The journey of Pope Francis
The apostolic journey of His Holiness Francis to the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan organized by the Holy See from 31 January to 5 February 2023, met with widespread approval from the Congolese population. The Pontiff was received at the airport of the capital Kinshasa by the Prime Minister Jean-Michel Sama Lukonde and by the Archbishop, Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo as well as by the Apostolic Nuncio Monsignor Ettore Balestrero. The welcome was extraordinary, tens of thousands of people waved welcome flags and placardswore traditional clothes and even climbed on the roofs of houses and shops to be able to see it.
Your first intervention was very harsh and impressive. The Pope made “a vibrant appeal to all the people, to all entities, internal and external, who pull the strings of the war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, plundering it, flagellating it and destabilizing it. You enrich yourselves through the illegal exploitation of this country’s assets and bloodless sacrifice of innocent victims. Listen to the cry of their blood, lend ear to the voice of God who calls you to conversion, and to that of your conscience: silence the guns, end the war. Enough! No more getting rich on the skin of the weakest, no more getting rich with blood-stained resources and money!”.
Cobalt for lithium
Cobalt mining. More than half of the production of cobalt, a fundamental component of lithium batteries, comes from the Democratic Republic of Congo and in 20% of cases it is extracted by hand using handcrafted tools to dig deep underground tunnels from which to extract this important mineral. According to some estimates there are around 40,000 boys and girls engaged in the mines of the Congo: many of these children work in extreme conditions, without any protection. Perhaps not everyone knows that cobalt helps structure vitamin B12 or cobalamin, the only organometallic vitamin, that is, which contains a metal atom, present in nature. Cobalt silicate and cobalt aluminum are used to color glass, ceramics, inks, paints and varnishes deep blue. Cobalt-60 is a radioisotope used as a radiotracer and for the production of high-energy gamma rays.
Coltan extraction. High tantalum coltan is the most valuable in the world. Its use optimizes energy consumption in new generation chips allowing for considerable savings in electronic devices. More than half of the world‘s coltan supply is extracted in the southern part of the Congo. Its economic value depends on the high or low percentage of tantalite: what is extracted in the Democratic Republic of Condo has a high tantalite rate, which is why the IT industries buy in Congolese coltan. Tantalum is used in the form of metal powder in the electronics and semiconductor industries for the production of high-capacity, small-sized capacitors, which are widely used in mobile phones and computers.
How many conflicts for minerals
In the Democratic Republic of Congo, there are numerous conflicts due to the extraction of these minerals, which trigger strong violence against the civilian population. The wars that are fought, above all, in the Kivu and Ituri regions they serve the various militias present in the area to take over the deposits and therefore to be able to exercise the monopoly of extraction, smuggle the minerals into neighboring countries, and then sell them to the manufacturers of electronic components.
Here is a brief text published by Insideover: “ Congo is targeted by all kinds of dramas: health emergencies such as Ebola, internecine wars, banditry and even the penetration of Isis. A nation that knows no peace. But Congo is not by chance one of the African nations most object of international desires: gold, diamonds, ivory, precious wood, but above all cobalt and coltan, essential for the manufacture of our smartphones and all the technology at our service, are present here in abundance. All around, a complex network of military and paramilitary groups, weak state structures and international clients. African countries themselves use the proceeds from the sale of Congolese stones to finance their military campaigns, sometimes aimed at taking control of new deposits”.
The Pope in Congo condemns corruption during a meeting with young Catholics (60,000 young people) in the Stadium of the Martyrs in Kinshasa and the young people sang a choir addressed to President Felix Tshisekedi in view of the elections scheduled for next December 20th. “Get ready, you’re at the end of your mandate”.