Democratic Republic of Congo

This Chapter identifies four critical phases in the evolution of the Principle of Permanent Sovereignty over Natural Resources and Eminent Domain in the DRC. It argues that the current phase under the DRC Mining Code is one of the most progressive on the continent to the extent that it provides opportunities for the Congolese people to benefit from the exploitation and commercialisation of their minerals with several obligations for mining companies. These obligations increase revenues and equity for the state, and community participation and beneficiation through decentralized revenue sharing. The provisions in the Mining Code and the Constitution are reinforced by international principles and norms to which the country is a signatory. The Chapter recognises, however, that there is a gap between national policies and implementation, and that international instruments are ignored with impunity by the Congolese government and mining companies. For the legal dispositions and international instruments to be fully respected and implemented, it will need Congolese people to regularly challenge the state’s irregular management of the country’s mineral resources. There is an urgent need to re-assert communities’ rights to monitor mineral resources governance to ensure that their interests prevail in the development process of the DRC.