Congo’s cobalt, copper, gold and coltan power global markets. But behind those minerals are miners, families and communities living with the risks, and seeing little of the wealth they generate.
Women remain concentrated in the less profitable parts of the trade. Children can end up in hazardous mines. Communities face displacement, environmental damage and, in eastern Congo, the added pressures of conflict.
So, who really pays the price for Congo’s mineral wealth?
In Episode Three of our exclusive interview with Junior N. Badila, we examine the people and communities behind Congo’s mineral economy and ask whether the global demand for critical minerals can ever be truly responsible.
Caleb Koyo: When we move beyond the billions of dollars and look at the people actually producing Congo's minerals, who bears the greatest cost of the current mining system?
Junior Badila: Mining communities bear the greatest cost of Congo’s mining system. They face displacement, environmental damage, unsafe working conditions and limited access to essential services, while much of the mineral value leaves their regions.
Artisanal miners are particularly vulnerable, often working informally without adequate protection, equipment or fair market access. Local businesses also lose when mining companies import goods and services that could be sourced locally.
A fairer system requires stronger local procurement, formalized artisanal mining and greater investment in jobs, infrastructure, healthcare and education. Some major industry players are already supporting domestic sourcing and local supply chains.
Caleb Koyo: Great. Artisanal mining is often seen as illegal or dangerous. But for many families, it is also a source of survival. How should policymakers address that contradiction?
Junior Badila: Good question. There is a growing push to organize artisanal and small-scale mining, particularly in Lualaba, where cooperatives around Kolwezi work in copper and cobalt.
The Kasulo cobalt zone is one example of efforts to improve traceability and working conditions.
In eastern DRC, particularly Ituri, artisanal gold mining supports thousands of families. But many miners still work informally and face unsafe conditions, weak market access and exploitation.
The debate is evolving, with the current Mines Minister, Louis Watum Kabamba, bringing direct experience from the sector.
Caleb Koyo: Child labour has become one of the most powerful images associated with Congolese cobalt. What are the economic realities that push children into mining, and what happens to those families when children are removed from the mines?
Junior Badila: This is a major concern. Child labour in mining is driven largely by poverty, unemployment, limited access to education and unstable family incomes. Removing children from mines is essential, but prohibition alone is not enough. Families need alternatives.
That means free education, school meals, healthcare and social protection, alongside decent jobs, access to finance and alternative livelihoods. The goal is not only to remove children from mines, but to ensure families no longer depend on child labour to survive.
Caleb Koyo: Women are deeply involved in mining economies, from processing and trading to supporting mining households, yet they often remain excluded from the most profitable parts of the sector. Why has that happened, and what would meaningful economic inclusion look like?
Junior Badila: Yes, Caleb. Women have often been concentrated in informal, lower-paid roles because of limited access to mining rights, finance, equipment, training and decision-making.
But more young women are entering the industry as geologists, surveyors, engineers and environmental specialists. Universities in Kolwezi and Lubumbashi are helping train the next generation.
Meaningful inclusion means equal access to skilled jobs, leadership, licenses, finance and procurement opportunities, alongside safer workplaces, equal pay, childcare and protection from discrimination and harassment.
Caleb Koyo: We often hear the phrase “responsible mining”. What should that actually mean for a woman, child or family living next to a mining operation?
Junior Badila: Yes, good question. Responsible mining should improve the daily lives of communities living around mining operations. For women, that means safe jobs, equal pay, access to procurement and protection from discrimination.
For children, it means being in school, with access to healthcare, nutrition and social protection. For families, it means clean water, safe land, fair compensation, decent housing and economic opportunities beyond mining.
The DRC is also working with international partners, including the Cobalt Institute and Enterprise Générale du Cobalt, to strengthen responsible sourcing, traceability and the safer formalization of artisanal cobalt mining. Success should be measured by real improvements in mining communities, not simply by company reports or certifications.
Caleb Koyo: Glad you ended by focusing on what responsible mining should mean for communities. Many people live beside deposits worth billions of dollars, yet lack adequate roads, schools, healthcare and clean water. Where is the breakdown between mineral wealth and community development?
Junior Badila: Let me give you an example. Lualaba shows the challenge clearly. Communities around Kolwezi live beside some of the world’s richest copper and cobalt operations, yet some still lack reliable clean water, healthcare, schools and good local roads.
Mining companies contribute through taxes, royalties, cahiers des charges and the legally required 0.3 per cent community-development allocation. But communities need better coordination, transparency and active participation to ensure these resources translate into real development.
Caleb Koyo: So, there should be visible improvements in local living standards. Let’s talk about Eastern Congo, where conflict adds another dimension. How important are minerals to the financing and survival of armed groups, and how careful should journalists be when linking particular minerals to particular armed actors?
Junior Badila: Last year, the UN Group of Experts reported that AFC/M23 benefited from the production, taxation and illicit movement of coltan from the Rubaya area in North Kivu.
Journalists must avoid suggesting that every mineral or mining operation in eastern DRC finances conflict. The relationship varies by location, mineral, armed group and period.
Reporting should identify the specific mine, trading route and armed group involved, while clearly separating verified evidence from allegations. Without that precision, the “conflict minerals” label can stigmatize entire communities and undermine the livelihoods of legitimate artisanal miners.
Caleb Koyo: Great. Once minerals leave a conflict-affected mining area and pass-through traders, processors and borders, how difficult is it to establish their true origin? Can the international industry genuinely guarantee that a mineral is responsibly sourced?
Junior Badila: An insightful question. Rubaya in North Kivu is a clear example. Coltan from the area can pass through artisanal miners, local traders, transporters and cross-border networks before reaching international processors. Along the way, minerals can be mixed, relabeled or moved without reliable documentation.
Once they are processed into tantalum, identifying the precise mine of origin becomes much harder. That is why documentation alone is not enough. Companies need mine-site verification, supply-chain checks, digital traceability, independent audits and cooperation between the DRC and neighboring countries.
Responsible sourcing can reduce these risks, but it cannot provide an absolute guarantee where armed control, smuggling and weak border oversight affect the supply chain.
Caleb Koyo: Finally, Junior, if the international market refused to buy minerals from high-risk artisanal mines, would that protect Congolese communities, or could it destroy the livelihoods of the very people the policy is meant to protect?
Junior Badila: Obviously, a refusal could harm the very artisanal and small-scale mining communities that need protection and support. If buyers withdraw, miners could be pushed towards informal traders, smugglers and armed networks offering lower prices and fewer protections.
The better approach is responsible engagement, improving conditions, traceability and oversight rather than simply cutting communities off from international markets.
Follow Parts One and Two of our four-part exclusive interview with Junior N. Badila, where we explored Congo’s mineral wealth, artisanal mining, responsible sourcing and the communities living alongside some of the world’s most valuable mineral deposits.
Junior N. Badila is a London-based media and mining research consultant, founder of AUK Media and Mukuba Minerals Forum, and Europe representative for MiningCongo.cd. He oversees the MiningCongo platform in Europe, connecting media, industry, policymakers and communities around critical minerals, responsible mining and the energy transition in the DRC and Zambia.
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