CEGEMI - Centre of Expertise on Mining Governance

The Center of Expertise on Mining Governance (CEGEMI) addresses an urgent need to gain better insights into the Congolese mining sector. Mining activities are extremely important, for individual livelihoods as well as for local, provincial and regional development. Yet in the DRC the development outcomes have been disappointing so far. Moreover, exploitation and trade in mineral resources have fuelled conflict for many years. Recently however, the Congolese mining sector has been undergoing critical changes. After a long period of crisis, violence and insecurity, which boosted artisanal mining activities, industrial mining is now reappearing. At the same time several initiatives are being taken for a better regulation of the artisanal mining sector and trade so as to formalize them and make them ‘conflict free’. These changes require a thorough research and a specific approach.