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Regulations Aimed at Stopping Mineral-Trade Proceeds Funding Violence Have Not Been Put in Place
KAMPALA, Uganda—Mineral exports have ground to a halt because a certification process aimed at stopping so-called “conflict minerals” from leaving the country hasn’t been put in place—dealing a blow to the east African nation’s foreign revenue earnings.
Ugandan exporters have been unable to ship minerals such as gold, tin, tantalum and tungsten to markets in the European Union and the U.S. in the past two months, Matovu Bukenya, the spokesman for the energy and minerals ministry told The Wall Street Journal on Friday.
Uganda is the first nation neighboring mineral-rich but restive Congo to feel the pinch of U.S. legislation aimed at stopping proceeds from the mineral trade funding violent insurgencies that have killed millions in Eastern Congo since the late 1990s.
“We are doing all we can to get certification rights from the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development to unlock the exports,” Mr. Bukenya said. “Most of our minerals are conflict free but we have to comply with the new regulations to access the markets”
Uganda earns around $100 million every year from legitimate mineral exports but trade officials say that the country is also major conduit for minerals smuggled from Congo to overseas markets. The bulk of Ugandan-registered minerals are sourced from artisan miners who operate small-scale operations along the country’s western border with Congo.
The U.S. law, known as the Dodd-Frank financial reform law, requires companies buying minerals such as tin, tantalum, tungsten and gold from Congo and its nine adjoining neighbors to establish their origin to ensure that they are not from rebel-held mines. Congo is the world’s third-largest source of tantalum, a rare blue-grey metal used in the manufacture of smartphones, digital tablets and personal computers.
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