Coltan and Gold Border Labs: Rwanda-Congo Posts after the 2023 EACRF Pull-out

Milton Ayoki

MPRA Paper from University Library of Munich, Germany

Abstract: Following the December 2023 withdrawal of the East African Community Regional Force (EACRF) from eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), mineral flows across the Rwanda-Congo border have undergone significant transformation. This paper examines how Rwanda's newly established "border labs"—processing facilities and certification centers positioned at strategic border crossings—have become critical nodes in the reconfiguration of Central Africa's coltan and gold supply chains. Using mirror trade statistics from UN Comtrade, Rwanda Mines Board export data (2015-2024), and IPIS mapping of 1,600+ mining sites in eastern DRC, we document a 150% increase in Rwandan coltan exports coinciding with the EACRF withdrawal, while gold exports reached $1.5 billion in 2024. The analysis reveals systematic discrepancies between Rwanda's declared mineral production and export volumes, raising questions about the effectiveness of traceability systems in preventing conflict mineral circulation. As Kigali joins the US-EU critical raw materials partnership, this research provides crucial evidence for policymakers demanding proof that re-exported Congolese minerals are no longer conflict-linked.

Keywords: Conflict minerals; coltan; gold; Rwanda; Democratic Republic of Congo; supply chains; certification; border labs; EACRF; critical raw materials (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: F13 F14 F51 L71 O13 Q34 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024-11-30
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-afr
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/126546/1/MPRA_paper_126546.pdf original version (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pra:mprapa:126546

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in MPRA Paper from University Library of Munich, Germany Ludwigstraße 33, D-80539 Munich, Germany. Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Joachim Winter ().