Is this law like chemo treatment? I think it is!
The senseless and unprovoked rapes, tortures, and killings in eastern Congo must stop. We must kill the cancer.
Overall, I think Eastern Congo will be a better place in time. That's my opinion.
I disagree that Congress has devastated eastern Congo. Eastern Congo has been a mess since end of the Rwandan Genocide.
Unfortunately, the Dodd-Frank law has had unintended and devastating consequences, as I saw firsthand on a trip to eastern Congo this summer. The law has brought about a de facto embargo on the minerals mined in the region, including tin, tungsten and the tantalum that is essential for making cellphones.
The smelting companies that used to buy from eastern Congo have stopped. No one wants to be tarred with financing African warlords -especially the glamorous high-tech firms like Apple and Intel that are often the ultimate buyers of these minerals. It's easier to sidestep Congo than to sort out the complexities of Congolese politics -especially when minerals are readily available from other, safer countries.
For locals, however, the law has been a catastrophe. In South Kivu Province, I heard from scores of artisanal miners and small-scale purchasers, who used to make a few dollars a day digging ore out of mountainsides with hand tools. Paltry as it may seem, this income was a lifeline for people in a region that was devastated by 32 years of misrule under the kleptocracy of Mobutu Sese Seko (when the country was known as Zaire) and that is now just beginning to emerge from over a decade of brutal war and internal strife.
The senseless and unprovoked rapes, tortures, and killings in eastern Congo must stop. We must kill the cancer.
Overall, I think Eastern Congo will be a better place in time. That's my opinion.
I disagree that Congress has devastated eastern Congo. Eastern Congo has been a mess since end of the Rwandan Genocide.
http://mobile.nytimes.com/2011/08/08/opinion/how-congress-devastated-congo.xml
The "Loi Obama" or Obama Law -as the Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform act of 2010 has become known in the region -includes an obscure provision that requires public companies to indicate what measures they are taking to ensure that minerals in their supply chain don't benefit warlords in conflict-ravaged Congo. The provision came about in no small part because of the work of high-profile advocacy groups like the Enough Project and Global Witness, which have been working for an end to what they call "conflict minerals."Unfortunately, the Dodd-Frank law has had unintended and devastating consequences, as I saw firsthand on a trip to eastern Congo this summer. The law has brought about a de facto embargo on the minerals mined in the region, including tin, tungsten and the tantalum that is essential for making cellphones.
The smelting companies that used to buy from eastern Congo have stopped. No one wants to be tarred with financing African warlords -especially the glamorous high-tech firms like Apple and Intel that are often the ultimate buyers of these minerals. It's easier to sidestep Congo than to sort out the complexities of Congolese politics -especially when minerals are readily available from other, safer countries.
For locals, however, the law has been a catastrophe. In South Kivu Province, I heard from scores of artisanal miners and small-scale purchasers, who used to make a few dollars a day digging ore out of mountainsides with hand tools. Paltry as it may seem, this income was a lifeline for people in a region that was devastated by 32 years of misrule under the kleptocracy of Mobutu Sese Seko (when the country was known as Zaire) and that is now just beginning to emerge from over a decade of brutal war and internal strife.
Comments