Despite record profits for international miners, DRC’s cobalt miners fall further into poverty – African Business

A brand new report by UK-based company watchdog RAID and Congolese authorized support middle, Centre d’Aide Juridico-Judiciaire (CAJJ), has revealed that employees on the world’s largest industrial cobalt mines within the Democratic Republic of Congo are being pushed additional into poverty, regardless of the mining trade’s important contributions to the power transition.

The report, which used the Minimal Expenditure Basket methodology developed by the United Nations and humanitarian businesses, calculated {that a} residing wage for employees in Kolwezi, Congo is $480 per thirty days, a rise of $78 from the earlier estimate in 2021.

The analysis discovered that costs for primary items in Kolwezi have gone up considerably because of international financial turmoil, but the wages paid to employees at Congo’s industrial cobalt mines have largely stayed the identical.

Congo’s industrial mines are operated by multinational mining corporations, together with these from Europe and China, a lot of which introduced monumental windfall earnings final 12 months. For instance, the Swiss mining large Glencore, which operates two of the best copper and cobalt mines in Congo, just lately announced earnings of $34.1 billion, up 60% from the earlier 12 months. Glencore’s shareholders obtained $7.1 billion in returns.  

RAID and CAJJ urged cobalt mining corporations working in Congo to pay all employees the minimal residing wage, regardless of whether or not they’re employed instantly by the mining firm or not directly by way of subcontractors. The teams additionally pressed electrical car corporations, battery producers and refiners to finish contracts with cobalt suppliers who fail to take motion to treatment employee exploitation.

“Costs for primary items in Kolwezi markets have gone up considerably because of international financial turmoil, but the wages paid to employees at Congo’s industrial cobalt mines have largely stayed the identical,” stated Josue Kashal, Supervisor on the Centre d’Aide Juridico-Judiciaire (CAJJ).

He slammed the worldwide mining corporations making document earnings off the worldwide power transition, whereas Congolese employees bringing cobalt to international markets languish in poverty.

“The swap to wash power have to be a simply transition, not one which leaves Congolese employees in more and more determined residing circumstances,” he stated.

Anneke Van Woudenberg, Govt Director RAID insisted there was no excuse for not paying the Congolese workforce a dignified wage.

“The automotive producers utilizing Congo’s cobalt in rechargeable EV batteries ought to insist it’s responsibly sourced, and never constructed on the backs of exploited Congolese employees.”

Glencore’s KCC mine is one among 5 mines surveyed by RAID and CAJJ. The others had been CMOC’s Tenke Fungurume, Eurasian Assets Group’s Metalkol, Sino-congolaise des mines (Sicomines) and Société minière de Deziwa (Somidez).

In 2021, Glencore employed 11,110 employees at its KCC mine, of which 44% had been employees employed by way of subcontractors. If all the 4,874 sub-contracted Congolese employees working at KCC earned the residing wage of $480.37 per thirty days, the annual wage invoice on the mine would quantity to not less than $28 million (plus taxes and different advantages), which is about 0.1% of the corporate’s earnings final 12 months, the rights teams say.