Anthony Bourdain in The Congo!

[darth frosty]

Good interesting show on the congo on CNN right now 10pm est

http://www.blacklistednews.com/Congo%E2%80%99s_$24_Trillion_Mineral_Wealth%3A_Corporations_vs_M23/22798/0/38/38/Y/M.html


Congo's $24 Trillion Mineral Wealth: Corporations vs M23

November 28, 2012

Source: CNBC

Global financial markets don’t pay much attention to the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo. They should. The central African country produces major quantities of tin and tungsten, about half of the world’s cobalt output and about three percent of the world’s copper and gold, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

Consumer electronics makers would also be well-advised to watch developments in the war-torn nation, which is a key supplier of columbite-tantalite, or coltan for short—a mineral ore used to manufacture capacitors found in cellphones, tablet computers, laptops and practically every mobile device on the market today.

Like Sierra Leone with its notorious ‘blood diamonds’, DRC Congo has been blighted by the stigma of ‘conflict minerals’ ’ where the proceeds from resources extracted from mines controlled by government or rebel forces are used to fund war. ‘Conflict-free’ certification programs and legislation have sought to reduce market share of resources mined in war zones but convoluted supply-chain networks have allowed buyers to exploit loopholes in the system.

Legislators in the U.S. have sought to close those loopholes.

On August 22, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission adopted a rule mandated by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act to require companies to publicly disclose their use of conflict minerals that originated in the DRC or an adjoining country.

Under the rules, companies are required to disclose their use of conflict minerals that include tantalum, tin, gold, or tungsten if those minerals are ‘necessary to the functionality or production of a product’ manufactured by those companies, the SEC said.The “vast majority” of U.S. companies are not yet ready for the new rules that go into effect in less than two years, IHS isuppli pointed out in an exhaustive study released on October 25. “The industry appears to be unprepared, given that about 90 percent of firms so far have not produced the data, declarations, or documentation that will help fulfill regulatory requirements detailing the presence of such minerals in their supply chains,” the firm said.

As of August, the percentage of electronics component manufacturers with available conflict minerals information amounted to only 11.3 percent of the peer group, according to the IHS Parts Management Service, accounting for just 17.1 percent of active electronic components on the market.

IHS estimates that 15 cents’ worth of tantalum was contained in every smartphone shipped when Dodd-Frank was originally signed in 2010. In 2012, this would amount to $93 million worth of tantalum in smartphones alone. The firm has been gathering information on conflict minerals for more than two years from a database on more than 300 million electronic, electromechanical and fastener components used in commercial and military applications.

$24 Trillion Mineral Wealth

A striking endnote from IHS estimates the value of DRC Congo’s mineral wealth at as much as $24 trillion, which stands in stark contrast to almost three-quarters of the population who live below the poverty line — a clear case, some might argue, where a developing country’s resources wealth has morphed into a resources curse.

A question for the immediate term is to what degree the unrest will affect production from major assets run by listed global miners.

 

[doggish_098]

that show sucks on cnn... but there is a show about bullet and his wife on discovery fit and health...

Secret Sex Lives:Swingers

 

[darth frosty]

that show sucks on cnn...

I agree but the congo is a subject that interest me and this is a look into that region that is non-existant.



http://www.bgol.us/board/showthread.php?t=753886&highlight=congo

Jim Armitage: Congo kleptocrats’ obscene pursuit of wealth is about to spread to oil
Global Outlook: The new law will replicate most of the lax conditions of the country’s mining world
JIM ARMITAGE Author Biography SATURDAY 07 SEPTEMBER 2013



ENRC draws fire for attempt to 'clean up' its Congo holdings
Belarus and Russia row over potash raises fear of a trade war
Market Report: Sirius takes a big crash on its potash
Jim Armitage: Are both these keen anglers telling whoppers?
Kabila sworn in after disputed Congo vote




As if Congo’s copper, cobalt and diamond mines had not unleashed enough corruption already, its government is about to pass a new law that could replicate the crisis in its fast-growing oil industry.

Needless to say, wealthy British exploration businesses look set to benefit. Congo’s mines have been systematically sold, on the cheap, by corrupt officials to their preferred western contacts for many years. The deals or, more specifically, the backhanders that allegedly push them through have enriched the kleptocratic few at the great expense of the population of this immense, poor country.

While a handful of men have become millionaires, poverty has worsened since the 1980s. Despite the rising revenues from minerals sales throughout the commodities boom, nearly half the population is below the poverty line, and almost half those of working age are unemployed. It is an obscenity. Where the mining wealth should be raising taxes to build more schools, hospitals and sustainable businesses, it is too often being funnelled out to companies in the West, shadowy offshore trusts and corrupt officials.

A report by Kofi Annan, the former UN secretary general on the issue earlier this year estimated that the Congolese people missed out on potential income of almost $1.5bn between 2010 and 2012. His report highlighted and condemned the sales of assets through the Israeli tycoon Dan Gertler to London-listed mining group ENRC – currently in the process of retreating from the Stock Exchange after a wave of scandals.

Mr Gertler, a close friend of President Joseph Kabila and major player in the Congo minerals world, bought the assets directly from the state at an allegedly knockdown price. There was no public tender allowing the market to decide the correct price.

He then sold them on to ENRC. In the process, Mr Annan’s organisation calculated, the Congolese nation missed out on hundreds of millions of dollars. Both ENRC and Mr Gertler strenuously deny any wrongdoing.

Mr Gertler has always claimed the assets were not undervalued, but the opacity with which he runs his businesses, including what critics describe as the use of complex offshore trusts, inevitably creates room for questions to be asked. Mr Kabila, Mr Gertler and ENRC have come under such widespread criticism for these and other deals that it seems astonishing that, just as Congo’s oil industry gets going, it is passing a law that will allow similar cloudy deals to flourish for years to come.

According to Global Witness, the campaign group that has done more than most to understand and expose corruption in the country, the new law will replicate most of the appallingly lax conditions prevalent in its mining world. Mr Gertler, who last year was reported to have bought stakes in oil exploration rights, will be watching closely.

There is no provision for open public tenders; bidders will be allowed to be anonymous, and oil contracts will not have to be made public. All this secrecy despite the fact that these are the riches belonging to the Congolese people. Meanwhile, take a look at this bit: “For reasons of public interest, a decree deliberated in the Council of Ministers can waive the restriction measures related to [oil exploration in] protected areas and prohibited areas.”

It may look fairly innocuous, but that part of Article 24 is a potential environmental H-bomb. It basically means that, in order to allow drilling in its wildlife-rich nature reserves and World Heritage Sites, all the government has to do is hold a meeting of ministers to approve it.

The proof that this is no small matter is already there for all to see. The Congolese government has granted drilling rights in the Virunga National Park, home to the rare mountain gorillas made famous by that jungle-loving trio of Dian Fossey, Sigourney Weaver and, of course, David Attenborough.

The British Government has joined Unesco and other European governments to oppose this plan. Yet it is a British company, Soco International, which looks set to be the first to start drilling under the waters of Lake Edward.

The lake’s many species of fish, as well as the crocodiles, chimpanzees, elephants and lions who live around it, are highly protected by international treaties. Soco has declared that, despite the protests of so many countries and organisations, it will press ahead with its exploration.

It says it will work with the Congolese environmental agencies and government to ensure the environment remains protected. However, the oil supermajor Total, which also has an exploration licence covering part of the park, has pledged not to explore there.

Western governments, including Britain, which has said it will give Congo £790m in aid between 2010 and 2015, have been slow to pick up on the new law. They should start applying pressure, quickly.

Congo aims to increase its oil production from the current 25,000 barrels a day to 225,000. Global Witness estimates that could bring in revenues of $3bn a year for Congo. So much cash, and without proper legislation to ensure transparency, so much temptation for kickbacks.

Dust is yet to settle on potash ‘kidnap’ affair

Interesting to see Vladimir Putin being so conciliatory over the Belarusian potash “kidnapping” affair yesterday.

Russia and Belarus spent much of last week conducting tit-for-tat attacks on each other following the arrest in Minsk of the chief executive of Russia’s Uralkali. The arrest followed Uralkali’s move to abandon the cartel it had been operating with Belarus’s potash giant.

Mr Putin said yesterday that it was important to avoid escalating the row, giving rise to speculation a deal may be in the offing. But that’s far from clear. Alexander Lukashenko, the President of Belarus, is no fan of Mr Putin, and has backed himself into a corner somewhat with his risky strategy over the arrest.

Meanwhile, the collapse of the cartel is likely to hit potash prices hard, which suits nobody. Except perhaps Suleiman Kerimov, the football-mad major shareholder in Uralkali, who, while inflicting pain on his own company in the short term, may well have scuppered the investment plans of a host of his rivals for years to come.

 

[darth frosty]

 

[darth frosty]