The coalition Congo Not for Sale (CNPAV) is sounding the alarm about the agreement between the Anglo-Swiss company Glencore and Orion, an American company.

At the heart of the concerns expressed are the mining projects of Kamoto Copper Company (KCC) and Mutanda Mining, which the coalition links to the activities of businessman Dan Gertler, who was sanctioned by the US Treasury in 2017.

According to the CNPAV, “KCC and Mutanda regularly pay royalties to Dan Gertler following opaque transactions, reminding us that these sanctions had brought to light a system of corruption already documented by the US justice system,” the text reads.

In this note, the coalition recalls that the Anglo-Swiss multinational Glencore, owner of the KCC and Mutanda mines in the DRC, was fined more than $150 million following an investigation in Switzerland into transactions in Congo. The company was found guilty of failing to prevent corruption involving its business partner Dan Gertler during the acquisition of stakes in the Mutanda and Kansuki mines in 2011.

The coalition also cites major financial losses for the DRC, estimating that these mechanisms allowed the businessman to continue to “rake in around $250,000 a day”.

Beyond the Congolese case, the CNPAV is extending its warning to the track records of the companies concerned.

It points out that Glencore has acknowledged corruption in several countries and agreed to pay more than $1 billion in fines as part of international legal settlements, while Orion’s track record in Africa, particularly in Guinea, “raises serious governance issues”.

For the CNPAV, the companies involved in these negotiations and the mining operations concerned present serious risks of corruption. We therefore encourage the DFC to require, as a precondition to the transaction, that Dan Gertler divest his Congolese assets, and in particular that he waive his royalties from KCC and Mutanda, without any financial compensation,” the statement said.

Written by Akilimali Chomachoma