Cobalt, Colonialism, and the Dilemma of Artisanal Mining: Unveiling a Complex Reality
Photo courtesy of Afrewatch 2020, Flickr
Being a student at UCL and at most universities, one is hardwired to be sensitive to the word ‘colonialism’. You are taught that much of the infrastructure of the Global ‘North’ was built upon the exploitation of the ‘South’; You are taught that the Global ‘North’ pillaged the ‘South’ and that much of the wealth inequality is the fault colonialism; You are told that what happened was wrong and should not happen again. Rightfully so.
In its most atavistic form, colonialism has left us. However, its prevalence is still paramount in society today. London’s infrastructural opulence owes much to its former colonies and Britain’s standing in the world would seldom be as definite without it. Indeed, the structures and institutions we inhabit would look very different if wealth was only acquired domestically. Colonialism’s relevance today is as significant as it was before because, in truth, it was never gone.
‘Cobalt Red: How the Blood of the Congo Powers Our Lives’ by Siddharth Kara is a book, recently published, that has highlighted the effects of the global demand for cobalt on the lives of people in the Congo. The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) accounts for at least 2/3 of the world’s supply of cobalt, with some estimates in 2022 going as high as 73.3%. Demand has spiralled as dependence on batteries for phones and electric cars has increased - tripling since 2010 - with production increasing 20% every year from 1995-2020.
Although reporting of human rights abuses in the region has been going on for nearly a decade, as detailed by an Amnesty report in 2016, the appeal for parity and fairness in the region has only really gained significant traction in the past few years, and Kara’s novel is the paragon of this newfound attention.
Calls for decolonisation from academics are undermined when the very technologies (batteries) they rely on are powered, in part, by the blood of those exploited. There are estimated to be over 200,000 ‘artisanal’ (independent) labourers working in disastrous conditions. Many of them are children and many more lack the correct protection to the myriad of potential harms that cobalt can induce. Kara describes these harmful conditions; ‘people were caked in toxic filth, children caked in toxic grime and filth and scrounging in pits, trenches and tunnels to gather cobalt bearing ore and feed it up the supply chain’. It is estimated that between 18-30% of cobalt in the Congo is sourced by these means.
Despite this, there are some advantages that can be procured through artisanal mining: employment, higher wages compared with industry mining jobs, and in some areas, better living conditions. Academics have criticised the parochial view that Kara’s rhetoric gives and argue that it only re-enforces the ‘white saviour’ narrative by suggesting that it is up to consumers of cobalt and the Global ‘North’ to take action.
Questions over the supply chain could be solved by placing more trust into machine-led mining which already accounts for 2/3 of total supply. However, It would make ‘artisanal labourers’ redundant to the exploitative MNC’s (multinational corporations) that outsource the benefits away from the local population. Moreover, the MNCs that operate mines are almost exclusively based abroad with 15/19 of these mines Chinese owned or financed, with the profits almost exclusively going to China.
The repercussions these companies have on the local population are ubiquitous throughout the region. An Amnesty International report found that large mining companies demolished homes as they expanded into cities, burnt houses and injured residents, destroyed crops and sexually assaulted people to force them off the land. Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General, said; ‘Cobalt mining projects are wrecking lives and must stop now.’
So long as MNCs take the benefits away from the local population, the incentive for ‘blood’ labour will always be there. Instead, empowering and teaching those within the DRC will have a far more positive effect on the lives of the local population. As opposed to removing ‘artisanal’ workers altogether and relying on neo-colonial corporate mechanisms (MNCs).
Acknowledging the importance of artisanal workers, a director of the Fair Cobalt Alliance stated ‘"if you actually invested into more productive, more efficient and safer working conditions. You could unleash an unfathomable potential.’ The artisanal movement may be the best way for the local population to profit, but provisions need to be made to guarantee suitable working conditions or else the cobalt we use will always be subject to vitriolic debate.
As we navigate away from colonial ideologies, we must note that it is not up to us to make the decisions, it is for people of the DRC to decide.