CIVICUS speaks with Claude Iguma, a mining governance expert with a PhD in Social Sciences, who is based in Bukavu, South Kivu province, eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
On 27 June, the DRC signed a peace agreement with Rwanda. This agreement forms part of a wider deal with the Trump administration promising US access to Congolese coltan in exchange for assistance in quelling armed rebellions and stabilising the region. Coltan is a crucial mineral for the global electronics industry, but its extraction fuels conflicts, insecurity and human rights violations.
