DRC Goes Mobile

I have already made my attitudes towards US Exceptionalism and international interference / manipulation well known I think.  Suffice it to say, as a brief summary at this point, that the US constantly and consistently sets itself up as God on this planet, abusing all peoples equally for the sake of their own selfish interests.

I want to add here that when I write of the US in this way, I am not singling them out for bad-mouthing.  The same is true of all the major players in today's global society, including the UK.  The reason I consider the US more culpable than its fellows in the UN's Big 5 is that they are more powerful, one way and another, and therefore more influential.

I have already written on the subject of oil, and I think it a no-brainer as to why: all countries are addicted to petroleum - a line used in the 1997 film Chain Reaction, and even then it wasn't news.  The world depends on oil for far too much: fuels of various kinds and plastic and the two major categories.

Today I want to consider a different substance: tantalum.  Tantalum is used to produce electronic components, particularly in computers and mobile phones.  If our addiction to oil represents our dependence on cars, then we are also addicted to tantalum, which represents our dependence on computers and phones.

Now, what does this have to do with the Democratic Republic of Congo?  Well, tantalum is extracted from a mineral called coltan and 70% of the world supply comes from the DRC.

It is painfully ironic how the unspoken, unwritten rules of economics play with the poor: the DRC has the second lowest nominal GDP per capita in the world.  In layman's terms, this means that the average person in the DRC is forced to survive on an annual income of little more than US$300.

The other side of the economy irony coin is that the DRC's untapped mineral wealth is estimated to make it the richest country in the world - its natural resources are conservatively estimated to be worth $24 trillion!  In addition, 50% of Africa's remaining forests are to be found there, along with a river system that could be harnessed to the point of providing hydro-electric power to the entire African continent.

The explanation for this gaping paradox is, of course, politics: the DRC is one of the 20 most corrupt countries on earth, and with the ongoing fighting and resulting smuggling of conflict diamonds and minerals, it looks set to head nowhere fast, especially with the ongoing disputes over the re-election of Joseph Kabila in November of last year.

If you look at the news articles on the BBC, or better yet read the book "Half the Sky", you will see enough evidence for the UN's nicknaming of the country: the rape capital of the world.  According to a study mentioned in the Huffington post, the rate is equivalent to 48 sexual assaults every hour. 

That's basically one woman being raped every 75 seconds.

This is done to destroy communities and keep the country off balance - the stigma, disease and pregnancy-related problems mean that rape is a very effective way of targeting specific areas.

And where are the Big 5 in all of this?  Well, quite predictably (with a record that boasts the activities of the L'oreal-Nestle partnership) Switzerland is burrowed in deep, but the major player there is China.  With the preferential terms over mining that they have one in return for their 'bolstering' of the economy (ripping off the poor and rewarding the rich as usual) it's no wonder that people are unhappy about Kabila's administration.

And of course, the UN is nowhere to be seen because China will veto action proposals for fear of losing its lucrative, monopolising presence there.  We all know that almost everything is made in China, and this is how they obtain the resources to do it.  And no-one is going to upset the situation further because with 70% of the world's coltan there, we cannot 'afford' to cut off ties either with the DRC where the mineral is, nor with China that apparently produces almost 50% of all products on earth.

How many of us would be willing to give up our computers or phones for the sake of a war-torn, corrupt country in central Africa simply because their production depends on the rape of 1,000 women a day?