The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has more than 50 percent of the world’s reserves of cobalt, a mineral essential to the “green transition” as it is used in lithium batteries for smartphones, electric vehicles and renewable technologies. However, behind this mineral lies one of the most brutal exploitation structures of the 21st century, characterized by illegal mining, deadly cave-ins and child labor. Recent images of a bridge collapsing, leaving more than 30 people dead – including children – are alerting the world to a hidden reality. Why do children work in the mines of a country that is the world’s largest cobalt exporter with 70 percent of global production?
Cobalt under foreign control
The resource-rich regions of Katanga and Lualaba are the heart of cobalt mining. After the collapse of the state-owned company Gécamines and its sell-off to foreign companies, production was ramped up. The company was founded in 1967 when the then military chief Mobutu Sese Seko nationalized the Belgian mining company Union Minière du Haut Katanga (UMHK), which accounted for up to 70 percent of the Congolese state’s revenue. However, following corruption scandals and the embezzlement of millions of dollars, the state-owned company entered into partnerships with private and foreign mining companies in the 2000s, resulting in the sale or lease of its best assets in exchange for minimal payments and unfavorable royalties. So mining giants took operational control of the key copper and cobalt concessions in Katanga province, transforming the state-owned company into a holding company with a minority stake in the joint ventures that actually mine the mineral.
Currently, the main companies mining cobalt on a large scale in the DRC are majority controlled by Chinese interests, with Switzerland’s Glencore also playing a significant role. Chinese companies are the most influential players as they control approximately 50 percent of cobalt mining and 70 percent of copper mining in the DRC. An example of such a project is the Kolwezi copper and cobalt mine, operated by the majority Chinese-owned Compagnie Minière de Musonoie Global SAS (COMMUS). Glencore operates significant deposits in the Katanga and Lualaba regions. Although these companies control industrial mining, a significant portion of Congo’s cobalt (estimated to be between 15 percent and 30 percent) comes from artisanal and small-scale mining (MAPE), where thousands of informal miners and children work in dangerous conditions and whose ore enters the supply chain through intermediaries and smelters and mixes with industrial cobalt.
The cobalt mined in the DRC is mainly exported to the country that dominates the global supply chain for this mineral: China. About 80 percent of the mine’s production is brought to China for processing and refining. This is because Chinese companies not only control a large proportion of the mines in the DRC, but also own the most important refining facilities. China is the world’s largest consumer of cobalt and uses it for its massive lithium-ion battery industry. China has positioned itself as a dominant player, vying with the West for control of raw materials by investing heavily in the region, both economically and militarily. Chinese companies control much of the industrial mining and refining.
Small-scale mining and illegal market
The collapse and deregulation of Gécamines also directly contributed to the rise of small-scale mining (MAPE), as thousands of former workers and impoverished citizens sought livelihoods in the abandoned deposits or those adjacent to the industrial mines, thereby creating the conditions for illegal mining and child labor. The MAPE workers (Minería Artesanal y de Pequeña Escala, artisanal and small-scale mining) are the informal workforce, the “cobalt riders”. They have no contract, work piecework for extremely low wages (often less than $2 a day), and must bring their own tools, assuming all labor risks. They work in precarious and irregular mines, outside of state control. Collapses are frequent and deadly, as the recent tragedy at the Kawama mine shows.
Up to 30 percent of the cobalt traded internationally comes from work in these illegal mines. Once mined, the artisanal mineral is mixed with industrial cobalt in local markets, “cleaning up” its origins before reaching traders and multinational technology companies who can ignore its origins. In a country where the World Bank reported a poverty rate of 73 percent in 2024, illegal work in the mines is the only source of survival for a large part of the population. According to the International Labor Organization (ILO), more than 100,000 MAPE miners in the country work in conditions that do not endanger their safety and undermine human rights.
The Youngest Face of Slavery
Child labor in cobalt mines is one of the most brutal aspects of the contradiction in a country that is rich in natural resources but where a large part of the population lives in abject poverty. Existential hardship and a lack of access to education force thousands of children to work for the survival of their families. It is estimated that around 40,000 children work in cobalt mines, some as young as seven. In the provinces of Haut-Katanga and Lualaba, the International Labor Organization (ILO) documented the presence of more than 6,200 children in the mines. The harsh reality of their work includes digging unstable tunnels, carrying heavy bags of ore, and cleaning with their bare hands. Constant contact with cobalt dust and heavy metals causes severe respiratory diseases (asthma, chronic bronchitis) and genetic damage.
Many develop spinal deformities and suffer psychological trauma from carrying heavy loads. According to research in the book “Red Cobalt” by Siddharth Kara, exploitation and accidents are so common that “a child dies every day in Congo” so that Western technological devices can function. In addition to these working conditions, girls are at additional risk of sexual assault, while militias kidnap and traffic children to force them to work and support themselves with their earnings.
Many organizations and NGOs around the world are committed to helping and working with African children, but these actions are inadequate given the scale of a global extractive system that prioritizes the profitability and plunder of the entire continent’s resources. It is clear that neither the DRC government, which committed in 2017 to end child labor by 2025, nor the help of external organizations are able to counteract the capitalist profit motive that has recently cost the lives of more than 30 workers, including children – some media are already saying more than 70 deaths. Until the structural causes of poverty are addressed, cobalt will remain a bloodstained metal and technological progress will be built on the silent sacrifice of Congo’s children and workers. The Congolese people have waged great struggles against colonialism and for self-determination throughout their history. It is necessary to revive this force, to unite it with all the oppressed and exploited of Africa, in order to end the imperialism that reigns on the continent. The nationalization of all resources and common goods, controlled by workers and farmers, must be achieved. This is the only way to end the foreign exploitation and structural poverty in which such a resource-rich country has been kept in the service of international big capital through years of plunder and oppression by foreign powers, but also by national governments, their armed forces and the local bourgeoisie.
This article first appeared in Spanish in our sister newspaper on November 20th La Izquierda Diario.
