Burundi Suspends Multinational Mining Contracts
by Eddy Claude Nininahazwe
September 17, 2021
https://www.amjamboafrica.com/burundi-s ... contracts/
Introduction:
(Amjambo Africa) In response to criticism that foreign companies are reaping overly large profits in Burundi from the exploitation of natural resources such as nickel, rare earth, gold, and coltan, the government has suspended the mining activities of all foreign companies beginning July 14, 2021. In his speech on the country’s July 1 Independence Day this year, President Evariste Ndayishimiye ordered the suspension.
As far back as 2004, when President Pierre Nkurunziza took office, Burundian nationals were already beginning to question the mining contracts, and over the years, especially during election campaigns, leaders have promised to spur the growth of Burundi’s economy through its own significant natural resources. A 2010 study made clear just how abundant those resources are – there is enough nickel in the ground for 40 years of nonstop mining in just one of Burundi’s 117 communes, Musongati commune in Rutana Province, in the southeastern part of Burundi. In 2015, the late President Nkurunziza promised that Burundi would “say goodbye to poverty, thanks to its natural resources.”
The mining code in Burundi allows foreign companies that invest in mining to own 90% of the shares, leaving just 10% to Burundi. Rainbow Rare Earths Ltd. is one such company. Based in England, Rainbow Rare Earths mines in Gakara Hill, located in rural Bujumbura. The Gakara mining area has enormous reserves of rare earth elements – heavy metals that are essential in the manufacture of high-tech devices such as smartphones and TV screens.
The Tanganyika Mining Company, owned by Russian oligarchs, mines gold deposits in the hills of Cimba, Mageyo, Gakekwa, Gafumbegeti, Mukoma, Rutorero, and Muhungu in Mabayi commune, Cibitoke Province, in western Burundi.
On May 19, 2021, residents of the lands impacted by the Tanganyika Mining Company, tired of what they perceive to be exploitation, gathered in the streets to demand compensation for their land, which had been targeted for mining. The residents, supported by the local administration, barricaded the roads leading to the mining sites. Those barricades have now been removed, however the residents have not dropped their demands.
Don't mourn, organize.
-Joe Hill