2024-10-17 04:30:00
Dan Gertler at the Mashitu open-pit copper mine in Katanga province (Democratic Republic of Congo) in 2012.” sizes=”(min-width: 1024px) 556px, 100vw” width=”664″ height=”443″/> Will the American government lift the sanctions it imposed in 2017 on Dan Gertler, the Israeli mining magnate in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), to return to the race for the strategic minerals that this country abounds in? Jean Claude Mputu, who was awarded the “anti-corruption champion” prize by the American State Department in 2023, is convinced of this. “We have just learned that Dan Gertler is in the process of withdrawing some of the complaints filed against those who denounced him”gives as a first clue the deputy director of the NGO Resource Matters, also spokesperson for the platform Congo is not for sale (CNPAV).
For the Congolese activist, himself sued for defamation by the businessman, this withdrawal responds to a motivation: Dan Gertler seeks to convince the American government to sign the agreement which will lead to a reduction of the Treasury sanctions which target him. “The cessation of legal proceedings was one of the preconditions demanded by Washington”specifies Jean Claude Mputu.
The world’s leading producer of cobalt and the leading African producer of copper, the DRC also has the seventh largest lithium reserves in the world and aims to represent 30% of global germanium exports. All these minerals are crucial for the energy transition, particularly for the manufacture of electric batteries. However, the United States is lagging behind. With the crisis of “subprimes”, In the 2000s, American companies sold their stakes in most major mining projects, particularly in the DRC.
These resources are today in the hands of Chinese companies. In 2022, Beijing directly controlled around 60% of the world’s production of these rare earths and even refined 90% of them, creating a national security problem for the West. Among the rare exceptions in the DRC: the mines in which Dan Gertler still holds interests. However, the sanctions imposed by the US Treasury prohibit American people and companies from trading with targeted entities. By extension, these sanctions can hit all their partners who carry out dollar transactions with them or who have interests in the United States, including the banks which facilitate these transactions.
“SLAPP procedures”
Jean Claude Mputu knows that sanctions relief is possible, especially during an election period in the United States. In January 2021, just after the presidential election, Dan Gertler obtained it from the Trump administration, which had nevertheless imposed these sanctions four years earlier for “corrupt mining and oil operations”. That of Joe Biden rushed to restore them, but times seem to have changed. Two official Congolese sources and one American confirm, on condition of anonymity, that for more than a year, the DRC, the United States and the businessman have been negotiating secretly.
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