How a local innovation is strengthening local civil societies in carrying out due diligence through an information management platform
“DataStake helps to reduce fraud in the opaque sector and reinforces traceability.”
Patrick, Guy and Yves* are lawyers from the city of Bunia, in the Ituri province of Congo. Since June 2020, they have been operating, under Zahabu Safi, as Justice Plus local implementing partners to Better Chain in carrying out sustainable due diligence monitoring to counter illegal gold mining and trading in the “red zone.”
The trio’s work reflects Zahabu Safi’s aim of facilitating the export of responsibly sourced artisanal small-scale mining gold from eastern DRC. Armed and militia groups thrive on the murky climate. In 2020, official figures state that the Ituri province produced 30kg of gold, when Justice Plus reveals some sites produce that much in a year or few months. Close to 98% of artisanal gold is exported illegally to neighboring countries. And the cost of a négociant’s card officially slated for USD 15 amounts to USD 400, after crossing red tapes.
To change stereotypes, and help the Congolese government attract ethically conscious jewelers, USAID, in partnership with Global Communities, launched Zahabu Safi—or “Clean Gold” in Kiswahili—in 2018.
Of the Zahabu Safi consortium, Better Chain and its local partners, the trio from Justice Plus, run DataStake, a near-real time information management platform sponsored by Zahabu Safi. They collect, verify and systematize information on the artisanal gold supply chains in Ituri and Haute Uélé.
Fully operational, DataStake features sections on the location of the supply chain (mining sites, mining villages); stakeholders in the chain (cooperatives, traders, state services involved); events observed (OECD compliant protection incidents, risk mitigation actions); and local information relays who can provide near-real time data on mining activities in Ituri.
The initiative is a local civil society skill booster. Through DataStake, the work of Justice Plus has gained prominence: it is frequently invited to meetings with Provincial authorities. Patrick, Guy and Yves provide firsthand information on the Ituri value chain and correct fake news. They record and document security concerns in a simple and accessible way. Also being a local organization in the mining sector, the platform’s long-term sustainability goes without saying.
But it does not come without risks. In early 2021, while the trio were navigating the sites on a data collection trip, the government declared Ituri a “red zone”. Immediately they abandoned their vehicles and other visible signs of identification and camouflaged as undercover agents to avert the ire of dozens of armed groups—and middlemen accused of being their accomplice—eliminating competitors in the value chain and due diligence monitoring officers. When conflict erupts, they lean on their network of local information relays to protect themselves.
“We never give up,” says Patrick smiling.
Today, DataStake benefits from that tenacity, contributing to the reduction of fraud and strengthening traceability by affording international buyers a source of verified information, essential to a decision to purchase eastern Congo gold. “I’m persuaded that this platform will help us attain conflict-free reputation on the international market,” says Jules, a gold exporter who already uses DataStake.
The beauty of the platform lies in its diversity. The Better Chain system holds that all stakeholders, including supply chain actors, can contribute due diligence insight. Guy sees this as a silver bullet and looks back with fulfilment. “We are seen as authentique because of the data collection system,” he says. “When we began, we did not understand how we would benefit from this.”
USAID Zahabu Safi has carried out first and second tier reviews of more than 35 mine sites and their associated cooperatives. It has launched the Responsible Gold Innovation Facility and distributed $100,000 of USAID funds, aiming to leverage $1m from the private sector. By educating actors in the value chain and providing due diligence monitoring on-site, the project is contributing to the Congolese Government’s desire of providing oversight before eastern Congo’s gold rush. And in 2020 alone, 750 individuals participated in income-generating activities as part of the project’s responsibly sourced artisanal, small-scale mining gold supply chain.
Global Communities hopes to replicate the platform-for-traceability model to other mine sites, with other exporters—in view of targeted international “clean gold” export by 2022.
*All the names of individuals in this series have been changed for security reasons.