Carter Center Urges Disclosure of Terms of Kawama Permit Transfer

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Soyia Ellison, soyia.ellison@emory.edu

KINSHASA - The Carter Center urges the government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo to release the terms of the deal in which state-owned mining company Gécamines lost its interest in the potentially rich Kawama concession. In February 2015, Chabara Sprl, in which Gécamines holds a 30 percent stake, sold the Kawama permit to one of the country's largest companies, Mutanda Mining. The sale was reported in the media only this week.

The DRC government has repeatedly expressed its strong commitment to contract transparency and is committed to implementing the Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative. This requires full transparency of revenues accruing to state-owned companies. Yet the government, Gécamines, and Mutanda's shareholders - Glencore, a Swiss commodity trading and mining company, and Dan Gertler, an Israeli businessman - have all declined to disclose the precise amount Gécamines received in exchange for its interest. Five recent similar cases of state-owned mining companies selling assets below market value in secret transactions involving Gertler reportedly cost the DRC over a billion dollars.

"It is essential that the DRC government, as the sole shareholder of Gécamines, reassure the public that this and similar transactions are carried out in a transparent manner that safeguards the public interest," said Phyllis Cox, field office director for The Carter Center in DRC. "The government should publish the terms of the Kawama deal and all other outstanding natural resource contracts."

Despite the small size of Kawama's concession area, the permit is potentially very valuable. Over the past decade, the concession has attracted thousands of artisanal miners looking for high-grade ore close to the surface. This permit is not unlike Mutanda's first, which was for a concession area of similar size and dominated by artisanal activity. Gécamines described Mutanda as "non-strategic" when it came to light that it had sold its stake in the project eight months before the 2011 presidential elections. Since then, Mutanda has become Congo's second-most-productive copper producer and was the world's top cobalt producer in 2014.

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A not-for-profit, nongovernmental organization, The Carter Center has helped to improve life for people in over 80 countries by resolving conflicts; advancing democracy, human rights, and economic opportunity; preventing diseases; and improving mental health care. The Carter Center was founded in 1982 by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and former First Lady Rosalynn Carter, in partnership with Emory University, to advance peace and health worldwide.

Translations
Le Centre Carter demande la divulgation des termes du transfert du permis d'exploitation de Kawama