 billion.
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While the new Tanzanian government has paused construction to focus on revamping other ports, Bagamoyo is set to be the biggest port in East Africa when completed. It will handle 20 million containers a year, more than double the capacity of the Port of Dar es Salaam. If everything goes as planned, Bagamoyo will boost Tanzania’s reputation as a trading centre for its landlocked neighbours such as Zambia, Rwanda, Malawi, Burundi, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The East African Rail Masterplan 
Billed as Kenya’s largest infrastructure project since independence, the first section of the $13.8 billion railway officially opened in June 2017, connecting the capital Nairobi with the port city of Mombasa. The train will shorten travel time between the two cities from 12 hours to four, with freight trains set to carry 25 million tonnes a year.
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The East African Masterplan will eventually extend to Uganda, Rwanda, South Sudan, and Ethiopia – a move that will further strengthen trade relations between the East African neighbours.
This article was supplied to CNBC Africa by Standard Bank.

Africa could soon be the largest free-trade area in the world

Democratic Republic of Congo&#8217;s central bank has announced stiff new financial penalties for companies that fail to repatriate at least 40 percent of their revenues from mineral exports, a decree seen by Reuters on Tuesday showed.
Congo, Africa&#8217;s top copper producer, has been hit hard by low commodity prices over the last two years and is seeking emergency financial support from international donors to contain inflation expected to top 30 percent this year.
The decree, signed by central bank governor Deogratias Mutombo, imposes a penalty of 1 percent of the non-repatriated sum for each day that it is not repatriated. It also decrees a fine of up to 200 million Congolese francs ($125,000) for failure to communicate to the central bank details of a foreign bank account.
Mutombo said that the action was taken due to &#8220;the manifest failure by certain economic operators (to) respect legal and regulatory dispositions.&#8221;
Congo&#8217;s oil and mining sectors account for about 95 percent of its export revenues. The government has long complained that mining companies do not pay enough in taxes and is trying to revise the country&#8217;s 2002 mining code to hike taxes and royalties.
Mining companies oppose the proposed revision, which they say would make them unprofitable. They say that tax agencies hit them with hundreds of millions of dollars in unjustified penalties.
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Reporting By Aaron Ross; Editing by Tim Cocks
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DRC central bank announces penalties for miners that fail to repatriate revenue

The president of Democratic Republic of Congo&#8217;s electoral commission said on Sunday that a vote to replace President Joseph Kabila will probably not be possible this year, violating a deal that let Kabila stay on past the end of his mandate.
Kabila&#8217;s refusal to step down at the end of his second elected term in December sparked protests that killed dozens of people. The opposition quickly denounced commission president Corneille Nangaa&#8217;s announcement on Sunday as a declaration of &#8220;war&#8221;.
&#8220;The parameters at our disposal give us, more or less, reason to think that, in December, it will probably not be possible to stick to that date,&#8221; Nangaa said in an interview on France&#8217;s TV5Monde, referring to the year-end deadline.
Under the accord struck on Dec. 31 between Kabila&#8217;s representatives and opposition leaders, Kabila, in power since 2001, is also barred from trying to change the constitution to stand for a third term.
However, Kabila has said only the electoral commission can schedule the vote once it finishes enrolling millions of voters. In an interview last month with German newspaper Der Spiegel, he also said that he had &#8220;promised nothing&#8221; in the December deal.
In response to Nangaa&#8217;s comments, opposition leader Felix Tshisekedi wrote on Twitter that the commission president &#8220;had declared war on the Congolese people&#8221; and promised a full response by the country&#8217;s main opposition bloc on Monday.
(Reporting By Aaron Ross; Editing by Mary Milliken)

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Democratic Republic of Congo

Cobalt to be declared a strategic mineral in Congo

Switzerland imposes sanctions on allies of Congo’s Kabila

With a busy election schedule, Africa needs a reversal of the old order

DRC’s Gecamines to renegotiate contracts

Blockchain to track Congo’s cobalt from mine to mobile

How African refugees are helping girls learn to avoid abuse, early marriage

2017: the year the Democratic Republic of Congo would like to forget

Zimbabwe’s ‘second liberation’ looms as President Mugabe expelled from Zanu-PF, given ultimatum

DRC sets presidential election for December 2018

U.S. says Congo must hold long-delayed election by end of 2018

No Congo election until mid-2019, says electoral commission

Op-Ed: African boys and girls enter teens with gender stereotypes firmly set

Op-Ed: Democratic breakthroughs in Africa – time to celebrate but worries still linger

Op-Ed: Shedding light on why mining companies in eastern Congo are under attack

Africa could soon be the largest free-trade area in the world

DRC central bank announces penalties for miners that fail to repatriate revenue

DRC elections unlikely to take place this year

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