Mining Revenues and Institutional Weakness: The Political Economy of the DRC’s 0.3% Community Development Fund

Kevin Ngunza Maniata and Caleb Bonyi Mukadi Mukandila

MPRA Paper from University Library of Munich, Germany

Abstract: This paper analyzes the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s (DRC) legal requirement that mining companies allocate 0.3 percent of annual turnover to local community development. Drawing on the 2025 audit of forty-four community development funds by the Court of Auditors, the study reveals systematic underreporting of revenues, delayed or missing payments, weak financial management, and the absence of sanctions between 2018 and 2023. Using institutional economics and principal–agent theory, it shows how asymmetric information, misaligned incentives, and political interference undermine the system’s effectiveness. Comparative evidence from Peru’s canon minero and Ghana’s Mineral Development Fund demonstrates that success depends less on legal design than on credible verification, coordination, and community oversight. The paper proposes reforms to strengthen enforcement, transparency, and accountability in the DRC’s mining governance framework.

Keywords: Mining Governance; Resource Revenue Sharing; Community Development Funds; Institutional Capacity; Principal–Agent Theory; Political Economy of Regulation; Transparency (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D73 H77 O17 Q32 Q38 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025-10-17
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