Will Afghanistan’s mineral wealth result in the world’s next Conflict Mineral scenario?

By Juliette Terzieff

From cellular telephone to computers, from jewelry to medical devices, minerals sourced in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) make their way into dozens of types of consumer products every year. But the competition to control the land and mines home to some of the world’s largest deposits of tin, tungsten, tantalum and gold – collectively known as “Conflict Minerals” – drives violence, environmental degradation and human rights abuses. Proceeds from the sales fund armed groups vying for control.

It’s an abysmal situation – a flip-flopped jumble that sees an opportunity to enrich the lives of Congolese and fund development instead disintegrated into a nightmare scenario.

Multinational corporations in the electronics, aerospace, extractive, medical device, automotive and retail sectors have emerged as targets – and partners — in what is one of the most active and concentrated activist campaigns of this new decade.

Most companies have acknowledged the risk and emerged as active contributors in multi-stakeholder efforts to address the trade.

But there are no simple solutions. The supply chain is murky, and efforts to trace mineral sourcing back through smelters and suppliers to specific sites addresses only one small segment of a complex operating environment. Eastern DRC is plagued by a lack of governance, a shambles of a judicial system and armed militias that need to be disarmed. Infrastructure is primitive in many parts of the country. Poverty that makes families easy prey for corrupt traders is rife.

A loose multi-stakeholder alliance of corporations, activist groups, socially responsible investor groups and non-governmental organizations has begun to coalesce around a multi-pronged approach to the issue that seeks to address diplomatic, local governance, development and supply chain elements, leveraging the efforts of individual alliance members to drive progress.

This effort is looking to build on the lessons learned from past multi-stakeholder campaigns, notably Blood Diamonds and the Kimberley Process, and incorporate emerging trends from within the international human rights arena, like the work of UN Special Representative John Ruggie – and represents the best opportunity to truly address the problems plaguing mineral trade from the DRC.

Like the DRC, Afghanistan may soon face conflict over minerals. With the recent U.S. Geological Survey report placing the worth of Afghanistan’s mineral wealth at over $1 trillion it is only a matter of time before international corporations get the green light to begin extraction in earnest. Geopolitical concerns being what they are, many contracts are likely to go companies from China – which are notorious for their lack of due diligence and engagement with local stakeholders. Exploration and extraction will occur in environs with many of the same concerns as eastern DRC.

With such a recipe for disaster, the stakes for the DRC multi-stakeholder effort couldn’t be any higher.

Viral Voices questions:

• What is your opinion of multi-stakeholder efforts to address complex sourcing issues?
• Can multinational corporations alone be expected to solve complex issues?
• What lessons can be learned from the Kimberley Process and the DRC mineral situations?
• How can Afghanistan’s mineral wealth best be managed to provide benefit to the Afghan population?

Share your thoughts with the Future 500.

About the Author

Juliette Terzieff, Future 500’s Global Stakeholder Initiatives Senior Director, is a is a journalist with fifteen years experience covering complex political, environmental, and rights issues in hot spots and war zones around the world. As a correspondent for the San Francisco Chronicle, CNN, Newsweek and other media, she covered controversies in the Balkan, South Asian, and Middle East regions. In addition to her work with Future 500, Juliette regularly tackles human rights and development issues on her blog Global Citizen, contributes twice weekly to World Politics Review’s Trend Lines, and is a Contributing Editor to SmartBrief’s daily UN Newswire covering health, environmental, developmental and human rights issues.

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