{"id":10801,"date":"2022-02-21T08:26:19","date_gmt":"2022-02-21T08:26:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/samsung-apple-bmwthose-benefitting-from-drcs-cobalt-and-coltan-reserves"},"modified":"2022-02-21T09:32:22","modified_gmt":"2022-02-21T09:32:22","slug":"samsung-apple-bmwthose-benefitting-from-drcs-cobalt-and-coltan-reserves","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/samsung-apple-bmwthose-benefitting-from-drcs-cobalt-and-coltan-reserves","title":{"rendered":"Samsung, Apple, BMW\u2026those benefitting from DRC\u2019s cobalt and coltan reserves"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Mauritius. <\/strong><\/span>According to a BloombergNEF study published at the end of June, demand for rechargeable batteries between now and 2030 is expected to increase by more than 400%.<\/p>\n

Even though these so-called \u2018lithium-ion\u2019 technologies are an essential part of the \u2018low-carbon\u2019 and digital transition, they also use large quantities of rare metals.<\/p>\n

In this respect, the DRC might find itself embroiled in a real \u2018geological scandal\u2019, at the centre of which are cobalt and coltan, of which the country holds almost all the world\u2019s reserves.<\/p>\n

\u2018Geological scandal\u2019<\/p>\n

The explosion in demand for these active materials \u2013 which are essential for the manufacture of batteries used in smartphones, electric cars and wind turbines \u2013 could be a boon for the country, where 77% of the population still lives below the poverty line.<\/p>\n

The phone or tablet on which you are reading this article most likely contains a few grammes of this cobalt that was collected by Congolese \u2018diggers\u2019.<\/p>\n

The DRC, whose mining sector is largely small-scale, opaque and poorly regulated, is a magnet for large multinationals \u2013 led by the Chinese \u2013 that are sometimes unscrupulous, and for armed groups fighting for control of extraction sites in North and South Kivu.<\/p>\n

More than 200,000 Congolese toil in the mines as \u2018diggers\u2019 in undignified and dangerous conditions, to supply this very profitable market. \u2018Blood cobalt\u2019 NGOs regularly denounce the fact that these precarious workers are exploited by some of the market\u2019s main players.<\/p>\n

In 2019, IRAdvocates \u2013 a coalition of researchers and lawyers \u2013 even filed a complaint against Apple, Microsoft, Dell and Google, accusing them of having indirectly benefited from child labour in Congolese cobalt mines.<\/p>\n

In an attempt to remedy this situation, initiatives and certifications \u2013 rarely applied efficiently \u2013 abound. For example, BMW, Volkswagen, Samsung and BASF have collectively committed themselves to regulating artisanal mining.<\/p>\n

eries for his Tesla vehicles that don\u2019t require this \u2018blood cobalt\u2019. The Kinshasa authorities launched their latest initiative in March titled the Entreprise G\u00e9n\u00e9rale du Cobalt, which will oversee the purchase and marketing of \u2018responsible\u2019 artisanal cobalt in the country.<\/p>\n

The phone or tablet on which you are reading this article most likely contains a few grammes of this cobalt that was collected by Congolese \u2018diggers\u2019. We trace the path that the precious metal took before it reached your hands.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Mauritius<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Mauritius. According to a BloombergNEF study published at the end of June, demand for rechargeable batteries between now and 2030 is expected to increase by more than 400%. Even though these so-called \u2018lithium-ion\u2019 technologies are an essential part of the \u2018low-carbon\u2019 and digital transition, they also use large quantities of rare metals. In […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":10800,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,8,9,16],"tags":[233,245,1712,241,1748],"class_list":["post-10801","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-homepage-english","category-miscellaneous","category-twitter","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-mauritius","tag-apple","tag-mauritius","tag-samsung"],"yoast_head":"\nSamsung, Apple, BMW\u2026those benefitting from DRC\u2019s cobalt and coltan reserves - Mauritius<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"According to a BloombergNEF study published at the end of June, demand for rechargeable batteries between now and 2030 i ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/samsung-apple-bmwthose-benefitting-from-drcs-cobalt-and-coltan-reserves\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Samsung, Apple, BMW\u2026those benefitting from DRC\u2019s cobalt and coltan reserves\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"According to a BloombergNEF study published at the end of June, demand for rechargeable batteries between now and 2030 i ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/samsung-apple-bmwthose-benefitting-from-drcs-cobalt-and-coltan-reserves\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Mauritius\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-02-21T08:26:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-02-21T09:32:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/sites\/61\/2022\/02\/img-62135c088933c.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"732\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"418\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/samsung-apple-bmwthose-benefitting-from-drcs-cobalt-and-coltan-reserves#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/samsung-apple-bmwthose-benefitting-from-drcs-cobalt-and-coltan-reserves\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Samsung, Apple, BMW\u2026those benefitting from DRC\u2019s cobalt and coltan reserves\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-02-21T08:26:19+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-02-21T09:32:22+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/samsung-apple-bmwthose-benefitting-from-drcs-cobalt-and-coltan-reserves\"},\"wordCount\":401,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/samsung-apple-bmwthose-benefitting-from-drcs-cobalt-and-coltan-reserves#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/sites\/61\/2022\/02\/img-62135c088933c.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Mauritius\",\"Apple\",\"Mauritius\",\"Samsung\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"homepage-english\",\"miscellaneous\",\"twitter\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/samsung-apple-bmwthose-benefitting-from-drcs-cobalt-and-coltan-reserves#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/samsung-apple-bmwthose-benefitting-from-drcs-cobalt-and-coltan-reserves\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/samsung-apple-bmwthose-benefitting-from-drcs-cobalt-and-coltan-reserves\",\"name\":\"Samsung, Apple, BMW\u2026those benefitting from DRC\u2019s cobalt and coltan reserves - Mauritius\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/samsung-apple-bmwthose-benefitting-from-drcs-cobalt-and-coltan-reserves#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/samsung-apple-bmwthose-benefitting-from-drcs-cobalt-and-coltan-reserves#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/sites\/61\/2022\/02\/img-62135c088933c.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-02-21T08:26:19+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-02-21T09:32:22+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"description\":\"According to a BloombergNEF study published at the end of June, demand for rechargeable batteries between now and 2030 i ...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/samsung-apple-bmwthose-benefitting-from-drcs-cobalt-and-coltan-reserves#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/samsung-apple-bmwthose-benefitting-from-drcs-cobalt-and-coltan-reserves\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/samsung-apple-bmwthose-benefitting-from-drcs-cobalt-and-coltan-reserves#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/sites\/61\/2022\/02\/img-62135c088933c.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/sites\/61\/2022\/02\/img-62135c088933c.jpg\",\"width\":732,\"height\":418,\"caption\":\"Samsung, Apple, BMW\u2026those benefitting from DRC\u2019s cobalt and coltan reserves\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/samsung-apple-bmwthose-benefitting-from-drcs-cobalt-and-coltan-reserves#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Samsung, Apple, BMW\u2026those benefitting from DRC\u2019s cobalt and coltan reserves\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/\",\"name\":\"Mauritius\",\"description\":\"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\",\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"cfeditoren\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Samsung, Apple, BMW\u2026those benefitting from DRC\u2019s cobalt and coltan reserves - Mauritius","description":"According to a BloombergNEF study published at the end of June, demand for rechargeable batteries between now and 2030 i ...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/samsung-apple-bmwthose-benefitting-from-drcs-cobalt-and-coltan-reserves","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Samsung, Apple, BMW\u2026those benefitting from DRC\u2019s cobalt and coltan reserves","og_description":"According to a BloombergNEF study published at the end of June, demand for rechargeable batteries between now and 2030 i ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/samsung-apple-bmwthose-benefitting-from-drcs-cobalt-and-coltan-reserves","og_site_name":"Mauritius","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa","article_published_time":"2022-02-21T08:26:19+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-02-21T09:32:22+00:00","og_image":[{"width":732,"height":418,"url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/sites\/61\/2022\/02\/img-62135c088933c.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"cfeditoren","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"cfeditoren","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/samsung-apple-bmwthose-benefitting-from-drcs-cobalt-and-coltan-reserves#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/samsung-apple-bmwthose-benefitting-from-drcs-cobalt-and-coltan-reserves"},"author":{"name":"cfeditoren","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"headline":"Samsung, Apple, BMW\u2026those benefitting from DRC\u2019s cobalt and coltan reserves","datePublished":"2022-02-21T08:26:19+00:00","dateModified":"2022-02-21T09:32:22+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/samsung-apple-bmwthose-benefitting-from-drcs-cobalt-and-coltan-reserves"},"wordCount":401,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/samsung-apple-bmwthose-benefitting-from-drcs-cobalt-and-coltan-reserves#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/sites\/61\/2022\/02\/img-62135c088933c.jpg","keywords":["Africa Press","Africa Press-Mauritius","Apple","Mauritius","Samsung"],"articleSection":["all news","homepage-english","miscellaneous","twitter"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/samsung-apple-bmwthose-benefitting-from-drcs-cobalt-and-coltan-reserves#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/samsung-apple-bmwthose-benefitting-from-drcs-cobalt-and-coltan-reserves","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/samsung-apple-bmwthose-benefitting-from-drcs-cobalt-and-coltan-reserves","name":"Samsung, Apple, BMW\u2026those benefitting from DRC\u2019s cobalt and coltan reserves - Mauritius","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/samsung-apple-bmwthose-benefitting-from-drcs-cobalt-and-coltan-reserves#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/samsung-apple-bmwthose-benefitting-from-drcs-cobalt-and-coltan-reserves#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/sites\/61\/2022\/02\/img-62135c088933c.jpg","datePublished":"2022-02-21T08:26:19+00:00","dateModified":"2022-02-21T09:32:22+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"description":"According to a BloombergNEF study published at the end of June, demand for rechargeable batteries between now and 2030 i ...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/samsung-apple-bmwthose-benefitting-from-drcs-cobalt-and-coltan-reserves#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/samsung-apple-bmwthose-benefitting-from-drcs-cobalt-and-coltan-reserves"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/samsung-apple-bmwthose-benefitting-from-drcs-cobalt-and-coltan-reserves#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/sites\/61\/2022\/02\/img-62135c088933c.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/sites\/61\/2022\/02\/img-62135c088933c.jpg","width":732,"height":418,"caption":"Samsung, Apple, BMW\u2026those benefitting from DRC\u2019s cobalt and coltan reserves"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/samsung-apple-bmwthose-benefitting-from-drcs-cobalt-and-coltan-reserves#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Samsung, Apple, BMW\u2026those benefitting from DRC\u2019s cobalt and coltan reserves"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/","name":"Mauritius","description":"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb","name":"cfeditoren","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"cfeditoren"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10801","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/84"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10801"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10801\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10800"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10801"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10801"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10801"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}