Multinational Firms Quit Eastern DR Congo

FIVE German, Belgian and American multinational firms implicated in the UN Panel report for facilitating the exploitation of Congo’s natural resources have quit the troubled eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, a US-based African Church Information Service (ACIS) has reported. Emmy Allio reports that the source named the firms as German freight firm, Interfreight and SDV, hitherto involved in transporting coltan from eastern Congo to Dar-es-Salaam and Mombasa ports. a US firm Komet Cobot Corp and a Belgian firm SOGEM both coltan dealers, have also left. The ACIS report dated December 7, 2001 also said their departure comes at a time when the coltan price on the international market has dropped drastically. ACIS said, “But with western governments taking action against such private firms in their fold, the honey moon is over. In September, the US House of representatives passed a resolution suspending the importation of coltan from countries involved in the DRC conflict. Ends